 “Most enterprise application vendors do not have a strategy for the cloud computing space”
While Cloud Computing is the latest buzzword, it is also one of the most confused terms, with every vendor providing its own definition on how it perceives cloud computing. In conversation with Srikanth RP, Yefim Natis, Vice President and distinguished analyst, Gartner Research, clears the air on cloud computing, and illustrates how the technology can reshape the enterprise applications market. Some excerpts: More from this author
Different technology marketers have given different definitions to the cloud. How would you best describe cloud computing?
Gartner describes cloud computing as a style of computing where widely elastic IT- related capabilities are provided as a service, and are accessed through Internet-based technologies. The key is ‘elastic’ usage of resources, where a pool of data or resources is allocated as needed on demand—and you pay only for what you use.
For simplification, let us assume that there are three faces of the cloud. In the first category, you have companies in the Application Cloud, where you have companies such as Oracle, Netsuite, Salesforce and Google Docs. Then you have the Infrastructure Cloud, where you have companies such as Amazon Webservices, VMware vCloud, Mosso, OpSource and Terremark. The third face of the cloud is in the form of the Application Platform Cloud. This space is occupied by companies such as Salesforce with Force.com, AppEngine, Rollbase and Bungee Connect. Depending on the need, organizations can choose the type of cloud that they want to use.
In his book, The Big Switch, columnist, Nicholas Carr, who is famous for his contrarian view, says that cloud computing will have a similar effect to what electricity did, when it was turned into a utility model. Carr goes as far as to suggest that there is a danger of IT departments going out of business, as organizations may not need their internal IT departments any longer. What is your view on this?
I differ with Nicholas Carr’s view. The comparison of cloud computing to electricity can work only to a certain point. Unlike electricity, which is homogenous, the power of information technology comes from the combination of intellectual property, algorithms and assimilated knowledge. While electricity has never been a differentiator for organizations, information technology is clearly a big differentiator and can impact the competitiveness of a company. In the 21st century, access and knowledge of information is the real currency, and this can never be a commodity.
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