On Jun 25, 2009, at 10:57 AM, MB Software Solutions, LLC wrote:
>> I think with Cloud Computing you have to answer one basic question
>> first: are you comfortable with your data being somewhere else,
>> rather
>> than right here...
>>
>> Personally I want my data right here...
>
> Ed -- I'm interested in your comments on that concept...data here or
> on
> the web in the cloud.
It's not an either/or decision; instead, you have to consider many
things before deciding how you want to go.
Some data is so sensitive that you cannot keep it anywhere but on a
privately-owned box on site. In that case, you are completely
responsible for the security of that data, and need to employ people
with the skillset needed to ensure this level of security, and who can
manage the backup and disaster recovery for you.
A step down from there is when you have sensitive data, such as
customer information, credit card numbers, etc., that you need to
protect, and don't want to maintain an in-house IT staff for that. In
that case, a managed hosting solution, using a dedicated box in a
fault-tolerant data center with a PCI-compliant hosting company (yes,
I can suggest one!) that is maintained by hardware, network, security
and backup specialists, would be an excellent choice.
Lastly there is data that is important but not sensitive. That is a
great candidate for cloud sites, as it is redundantly stored and
accessible from anywhere; you can make such data public or private;
that's entirely under your control.
Here at Rackspace they are promoting hybrid approaches that balance a
customer's needs with the best blend of services, rather than
promoting one particular solution for all.
IMO, it's the same question about all outsourcing: if the process is
your core competency, then you do it in-house; otherwise, outsourcing
makes sense. Companies used to all do payroll in-house; nowadays it's
rare to find one that doesn't use an outsourced service for this. The
same trend is happening with computing resources: many non-computer-
centric companies are outsourcing their IT department just as they
outsourced their payroll department. This way they can focus on their
business instead of having to hire an IT staff and maintain a physical
data center for their equipment.
-- Ed Leafe
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