What lies behind the Cloud?
It started as an academic pastime for me. Is there a standard definition of cloud computing? You would be surprised to know that I did not get a clear answer even though I tried all kinds of search with different keywords. The conclusion I have reached is that cloud technology means different things to different people.
More about boasting about great people running great cloud companies
I don’t want to seem like a man on a mission to criticize others, but the feeling I get is that cloud computing is made to look like it’s for big players, huge diversified companies and for those who visualize thousands of servers churning out their zillion of bits of data.
What I found on the net was that Salesforce has grown leaps and bound because of the visionary owners who started off from their garage. Doesn’t this look familiar? I thought even Microsoft began their humble career from a garage. But what does that tell me about cloud computing? Nothing, I tried to search with other smart keywords and landed up with the great Jeff Bezos and Amazon. It seems that Amazon leapt into the cloud straight from their bookstore (which is what Amazon started off as). There are praises galore about Jeff competing with software giant like Microsoft and search master like Google and beating them both. Good for Amazon, I will say. But what’s in it for me? I mean, I am a small fry, trying to made do with meagre resources and running a Pop and Mom store online. Why should I go for the Amazons and Googles of this world?
The hype around big clouds is frightening
The conclusion I have reached is that there is too much of hype about Amazon, Azure and Salesforce. I don’t want to belittle anyone, but it’s a question of scale. Amazon Web Services and others of its ilk have made it big because they have mastered the art of big numbers. They are big, very big and that’s their major advantage. But for me such a large scale is meaningless. When I go to AWS, I get a feeling that I am about to scale the Great Wall of China. But what I want is a humble cloud where I can put my meagre belongings and web pages and do it at a reasonable cost. I don’t want overheads and technical staff eating into my profits. With cloud providers like Amazon, I get a feeling that I need some expert technical guy who would cost a bomb to look after my website on the cloud. The whole thing is frustrating. I am told that I will save money if I move into a cloud but it looks otherwise. Is there a cloud provider who would show me the savings and still reduce my overheads?
Is small beautiful?
It may come as a surprise but the internet is swamped by big cloud players and their triumphs. It’s tough to get hold of a small cloud vendor. I should blame Google search for this because it seems to favour large cloud providers. I always knew that Google search is biased but this is simply absurd.
Conclusion
In my next post I will dwell on the search for small but efficient cloud vendors like GMO Cloud that offers one of the highest-performing, standards-based, flexible, and robust cloud solutions in the market. By then I would have done my bit of research on this phenomenon.
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About the Guest Author:
Sankarambadi Srinivasan, ‘Srini’, is a maverick writer, technopreneur, geek and online marketing enthusiast rolled into one. He began his career as a Naval weapon specialist. Later, he sold his maiden venture and became head of an offshore Database administration company in Mumbai. He moved on as Chief Technology Officer of one of the largest online entities, where he led consolidation of 300 online servers and introduced several Web 2.0 initiatives. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication.
