Cloudup 4-29-2011
CloudTweaks takes an interesting position on last week’s Amazon outage, arguing that the outage is “actually a very positive sign for cloud computing.” Even though many popular websites such as Foursquare and Quora went down, Netflix managed to get by with only a minor hiccup. This is because whenever Netflix notices one of their operational systems or availability zones is poorly performing, they “terminate it and get a new one” or “switch over to another.” Smart move on their part, since problems and failures will undoubtably occur. However, thanks to the cloud, it easy for companies to deal with these issues by simply transferring their content into other data centers. Even though Amazon is at fault for this outage, companies shouldn’t put all the blame on them, as they too, should have been more prepared.
Greenbutton provides us with a great cloud case study. “Greenbutton leverages cloud processing to drive result for the bio sciences, geoscience and engineering and 3d artists.” Through partnering with Microsoft Azure, Greenbutton’s 3d artists can accelerate their render jobs and reduce their processing time significantly- literally from hours to just a few minutes, saving them significant costs and time.
On Friday, VMware announced their purchas of SlideRocket, a service that provides companies with online presentation software, essentially allowing them to make fancy PowerPoint presentations in the cloud. VMware believes that the acquisition of SlideRocket will help their users “‘deliver access to applications and data from any device, where and when a user needs it’ and ‘help VMware drive a new model for end-user computing for the enterprise.’” PowerPoint is the second most widely used business tool, following email.
The Wall Street Journal is comparing the future of cloud computing to the Industrial Revolution, in that cloud computing is going to “shape our future world.” The biggest impact of the cloud will of course be in the business sector, changing the way many companies manage their IT infrastructure, office communication, and reducing costs. Is it too much to say, “We told you so?”
Earlier this week, ebizQ asked users to respond to the assumption that SOA is being ignored in the cloud, and instead architects are, “tossing things out of the enterprise onto private and public clouds and hoping for the best.” Overall, responses seem to be 50/50 on the matter. Delivered Innovation CTO Michael Topalovich argues that SOA may not be lost, but rather, the issue lies in the fact that many companies do not comprehend the cloud, or even go as far as to claim they are using “the cloud,” when in reality, they don’t fully understand what the cloud is. Feel free to post your opinions to this discussion.
