Crystal Ball: Cloud Computing and SaaS
Flickr Photo: Tech Writer BoyHere at NTEN World Headquarters, we simply could not live without Cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS). We have staff members in three time zones -- and no IT department -- but the Cloud gives us (nearly) maintenance-free infrastructure and real-time collaboration that wouldn't be reasonably possible otherwise.
I've been talking about the cloud a lot lately as I roam the country, forcing audiences to pay attention to me. Since I love the cloud so much, I sort of assumed you all would be behind it, too. To your credit, most of you are. But there is a stronghold out there that is, shall we say, a wee bit skeptical. I'd like to respond to that with a healthy "Get Over It!", but I actually understand where the skeptics are coming from.
Enter Gartner. In another of their always insightful webinars, we got to take a look at where the cloud is now, and where it's headed. I live tweeted a bunch about this, but here are my notes in a reasonable approximation of order.
Let's start with some definitions. Cloud computing and Software as a Service each have dozens of definitions. According to Gartner (and they do consider themselves the authority here), Cloud computing is:
A style of computing where scalable and elastic IT-related capabilities are provided as a service to external customers using Internet technologies
It's an artfully constructed definition that's meant to encompass five ideas:
- It's service based, so consumer concerns are abstracted from provider concerns. The analogy the Gartner analyst used was electricity: As consumers, we don't worry about how electricity gets to our light switch, we just worry about flipping the switch effectively. IMPLICATION: Your IT staff spends very little time keeping it running, so they can instead concentrate on optimizing it for you.
- The Cloud is scalable and elastic. It's easy for cloud providers to add lots of capacity quickly (or scale up). It's also easy for them to add or remove capacity as need for each client, independently (elasticity). IMPLICATION: I'm betting that scalability and elasticity aren't easy to attain in your IT department. Providing the service level your organization needs internally, as it needs it, is a tall order.
- Cloud services are shared. This is one of the main differences between the cloud and Application Service Providers (ASPs). Sharing allows economies of scale: upgrades, updates, and service improvements are as easy to deliver to 1,000 clients as to 1. Private cloud computing is less valuable because economies of scale are limited. IMPLICATION: Cloud software providers are more likely to provide updates and new features than other software vendors. And they will certainly do it faster than IT departments managing their own builds.
- Cloud services are metered by use. Payment is determined by use -- seats, storage, whatever. You're not really paying for the software or the space, you're paying for how much you use it. IMPLICATION: Total cost of ownership (TCO) is much lower, at least in the short term. Additionally, providers have incentive to keep you as users.
- Cloud services are delivered via Internet technologies. That doesn't just mean browsers, since services can be delivered through any Internet identifiers, formats, and protocols.
Gartner also says that SaaS is a kind of Cloud computing, but it has its own definition:
SaaS is an application owned, delivered and managed remotely. Code is consumed on a one to many model, and it's a pay for use subscription. So, SaaS is almost always Cloud, but the Cloud encompasses much more than SaaS.
Whew. That was a lot to get through, and we haven't even gotten to the good stuff! In the next section, the Gartner folks laid out a little bit of where we're at in the world of Cloud and SaaS. Some quick snapshots:
- SaaS is probably the most oft-used cloud service. Just a couple of years ago, software vendors developed "lite" versions of their software to offer as SaaS. Now, the field is much more sophisticated, with truly robust software.
- SaaS is pretty mainstream now. More than half the CIOs surveyed by this Gartner consultant are using at least one SaaS service.
- More vendors are scrambling to roll out SaaS versions of their software, so IT staff are actually going to have to to start seriously considering it.
Some upsides of SaaS software:
- It's generally easier to budget for SaaS; there aren't as many TCO variables.
- Generally, you choose just the functionality you want.
- Overhead for infrastructure and support is lower.
And some downsides:
- It's tougher on the whole to customize your experience. That's the trade off for economies of scale.
- You really have to manage vendor relationships closely to create Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that work for you and your needs.
- Short-term TCO seems great for many SaaS implementations, but longer-term TCO may not add up.
- Security. Sure, internet based services are not Fort Knox. You need to really think about what your security concerns are. Clearly define your security concerns and take them to the vendor.
Finally, the Gartner folks identified some future-trends:
- Vendors will become providers. They won't sell a software package, or storage, or whathaveyou, anymore. They will be selling a service. This is meaningful because it shifts the balance of power back towards consumers. (That's us!) In fact, when it comes to the cloud, Gartner only uses the provider/consumer language, not vendor/user.
- While SaaS dominates our understanding of the Cloud now, other Cloud services will rise to the fore. These include infrastructure (think virtual servers from Amazon), application infrastructure (think Force from Salesforce), and information (case managment types of services).
- Your staff are already undermining your IT authority by covertly adopting Cloud services and using them on your own. This will only increase as Cloud services become pervasive in general consumer technology.
- Many organizations will build "private clouds" in the next couple of years to try to take back some of the lost control. This may work intitially, but TCO will increase significantly for private clouds in the long-run.
- A hybrid model of some private and some public cloud services will prevail for the next decade as organizations look to balance the benefits of the Cloud with its drawbacks.
- The momentum is toward the Cloud. You can't stop it, you can't deny it. Embrace it and start testing now.
What about your organization? Are you using Cloud services like GMail, Salesforce, etc.? What are the benefits and drawbacks you're experiencing?
