Cloud-Confused Demystified (Saturday, 01 October 2011 By Guruvantage Team)
Cloud-Confused? – Demystified!
“A pool of abstracted, highly scalable and managed computer infrastructure capable of hosting end-customer applications and billed by consumption” – Forrester Research
For many of my brethren (non-technical-mortals), the above ‘alien-transcript’ would have made as much sense as an illuminated…. D-UH?? The predicament will get even more intriguing (read frustrating), if a good Samaritan were to highlight, that the above code language has the capability to drastically affect my business dynamics in the times to come – if I choose to!!
But then…Hey! Is’nt ‘Cloud Computing’ the latest buzzword around? Anybody who is somebody seems to be talking about the ‘cloud’…. with his head in it (metaphorically!). There surely seems to be more to the ‘cloud’ that what we see above (pun intended!) ...Guess it’s time to demystify the code and understand more than what meets the eye. Also, would be a good idea to see how the ‘Cloud’ really affects the training industry? What are the advantages to scale, storage, costs, risks, flexibility etc?
What is Cloud Computing ?
In order to understand Cloud computing, you could imagine the scenario of shifting to a new city and evaluating the pros and cons of renting an apartment vis-à-vis buying one. If you were to buy an apartment, the must-have nuances of extensive paperwork, hiring an architect, sub-contracting a builder, scouting for right furnishings and fitments, security concerns, power back-ups, repair and maintenance etc would be your normal intake.
On the other hand, if you were to rent an apartment in a city like Gurgaon, India, your appetite for the nuances would go down considerably! This is a city where high-rise buildings with community living are the order of the day….a part and parcel of the existence. There are symmetrical houses piled on top of each other within a gated complex and all inhabitants share the common facilities. While, you may not be able to customise the rented apartment as per your own taste, you may not have to bother much about the extensive paperwork (except the rent lease) security, power back-up, repair and maintenance etc. – Loosely translated, you would obviously have lesser decisions to take and also lesser costs to make!
Simply put, cloud computing is similar to the ‘rented-apartment’ option, where the utilities are centralised under one community and you pay for your usage only. There are very few players providing the ‘cloud infrastructure’ as we call it – viz, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, IBM.
Advantages of ‘The Cloud’
Out of the various advantages, the few most vocal (as per me) are as under –
Scalable – the Cloud is a virtually unlimited space! This is unlike traditional models where you would have to acquire your own server/s or rent out additional space (for an extra cost ofcourse!)
Low Cost – Probably, the finest example of transforming your Capex to Opex! We have for long been using the Google Docs but are only expected to pay for commercial use. The pay-as-you-go model in Cloud helps you to control your costs by only letting you pay for the space, time and applications actually used (think… iTunes store). Unlike the current hosting solutions, where typically an annual subscription is the order.
Portable – Users of the cloud can actually store and access personal files on-the-go over the cloud! Gone are the days of carrying pen-drives, DVDs etc
Low maintenance – Actually ‘maintenance free’ could be more apt! unlike traditional hosting models, the Cloud doesn’t need maintenance time-outs
Controlled Risk – Redundancy of the data on the cloud is created over 2-3 times on large data centres
Efficient – The cloud assumes the role of a traffic cop, diverting traffic from the heavily congested spots to the more free flowing roadways. Load Balancing is a key VAF courtesy - The Cloud!
Disadvantages of ‘The Cloud’
As all things nice have flip sides too, it would be a good idea to even lend an ear to the disadvantages of the Cloud.
While the data is very secure on the Cloud, however, the parent data server is prone to hacking, in this case, obviously all the information on that server becomes vulnerable. Another scenario could be of a parent data server crash, in this scenario once again, the Virtual machines hooked onto the server will be affected. These are some of the top-of-the-mind disadvantages that come across
Cloud and the Training Industry
With a revolutionary experience such as the cloud, the opportunities and possibilities are quite staggering. Imagine a system of collated and synchronised curriculum for all the educational institutes in the country on the cloud! With each and every desktop being, in itself, a cloud application the potential of standardising all educational syllabi’s to be able to have basic level of uniformity in skill sets becomes a reality.
Further, with the need for training and development becoming permeable, and with technology, including mobile, becoming ubiquitous, it is more relevant than ever to have virtual classrooms with physical location being boundary-less through the Cloud infrastructure
‘Community network’ over net has witnessed an all new paradigm shift in recent times, with the Cloud infrastructure, the power of ‘Community learning’ stands to be enhanced greatly and hugely benefitted.
All in all, it shall suffice to say, that we are now entering into a very exciting phase of a technical revolution of sorts, a revolution that would very soon change the way we perceive and experience the dot com and will slowly, but surely, permeate into our non-virtual living rooms as well.
As they say, ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’ let’s hope this one comes true…at least!!