Screwing-up in the Cloud
Will an increasing uptake in cloud technologies lead to an increasing amount of “screw-ups” in the cloud?
Despite the continually increasing uptake in cloud computing technologies, there are still cynics that are keen to dismiss it as “just another fad” – a fad that will produce copy-cat service providers, who, eager to believe the “hype” and jump on the bandwagon, are likely to trip up time and time again. So how likely are we to see an increasing number of screw-ups in the cloud as more and more businesses choose to adopt cloud-based solutions?
We have to face facts: cloud adoption is on the rise – indeed, latest figures show that roughly one-third of UK businesses are using or considering using cloud computing* - and yes, admittedly, as more businesses opt for cloud, statistics dictate that more errors are likely to occur. Furthermore, as cloud computing is still a relatively new technology and under such scrutiny, any “screw-up” such as the high profile power outages experienced by the likes of Amazon, Google and Microsoft last year, is still likely to make all the papers in the morning – thus making errors appear more frequent.
Looking at how all the major manufacturers are gearing up their technology however, cloud computing cannot be passed off as a fad. Indeed, everything is being concentrated on data centre-centric servers. The mould has been broken forever, and the existence of subscription-based services, such as Salesforce.com, are becoming too critical for too many businesses to simply disappear after the apparent “fad” is over.
But with security, hidden costs and performance being named as the most likely obstacles that cloud providers will fall foul to, how can customers considering cloud computing ensure that they are not about to be victims of the so-called screw ups?
Will cloud providers screw up on security?
In these early days for the cloud industry, service providers have been accused of thinking they can ‘do security’ in the cloud, without fully understanding the implications of it. And arguably yes, if you engage with a cloud provider that is not completely clued up to the intricacies of cloud security, hacking could potentially be an issue.
Of course, organisations are right to consider the implications of accessing their data over the Internet, and granted, it does not make good business sense to put extremely sensitive data into a public cloud, especially where the precise location of its storage is unknown. A private cloud however, is another matter entirely. Too often, all facets of cloud computing services are lumped together under the same “cloud” umbrella. Within “cloud” comes a plethora of different models, and with each separate component, there are different conversations around security to be had.
Were the industry to distinguish between public and private cloud services more frequently and clearly, it would be better understood, that whilst public cloud models offer excellent value for money, private cloud models offer more in the way of SLAs on performance and more stringent data security provisions. These include Tier 3 and Tier 4 data centres, manned by 24x7 security staff and secured with leading edge firewalls, anti-spam, anti-virus and real-time monitoring technology.
Will cloud providers screw up on the cost of migration?
It has been argued that many cloud end-users have been burnt by the promise of a cost effective cloud solution, before finding themselves having to blow the budget after the project has grossly overrun. This is often because the project has not been adequately scoped out by both the customer and cloud provider in the first instance, and as such, the costs to implement a migration solution are often significantly underestimated.
Always therefore, ensure that before any paperwork is signed, both parties sit down to define a statement of works. The nature of each cloud solution should be bespoke to the customer and as such, intentions of the project should be entirely clear from the outset. This way, the customer doesn’t have to deal with any hidden charges or project overruns, and the cloud provider knows from the beginning of the relationship the exact details of the project they are to deliver, therefore avoiding potential hurdles – and thus increasing costs – along the way.
Will cloud providers screw up on performance?
As cloud computing becomes more and more ubiquitous, there is a concern that an organisation’s IT systems will suffer from latency in the cloud. And granted, as demand on cloud providers grows, network speeds will inevitably slow down as more and more end-users share the same connection.
But let us not forget that one of the key reasons why organisations are moving to cloud-based solutions in their thousands is that they are provided with world class infrastructure and high-speed internet connections, previously only available to the likes of FTSE 100 companies, and for a fraction of the cost of having to install that same equipment in-house. With connection speeds in the cloud so far beyond that available to the average SME therefore, is it truly accurate to say that cloud providers will trip up on performance, when anyone accessing their IT via the cloud will experience far greater performance than they would from accessing their IT via an on-premise solution?
In short, I do not agree that screw-ups in the cloud will become more frequent as the volume of customers adopting the cloud increases. Indeed, as both the technology and the underlying architectures mature, the cloud computing industry can only get stronger. Yes, there have been a couple of hiccups in these very early days, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the total number of screw ups by cloud providers is infinitely smaller than the collective individual screw ups of internal IT departments!