Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

I’m not saying I don’t think cloud computing has an important role in IT organizations. As I have mentioned before, I think there are some significant franchise IT applications. I also believe that, if done right, SaaS has a role to play in extending IT’s ability to meet business needs. But I am saying I am sick and tired of hearing about cloud computing in every single industry communication I read these days.

The other consideration is that many organizations look at cloud computing through rose-colored glasses. Just because it is this super-mega-redundant system with a bazillion certifications doesn’t mean you aren’t still going to experience issues. Yes, I will agree it is going to be much, much more cost effective to implement high-availability approaches within a cloud environment than it would be in a small-to-midsize business. Still, technology fails. The more technology you implement to protect you from failure, the more complex the system is and the more there is to fail.

For example:

• Amazon’s cloud service had an outage in January 2010.
• Microsoft Azure had a 22-hour outage in March 2009.
• Rackspace had multiple cloud outages in 2009.

Again, perspective is important. All those outages tagged together were less than my outages for the same period of time, and my systems are far less complex but just as critical. I know for a fact my systems were not as robust as theirs.

But you also have to consider that when working with cloud computing providers, they are not you. You need to change the way you manage your IT infrastructure. The IT role changes from managing technologies to managing vendors for a living. As we all know, not all IT people are cut out for such a role. That means you have to hire differently, you have to think differently, and you have to act differently.

And that is really the root of the problem. People seem to think that because this new term is “hot,” all the challenges have somehow gone away. Ask all those people who previously used a managed service provider and are now using a cloud provider (and haven’t changed anything) exactly how much better things are.

On a side note, how is it that the term “cloud computing” came to be? Granted, it’s better than all its predecessors. But a cloud is about the most unstable thing I can think of. It moves whichever way the wind is blowing; it may disappear; it may become a terrible storm. Exactly what marketing genius is responsible for this term catching on?

I’d love to your point of view. Has there been a real change or is it just new marketing spin? Leave comments below, E-mail me or reach out on Twitter (@todd_michaud).