The advent and continued impact of Cloud Computing on the worldwide data, communication and digital way of life technologies space is not a surprise. It makes sense as a concept and fits into the instantaneous, automatic manner in which we manage our lives. This is not simply another technologies trend – we are actually on the cusp of an IT revolution.
A vital point of departure on any meaningful discussion on this subject is that it represents an evolution of sorts. Technologies has developed to the extent that we are now in a position in which we can run fewer computers but derive far more from the situation.
Darwinism posits the evolution of diverse species from a typical ancestor. In technology, we are experiencing a phenomenon that is nearly the opposite: several similar tips evolving into a single commercially viable entity.
The exact same effect was witnessed with applications servers, request brokers, n-tier computing, artificial intelligence, etc., where a vague, diverse set of ideas solidified over a period of time into a singular understanding of something that makes commercial or technical sense to the common psyche.
The concept of Cloud Computing suggests the utilisation of distinct technologies to move the ‘usage’ of software program processes into a ‘black box’ where the end-user does not want to know where this software program is running from, what hardware is becoming employed, who the service provider of the virtual processing is, etc.
In other words Cloud Computing refers to the use of the World Wide Internet to offer applications or parts thereof without the user having to know where the software program resides, what memory, disk space, operating systems, or processing power it demands to operate.
Every single Google search that a user fires off from his or her browser can potentially utilise thousands of servers, virtual machines, shared disk resources, and processes. Cloud Computing is a reality.
The use of a bank ATM is a great analogy. A customer will use this facility to withdraw money, for example. He or she does not know what technology is being utilised, how the device/ATM laptop or computer knows amounts, where the income in the mechanical distribution devices comes from or what operating system the ATM runs on.
Even so, the user surely understands and rightfully expects output (income, card and receipt), a response time (no a lot more than five seconds) and immediate impact (decreased balance).
There is confusion in the market over how Software as a Service (SaaS) relates to Cloud Computing.
It is greatest to think about the cloud as the underlying engine that delivers SaaS. Furthermore, Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), are all integral parts of Cloud Computing.
The concept of infiniband – dedicated high-bandwidth communications inside the cloud – will bring a level of high quality and performance to the SaaS offering that would generally not have been possible.
Whilst this all sounds practical, the reality is that Cloud Computing, in its purest form, is but to materialise in South Africa. It will remain an perfect until such time as we encounter cost-effective broadband Web access and dependable connection uptime.
Pricey Service Level Agreements would almost certainly allow larger companies to embrace Cloud Computing in one form or yet another, but smaller businesses with limited cash-flow might have to wait until fast, reliable, broadband web access becomes the norm just before they can even contemplate leveraging off advantages.
And herein lies the irony: it is the modest companies with limited capital resources that could potentially benefit the most from Cloud Computing due to the fact it holds the promise of low or no cost operating systems and applications, and inexpensive computing devices to run the browser on.
Cloud Computing is not a technological breakthrough, but rather an iterative evolution to get to a point where we could run fewer computers but benefit extensively as a result.
This will translate into savings on software costs, operating system expenses, electricity, and hardware.
From a South African perspective, irrespective of how excited we could get about this development, unless we can offer quicker Internet access at a more predictable and reasonably priced cost, the concept will stay on the peripherals even though the rest of the world thrives on its rewards.
The sooner we get our neighborhood bandwidth challenges resolved, the sooner ‘Joe Soap’ and his fellow entrepreneurs can benefit from convergent evolution.
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