There are lots of ways to implement system redundancy. We can do it at the appliance level, at the network level, at the software level, at the metro level or the geographic level, but the hardest component to make redundant and available is the access edge. I chuckle when I hear usually reasonable people say that with the proliferation of 802.11 Wi-Fi, mobile users will have less dependency on 3G/4G carrier data services.
What better indicator than this disclaimer by Google on its Chromebook page: "Obviously, you're going to need a wireless network, be willing to use it subject to the provider's terms and conditions, and be ready to put up with its real life limitations including, for example, its speed and availability. When you do not have network access, functionality that depends on it will not be available."
I don't know about you, but unless I am in an urban area, the chances of finding an open wireless access point are slim. If I do find one, the performance is so poor that using it is more frustrating than accepting the fact that I can't get online. Even in an urban area, I am better off ponying up for a Wi-Fi service so I can avoid sitting in a cramped coffee shop with my kit precariously balanced on a small, wobbly table. By the way, I consider myself a typical business user with relatively modest needs. I know others have faced the same set of issues.
There are some cool and useful cloud services coming from big software vendors like Google and Microsoft, as well as a bunch of smaller services like Zoho that provide enterprise-grade, cloud-hosted software packages. Their services are redundant. Their network connections are redundant. The Internet is redundant. But I can point to the access edge and call it by a single name. That, my friends, is a single point of failure.
