Cloud is viable already, depending on usage. Some key benefits of the cloud are that you don't have to tell people how to get to it or make special provisions for them to access it, and it facilitates dynamic scalability, which is great for when it is not feasible to pre-provision the necessary capacity. And DR is more easily facilitated with cloud computing.
A major drawback, as many have already stated or alluded, is that you need to make special provisions to restrict access. :) That is, privacy, security and compliance are key concerns, as is (sometimes) availability. Ownership of data becomes a consideration, as does access to that data in a payment dispute. In other words, there are significant liabilities which potentially rear their ugly heads when considering what to put in the cloud. The services which make the most sense to put in the cloud are the ones where the data involved is already travelling through that space, which is why antispam, security filtering, and network monitoring have been well accepted for cloud services. Services which change often enough, or for which the cost to support is high and the user-base is primarily mobile (such as CRM), have worked out fine as well. We're starting to see data backup move to the cloud (touchy!!), and we've largely accepted that email can be viable in the cloud. It will be interesting to see what else can make it out there... -ASB: http://XeeSM.com/AndrewBaker On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 10:05 AM, Alex Eckelberry < [email protected]> wrote: > We're working on cloud computing initiatives (like everyone), and I'm > also doing a fair amount of research into the area. (Of course, the whole > idea of "cloud computing" is itself fairly silly, when it's just a renaming > of the concept of a network-connected computer. But whatever, it's the hot > topic.) > > > > There are areas where it makes sense, such as email filtering. Web > filtering, well maybe not so much. CRM (like SalesForce.com), makes sense. > > > > > I'm curious -- what are your thoughts on cloud computing? What might be > the security questions you would ask your cloud computing vendors? What > irks you about it? What is good about it? > > > > > > Alex > > > > Alex Eckelberry, CEO > Sunbelt Software > 33 N. Garden Avenue, Clearwater, FL 33755 p: 727-562-0101 x220 > e: [email protected] MSN: [email protected] > w: www.sunbeltsoftware.com b: www.sunbeltblog.com > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
