You have no idea how many titles I have in my head concerning “Cloud” but opted instead for something boring and unpoetic (see below for the quick list). I have not commented heavily on cloud computing or cloud storage because it is something that could and should be focused on as a segment - as broad and diverse as applications.
There is a ton of confusion about what IT Clouds are and yet people are predicting that it will completely change the way that we implement and manage technology going forward. On one level this is an absurd prediction because there is no specificity. However, twenty years ago someone could have said that applications will change the way we do business and they would be right. However, the devil is in the details - which applications and how we use them could not be predicted as easily.
I suspect that the same is true for IT Clouds. The idea of using a service providers CPU and storage is one definition of cloud. Amazon EC2 and S3 are doing quite well as far as we know. Online services like DropBox and Twitter use Amazon. It is a powerful indicator when a new service enables new businesses. The fact that none of them are making a profit should not concern you 
I’ve spoken with literally dozens of IT professionals (note - based on one reader’s lack of math skills I wanted to add that it has been over 80 companies since June of this year through September) and companies this year and none of them are seriously considering using IT Clouds. There was one company that was going to build their own private IT Cloud and another that was doing some initial investigation. There is still a ton of education that needs to be provided. There is clarity of segmentation that has to occur. Considering cloud solutions requires a shift in mindset, which does not come easily. And a deep considerations of the risks must be conducted. We are far from public clouds replacing brick and mortar IT infrastructure.
One IT professional at a Fortune 500 company said to me that they consider virtualization - both at the server and storage level to be cloud enabling technologies and they intend to build IT Clouds within their own environment leveraging virtualization. According to him - the difference between just using those technologies as they stand today are the disciplines and processes on top of those technologies.
IT Clouds will manifest it different ways. There will be many failures and there will be unforeseen successes. There are many steps that need to be taken and we are at the beginning of that journey.
Here are some titles I thought about using:
1. A Cloudy View
2. Head in the Clouds
3. Cloud on the Horizon
4. Cloud Gazing
5. Clouds Are Nebulous
6. Cloudy Forecast For Clouds
7. Cloudy Minds
8. Clouded In Uncertainty
9. Foggy On Clouds
Next Blog: Analysis of HItachi Agile Cloud
Comments (4 )
Rodos on 15 Oct 2009 at 6:18 am
You really are kidding right. “I’ve spoken with literally of dozens of IT professionals and companies this year and none of them are seriously considering using IT Clouds”. You need to get out more, its October! You have spoken to a dozen people, um thats a comprehensive survey. I think there are a few people around seriously looking at it.
If no one is seriously looking how come your next post is about Hitachi Agile Cloud.
Tony, give us something interesting to read that tells us about your products. This your corporate blog, check out my post http://rodos.haywood.org/2009/05/what-do-you-want-from-vendor-blog.html for what we really want to see you write about.
We really are interested.
Rodos
Tony Asaro on 15 Oct 2009 at 7:01 am
Rodos - You really need to work on your reading comprehension and math. First, I said dozens and not a dozen. Yes, since June of this year I have probably spoken with more than 80 end user customers - all of them IT professionals and NONE of them were seriously looking at IT Clouds. No this was not a survey but it was my observation - and when you get consensus with that many companies it is important to note. I do get out - trust me brother - I actually speak and listen to end user customers that run IT on a regular basis - probably more than most in this industry. Since I don’t know who you are I am guessing that you talk to thousands of customers, which enables you to be so smart.
I have been analyzing high tech markets for years and the hype-cycle is always way ahead of the mainstream. That was the point. Of course there are companies seriously look at IT Clouds - they are called “early adopters” and I did mention a few as well in my blog. But there is a lot of education still to be done. There is a lot of invention still to be done. There is failure and success that will occur. And again, it will manifest itself in predictable and unpredictable ways. In the meantime, IT professionals will continue to buy products that will be installed in their own data centers for years to come - even though some predict the demise of on-premise infrastructure because of IT Clouds. And the reason I am going to write my next blog on HDS’ Cloud solutions is because I want to add to the education that customers need in order to learn about this stuff.
I also find it interesting that you are criticizing my next blog before I’ve even written it. And I also thank you for plugging your own blog and speaking for everyone and giving me advise on what “we” want to read.
I do find IT Clouds interesting. In fact, I find it so interesting and compelling that I want to make it more of a focus of mine going forward. I actually see very little content that really helps IT professionals make informed decisions.
Tony
Rodos on 15 Oct 2009 at 3:43 pm
Tony, thanks for the robust discussion. My words were probably toned a bit too harsh, thats what you get for commenting late at night after a long day. Consider my tone passion rather than insult, apologies.
A few further comments.
I just find it weird that you have talked to so many companies and “none of them are seriously considering using IT Clouds”. It just goes against the conversations I am having and the press and analysis I am reading. Cloud covers such a broad spectrum, maybe we are dealing in different areas.
I don’t think I was criticizing the content of your next post before you have written it. Rather, that if no one is seriously considering Cloud why are you then going to write about it next? Would there not be better topics on how what people are seriously considering. I got the impress, maybe wrongly, that you agreed with them. If it had of said somewhere, “However I think there could be some interesting opportunities to cause people to start seriously considering IT Clouds and have some good insights in how they may be beneficial.” the next post topic may have been clearer.
Yes I posted a link to my own blog. I think it was in context and added value. It was not a generic link but hopefully (or maybe not) explained further the idea of what I think people want to read from official vendor blogs.
“IT professionals will continue to buy products that will be installed in their own data centers for years to come - even though some predict the demise of on-premise infrastructure because of IT Clouds.” Agree. I also think that many are going to try to adopt Internal Cloud elements and ITaaS, certainly a developing and evolving area.
I learn a lot from vendor blogs, and I am interested (you are right I should have said I rather than we).
Again, sorry if I have offended. Best wishes Tony.
Rodos
Tony Asaro on 15 Oct 2009 at 8:09 pm
Rodos - Since you are someone that is interested in Cloud Computing and want to learn from what other people are finding out there I think you need to be more open minded about the information that you are collecting. Just because it doesn’t agree with what you are hearing or what you want to hear doesn’t make it less valid. Yes, the press and analysts talk a great deal about Cloud Computing but as I stated before they are often ahead of the mainstream. On the other hand Amazon has over a billion objects stored on S3 so clearly there are a number of early adopters using this service. But I said that Amazon and others were successful - you have to read all of the blog and not just hang on a few things that you react viscerally to.
I don’t know why you are shocked that none of these mainstream customers aren’t considering IT Clouds. The majority of customers are still backing up to tape - even though D2D backup with dedupe is building a great deal of momentum now. There are a number of companies that have installed storage systems with thin provisioning but haven’t turned it on yet even though that technology as been out in the market for a relatively long period of time with known best practices. I guarantee that if I went and talked to another 100 mainstream companies their IT people would tell me the same thing.
I think I addressed your other issues so I won’t repeat myself.
No offense taken but when people speak to me a certain way… let’s just say that I am not the gentleman that Hu Yoshida is
Best wishes to you as well Rodos.
Tony