Forgoing the hyperbole of cloud computing predictions – sensational outages to a cloud-in-every-pocket – I want to start 2010 discussing the enduring aspects of cloud computing on enterprise business-technology. Regardless of the final manifestation of cloud computing, and the tally of deployments, successes and failures, I believe cloud computing will influence the expectations and practice of enterprise business-technology throughout the decade.
I have identified five enduring aspects from a practitioner perspective. Certainly, there are enduring aspects on the provider side as well, such as advances from Infrastructure 2.0 and disruptions created by new economic and pricing models. However, I will leave that list for provider-side specialists.
The first three enduring aspects focus on the expectations from business-technology organizations.
1. Resource Optimization – Cloud computing has raised Executive awareness to the disproportion of installed versus utilized computing capacity, along with the requisite expenses of space, power, software licenses and support personnel.
If they have not already, Executives will mandate infrastructure ecology initiatives, starting with the consolidation and pooling of compute and data resources, and progressing to software execution efficiency.
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Posted by brenda michelson at 5:59 pm in Blog, economics, elasticity & scale, fundamentals, infrastructure 2.0, performance & reliability, platform, pundit positions, software architecture | Permalink
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Given my longstanding background in SOA and my current work in Cloud Computing, I’m often asked how the two complement each other, particularly from the business benefit perspective. Briefly, here are my thoughts and observations.
From the SOA Side
The immediate benefit of combining SOA and Cloud Computing is time. Reaching out to the cloud for business or technology capabilities, allows SOA initiatives to compress time to value.
In the longer term, the benefits include improved collaboration, customer satisfaction and business growth. By offering SOA based business capabilities to the cloud, businesses can improve interactions with business partners and existing customers, and/or generate new revenue streams.
From the Cloud Side
The immediate benefit of cloud computing is financial. more >>
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Posted by brenda michelson at 4:06 pm in Blog, adoption, economics, enterprise architecture, services architecture | Permalink
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Recently, a business analyst asked me for some cloud computing reading ideas. His goal was to get familiar with cloud computing without drowning in technobabble or wading through near-religious rhetoric. After sending him an email with some picks, it occurred to me that many business analysts are similarly interested. With that, here is a selection of cloud computing reads and topics you should keep an eye on.
Cloud Computing Basics
In the basics, you are looking to learn about cloud computing components, offerings and economic value. Because without value, there is no need to explore further.
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Posted by brenda michelson at 9:53 am in Blog, fundamentals | Permalink
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Perhaps I’m just grumpy this week. Or, concerned for the future. Or, most likely, both. Nevertheless, I find conventional SOA lore more bothersome than usual. Specifically, the paired notions that the sole reason to implement services (or not) is re-use potential, and that the main architectural aspect of SOA is governing said services for re-use. Now, don’t misinterpret, there is true value in sharing services and governance is critical. However, SOA, or better said, services-architecture doesn’t begin and end with re-use potential and enforcement.
For those with architectural backgrounds – software not marketing trend – what follows is nothing new. You are well acquainted with foundational tenets such as separation of concerns, modularity, loose coupling, cohesion etc and the associated benefits. Unfortunately, based on my interactions over the last several months, I must report (a) this knowledge is not universal (b) people can’t articulate the benefits of well-architected software and/or (c) the dots don’t connect all the way to SOA.
Since the presence of well-defined (and well-built services) is assumed in a bevy of existing and emerging technology strategies — mashups, event-processing, business process automation and cloud computing — we need to correct the record on the total value of services and make the connection to proper architectural discipline.
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Posted by brenda michelson at 7:59 pm in Blog, architecture, services architecture | Permalink
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Despite my best intentions, I find myself watching the (insert meteorological pun) cloud computing space. Only time will tell if my cloud watching is attention well spent. If the cloud is indeed "the future of the Internet", then yes. If the cloud is merely a repackaging of everything that we already do, then no. Most likely, the cloud’s promise falls somewhere in between, landing closer to the future than the past.
Added to this (more likely than not) significance, are parallels with my own writings, work and interest areas (current and past), including architecture realization through blending strategies, the power of service grids, the ceding of applications to business capabilities, the morphing of boxes to platforms, and (forthcoming) creating an active information tier. more >>
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Posted by brenda michelson at 2:47 pm in Blog, elcc, enterprise architecture, platform, services architecture | Permalink
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