There is a widespread assumption that cloud computing will one day reach maturity. But that belief overlooks the possibility that the cloud may not need to mature for it still to have a radical impact, says Lori MacVittie.
Some pundits and providers have dismissed concerns about the readiness of cloud computing for mass adoption, arguing that the technology is part of an evolutionary process. They say it will take time before providers have crossed all the Ts and dotted all the Is, and are in a position to roll out new services. After all, providers are responsible for important data and applications. Surely, we wouldn't want them to rush?
We should probably ask, then: what if the cloud never fully matures? But before we can address that question, we have to examine where the technology is right now and hence where it might be for the foreseeable future.
Today's situation
The definition of cloud computing that is least contentious is that provided by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Nist), Information Technology Laboratory.
Nist distils cloud computing down to "a pay-per-use model for enabling available, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources — for example, networks, servers, storage, applications, services — that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction".
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The important part of this definition is that computing resources includes infrastructure resources such as networks and storage. That's important because today, apart from separate storage and application offerings, very few cloud computing providers have gone beyond offering basic compute resources as a service.
A few have ventured into load balancing as a service, but almost none has taken the next steps to cloud computing maturity that require infrastructure as a service.
What's needed to move through the remaining stages of maturation is standardisation. First, we require the network standardisation that yields a services-based infrastructure and then the ultimate goal of cloud framework standardisation that yields true inter-cloud interoperability and portability.
But given the complexity involved in network standardisation — not just across cloud implementations but even just across a single infrastructure — it's hard to imagine that the cloud will mature past its current provision of compute standardisation and services.
Tomorrow's technology
What we have today is a flexible, accessible, nearly standardised method of rapidly provisioning and exploiting compute resources. Those compute resources can be used for a variety of purposes.
The idea that an organisation will live completely in the cloud is a fantasy for the moment — and probably always will be — not just because of the immaturity of cloud computing but because of practical concerns about control, regulatory compliance, security, performance and availability that surround not just the deployment model but also...
Talkback
A great article Lori and I agree wholeheartedly with the argument that it is not necessary for cloud computing to reach full maturation in order to provide benefits. Indeed, I would argue that the key to long term success is innovation and in such a changeable environment it is flexibility, such as that provided by SaaS operators, which makes them a great business choice.
It’s interesting that you mention “A few have ventured into load balancing as a service, but almost none has taken the next steps to cloud computing maturity that require infrastructure as a service.” I think a lot of cloud computing and SaaS organisations are developing IaaS services, at 4Projects we have an ‘Enterprise’ agreement that allows companies to effectively own their own piece of our technology on an ongoing basis as opposed to simply renting project by project.
We’re constantly adapting our collaboration software, allowing our clients to access a wealth of features. The system can be used from ‘cradle to grave’, from project inception to the ongoing management over the lifetime of an asset.”
A wealth of sectors are already embracing the use of collaborative software as a means to streamline complex management procedures saving both time and money as well as mitigating risk. Collaboration software solutions are ideally suited to the kind of business model which brings together so many disparate stakeholders and project requirements. All of this mean that although cloud computing has a lot of room for growth there is still plenty of potential to be found.