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Cloud computing is one of the most popular concepts this year, having found its way into IT publications, technology websites, IT knowledge platforms and even technology forums. This concept, which is yet to become as popular in implementation, was addressed in a couple of keynote sessions and two conferences at Interop 2009.
One such session looked at the concept of cloud computing, the challenges and myths surrounding cloud computing and the reality of cloud computing. The session was chaired by Satish Joshi, Executive VP, Patni, who provided insights into one of the earliest forms of cloud computing implementations called ‘Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence’ or SETI, an implementation more commonly known as SETI@Home.
Sahil Parikh, Founder and CEO, DeskAway, elaborated further on the concept of cloud computing and aimed to dispel some of the myths surrounding cloud computing such as the lack of security, loss of control and ownership of data, cost of ownership and lower maturity levels of cloud infrastructure.
Parikh also cited the example of a bank cutomer who owns his money but stores it in the bank; the security of the stored money is the responsibility of the bank. Similarly in a cloud environment, while customer data is stored with the vendor, its ownership lies with the customer and it is the responsibility of the cloud vendor to ensure secure storage of the data.
Nilesh Patkar, CTO, ANTechnologies, provided examples of companies that had successfully adopted a particular cloud service and were looking at eliminating the misconceptions and hype surrounding cloud computing.
While cloud computing can offer potential benefits, there are several issues that a cloud-based service comes with. Having faced a few such issues, Abhinav Jawadekar, Founder, Sound Paradigm Software Engineering Services, provided some examples of how vendor lock-in can prove to be one of the biggest challenges faced by cloud customers.
Jawadekar gave an instance of how changes in APIs by the vendor caused applications designed in the older version to malfunction.
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