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Cloud Is About Technology: Page 2 of 2

I continue to hear the question "what is cloud" being asked by people who are pretty well versed in IT. I am talking about people who are working in various levels of IT today and have been for years. I also hear many professionals (vendors, analysts, press, experts, bloggers, etc) who have been involved and following the cloud cycle lamenting that every article, presentation, paper and blog has to define cloud, that all the definitions of cloud are different, and these professionals are tired o
Mike Fratto
September 10, 2010

They need to buy servers, software, networking equipment, storage--all of the stuff that makes an agile data center go. IT has to spend operational budget to make the change and it's not necessarily clear that there will be significant operational cost savings in all cases of cloud computing. Regardless, if you stop buying equipment and hardware, then you have to buy services to deliver IT.

I don't believe for one second that there are many organizations that are even contemplating moving all, or even a majority of, their IT applications and services to an external, cloud-based service anytime soon. There may be some small start-ups doing so, but I bet they are the exception and not the rule.  
 
In a way--a very big way---the cloud hype is so far beyond where most organizations are that there is a clear chasm between the two with few clear bridges. IT cares about what cloud is and what it can do for their organization. IT cares about how they will deliver cloud services to the organization, and they care how they will build their own cloud services. IT cares about how they are going to leverage existing and new technologies and products in their organizations. Even something as low level as a networking vendor's preference between Transparent Interconnect of Lots of Links (TRILL) and 802.1aq Shortest Path Bridging will have a profound impact on IT's future product purchases.  

Technology matters. This means products matter, which means capital costs matter. At some point the organization has to select, purchase and implement IT. Some IT services can be outsourced like customer relationship management (CRM) or e-mail, but that doesn't mean all services can or should be outsourced.

The technology and product landscape is changing and it's a really great time to be in IT. But to be able to cut through the hyperbole and see what is really happening, you need to look at the technology that's fueling the transformation under your nose. We've done virtualization. We've done virtualized networking. We've done virtualized storage. We've done runbooks. We've done automation. We've done systems management. These technologies, products, and practices together in a cohesive whole are what we call "cloud," not the other way around.

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