Any discussion of cloud computing will certainly be accompanied with thrashing and gnawing of teeth. This past August I was teaching a course on technology development in Bangalore and Chennai to managers and systems developers working for a variety of high-profile IT service providers. There were significant areas of agreement; but there were some topics, which appeared to be splitting hairs, where the discussion was very intense. This is not surprising because the drama is in the details when it comes to market positioning and high-tech one-upmanship. There is very little agreement on how to define cloud computing.
One of the benefits of cloud computing is that it should permit organizations to add and subtract computing resources according to need. This means that the computing resources are scalable as workload increases. This includes the ability to add more data storage and more computing power for web servers, database servers and applications servers for the human resource system, the CRM system, the financial and accounting systems and the inventory management systems. You can even develop applications in the cloud using products such as Force from salesfore.com, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services. Google Docs is an online cloud application for creating word-processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. All of the browser-based applications of email are part of cloud computing. This Blog was created in the cloud.
Cloud computing permits companies to increase capacity by turning to the cloud, rather than by investing in additional capacity. Cloud computing simplifies management’s agenda because capacity planning is easier. In environments characterized by fluctuating demand risk is reduced because the breakeven point is lower. In an ideal cloud computing environment, the IT resources are scalable and the costs are variable and perhaps traceable to a particular product or service.
Cloud computing has the potential to be a major technological advance, but until we see the ideas and applications maturing it will still be approaching the top of the “inflated expectations” curve of the Gartner Hype Cycle with a partly cloudy future.
Here are a couple of YouTube videos that explain cloud Computing,
Cloudy Tonight and Tomorrow
glsanders Innovation Blog 
Microsoft is now classified as a Visionary in this space:
· Scalable, On-demand Infrastructure for Your Apps: Dramatically reduce your wait time to provision IT resources by rolling out apps and infrastructure in minutes. Bring your Windows or Linux-based application to the cloud as-is, and scale up or down as needed for a wide range of app hosting scenarios, paying only for what you use.
· Connect Hybrid Infrastructure Services with a Single Identity: Build hybrid services that take advantage of what you already have while enabling new innovation in the cloud.
· Rapid Innovation Using Infrastructure Services for Dev & Test: Spin up a test lab within minutes and connect to your existing infrastructure if required. When you’re done, tear it down, bring your app back in house to run it using your on-premises infrastructure, or keep it in the cloud.
· SharePoint on Windows Azure Infrastructure Services: Spin up SharePoint farms in minutes without major capital investments.
· Robust Infrastructure for SQL Server: Whether you are building a lab to prototype your newest app with SQL Server or extending data marts into the cloud, Windows Azure Virtual Machines is a solid foundation with full SQL Server compatibility, enabling capabilities like full text search or transparent data encryption.
Gartner positions Microsoft in the Visionaries Quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Gartner defines cloud compute IaaS as a virtual data center of compute, storage and network resources delivered as a service. Gartner recognized Microsoft for completeness of vision and ability to execute.
**Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.**
Have you ever considered publishing an ebook or guest authoring on other
blogs? I have a blog centered on the same subjects you discuss and
would love to have you share some stories/information. I know my visitors would value your work.
If you are even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e-mail.
Hello,
I am currently developing a new edition of my book.
I am also open to discussing similar topics.
Sincerely,
Larry Sanders