Cloud Computing represents a fundamental change in the way that compute resources are managed, utilized, consumed, and delivered. The common view among industry followers today is that Cloud Computing has the potential as a paradigm to be as disruptive as other major technological shifts over the past century. Indeed, the current Cloud "foundation" being constructed is, in many ways, analogous to the construction of the public electric grid or telecommunications networks, as noted by Nicholas Carr in The Big Switch. In the Cloud Computing paradigm, compute power is transferred from the edge to the core, challenging the very fabric embodied by the distributed computing architectures that have evolved over the past 25 years. Doubtless, this powerful trend will have major implications for how we work and live for many years to come.
As with many disruptive trends in technology, however, comes hype; and the Cloud is no exception. The hype, in many ways, hearkens us back to the turn of the millennium, at which time we were led to believe that the "new economy" would re-write the fundamental laws of economics; when companies were valued based on a multiple of eyeballs, impressions served, or long-term forecasts of profits they might hope to receive someday. Whether reflected in the widespread mis-use of Cloud terminology, misconceptions about where we are on the adoption curve, the fact that nearly every company today claims to be a play on Cloud Computing, or the increasingly common view that Cloud Computing will, overnight, drive computing costs to zero and computing efficiency to infinity, the hype of Cloud Computing has in many ways taken on an over-inflated life of its own.
I do not mean to discount the ability of the Cloud to transform our lives; quite the contrary, I am a big believer in its potential and have focused a great deal of time studying cloud architectures and ecosystems. In this blog, however, I will attempt to offer a balanced perspective on the Cloud based on my research and discussions with an exciting new crop of start-ups I see emerging. In short, I will attempt to offer the perspective of a realist, albeit a hopeful one. In the process, I aim to offer some insight into what I believe to be a truly disruptive phase within the infrastructure computing industry.
