Art Wittmann is a Network Computing contributing editor. He was previously the editor of Network Computing, and has also worked at the University of Wisconsin Computer-Aided Engineering Center as associate director. Send your comments on this article to him at [email protected].
If all the vendor noise about utility computing sounds to you like a bunch of traveling televangelists promising to heal your budget woes, place end users under your sway and raise the dead to boot, read on.
Utility computing is the industry's answer to CFO Lament No. 1: "IT costs too much, is unresponsive and is impossible to measure by the usual business metrics."
What utility computing definitely is not now--nor will it ever be--is a real utility service. Information technology can't be purchased like water. Period. Rather, utility computing represents the evolution of the IT industry.
In the next few months and years, look for vendors to deliver systems and software that are more flexible, more self-healing and more manageable. Servers and storage systems will continue on their trek toward modularity. Management software will do a better job of showing how resources are being used and will off-load some of the tedious, error-prone, time-consuming tasks that currently weigh down IT staffs.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
