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dcawrey
9/26/2016 10:42:49 PM
User Rank Platinum
Cloud time
It's taken some time, but now we're seeing cloud technologies really mature. I remember it wasn't so long ago there was a lot of skepticism how cloud implementations would really work long-term.
Those questions have disappeared.
Adi
9/27/2016 7:29:28 AM
User Rank Author
Re: Cloud time
@dcawrey - There's definitely a strong push towards the cloud today, no question. As he said, everyone is now being asked, what is your cloud strategy? I do think there are some concerns though - about security, about migrating legacy systems and there's always some lethargy as well, for organizations to learn new systems and platforms. There's a bit of a step function for some organizations as they virtualize behind the firewall, i.e., private cloud, then go hybrid as an on-ramp to full public cloud adoption. But then there are others who can't wait to push everything out on to the cloud. Ultimately I suspect it's to do with the temperament and philiosophy of the IT team as much as it is business needs and legacy systems and technology.
JohnBarnes
9/27/2016 7:35:33 AM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Cloud time
dcawrey, adi,
Also, don't forget that even awareness of the cloud is still concentrated in a relatively small number of firms and industries. For millions of butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers out there, life is still (and will always remain) about pork chops, muffins, and wicks, and computers are that thing in the back that we use to take orders, distribute coupons, and do the books. (So paradoxically, smaller traditional business will move to the cloud fairly easily: whenever they have to replace what they've been using, they'll look around, see a cloud application that is cheaper than dedicated on-site servers/software, and migrate because it's cheap -- if it's easy. And the cloud is getting so much easier every day).
faryl
9/29/2016 9:53:58 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Cloud time
Plus there's the fact that popularizing the term "cloud" gives some people the perception that it's something different than "info is stored on our servers, not yours".
People who never think twice about "where" their email is stored or used whatever Apple's iCloud product was called before Apple renamed it, suddenly balk at "cloud-based solutions".
JohnBarnes
9/30/2016 7:29:34 AM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Cloud time
faryl,
People who never think twice about "where" their email is stored or used whatever Apple's iCloud product was called before Apple renamed it, suddenly balk at "cloud-based solutions".
And well they should. As the security people rightly remind us all the time, lost or compromised data is an expensive disaster. Moving to the cloud makes it less likely that a local fire or flood or the burglar/hacker down the street will make a mess for you, at the cost of making it theoretically possible for contintent-wide disasters to take you down with them. People who like the vampire shift because things are quiet are sometimes frustrated by that being the time when maintenance happens in the cloud. And the experience of Apple's and Microsoft's fundamental customer view -- "our engineer knows what you ought to want to do your job the way a computer science grad thinks you should do it" -- does not make anyone want to give them physical control of anything essential. Today the cloud; tomorrow, either nobody or everybody gets the serial comma.
faryl
9/30/2016 8:19:46 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Cloud time
I agree.
I just think it's funny that we've been using "cloud based" applications for far longer than it's been called "the cloud", but once there's a buzzword it gets looked at in a different way.
(It kind of reminds me of the debt ceiling issues we've had the past few years. The debt ceiling was raised numerous times in US history with no issue. Then congress calls attention to it as some sort of political spin and everyone gets up in arms that the debt ceiling isn't high enough like the sky is falling)
Re: Cloud time
You are right, it took a while to label it as such.
freehe
9/29/2016 10:09:26 AM
User Rank Platinum
AT&Ts Future is Cloudy
There is still fear among some companies about moving to the cloud, just like companies were afraid to move to virtualization, streaming data, faster data speeds, and HD TV.
It is about time that features were developed that be used for multiple purposes such as fine-grain functions or micro services.
It is great that AT&T is building reusable business logic and data services that can quickly deliver business workflows.
Time will tell if their efforts are successful.
JohnBarnes
9/27/2016 7:43:50 AM
User Rank Platinum
Another safe forecast, I think ...
The cloud's functions-not-gadgets worldview is not just going to disrupt "traditional" IT (I have a problem calling anything that came in after I was eligible to vote "traditional"). It's going to replace it with something that may be called IT but wouldn't be recognizable to a time traveler from ten years ago. Although the best IT people have always focused on solving client/user/customer problems and creating opportunities, IT has always disproportionately drawn people who like to know how to make the magic box work -- tech people who like to know systems intimately in all their proprietary idiosyncrasy. As the world moves to a function-based cloud (and open systems), the overall IT mission of fitting solutions to problems is going to slide from "I really know how to make the solution work (and it's up to the user to explain the problem clearly enough)" to "I really understand the problem (and once I do, there will be appropriate pieces to slap together in the cloud)."
It's going to be an interesting world. Maybe even a better one.
faryl
10/31/2016 8:49:31 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Another safe forecast, I think ...
That seems to touch on a similar theme we've been seeing where the IT field is moving more towards some of the business/soft skills vs. the tech skills.
As we've mentioned before, there's not always a big overlap between those with the top notch engineering skills and those with the "real world solution" skills.
JohnBarnes
10/31/2016 9:42:51 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Another safe forecast, I think ...
Major challenge for the 21at century: successful connection to the liveware. And why not? That was the major challenge for the 20th and is very likely to still be for the 22nd.
afwriter
9/28/2016 10:27:47 AM
User Rank Platinum
Safety Fears
I have been converting my huge movie collection to digital and when I tell people about it, their first question is almost always, "what if the cloud crashes and you lose all of your movies?" I usually respond with the fact that it is a lot safer than having physical DVDs hanging around the house. The reason for this comparison is that I feel like a lot of people (including executives) are still afraid that they are going to send information out there that gets lost forever, or even worse, stolen.
I am glad AT&T is setting an example for other companies.
faryl
9/29/2016 9:47:02 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Safety Fears
I feel more comfortable backing up data using something cloud-based than a local drive.
I've had too many external drives stop working or the data gets corrupted - it feels like a safe bet that a reputable cloud-based company invests more on better quality/more reliable hardware than I am able to.
dlr5288
9/30/2016 11:53:14 AM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Safety Fears
I feel the same way! Even though there have been hackers being able to get into the cloud, I too feel more secure having my stuff backed up on the cloud for sure!
faryl
9/30/2016 2:35:06 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Safety Fears
I think it depends on the nature of the content too.
I'm more worried about losing pictures & movies than I am about people hacking into an account and accessing them.
dlr5288
9/30/2016 3:14:44 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Safety Fears
Same with me. I value my pictures and other media rather than some account I have on my phone or other device.
faryl
10/31/2016 7:39:15 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Safety Fears
Case in point - my imac is having some hard drive issues . The only thing preventing me from reformatting the disk to reinstall is that I want to make sure I have all of my photos backed up fully first!
(I've run backups, I just want to be able to confirm they ran properly before I click the "reformat" button!)
dlr5288
10/31/2016 9:36:58 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Safety Fears
I think you should be fine then! But yeah I hate moving my pictures over to another device because I never know if I'll see them again.
Re: Safety Fears
In my case I would be concerned about either case. Any of the two would be a concern for average consumer.
faryl
10/31/2016 8:40:47 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Safety Fears
Very true. (I didn't mean to imply one is more important than the other :-D )
Re: Safety Fears
I am still not there yet with that, even though majority of the stuff is being handled that way though we are not engaged at personal level.
Re: Safety Fears
Yep, the safety facor that i feel is there must be appropriate Plan A, Plan B for contingency.
Re: Safety Fears
Good to know that. Digitalization at personal level seems to be increasing.
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