Cloud Computing: The Future Of Business, Or A Would-Be Relic

Grazed from Business2Community. Author: Ann Smarty.

The cloud is a very complex, and yet oddly simple configuration where there is a low likelihood of failure and a lot of speed and scalability built right in. But of course, just like anything else in the world, it does have some problems.

Among those problems is that it is not perfect, regardless of how much great talent, money, and time have been spent making it as close to perfect as is humanly possible. Additionally, cloud computing is also going to forever face the challenge of human nature. While there may one day be a better solution to the problems that cloud computing solves, it will most likely carry a great deal of staying power…

Scalability

First off, cloud computing was designed to be able to keep databases manageable and scalable. As a business grows, it is going to eventually progress beyond the inherent limits of many early database programs. And as time goes on, the notion of simply having a few computers handling the amount of work that is going to need to be done to keep everything humming along smoothly grows more and more preposterous. So when the load of database information is distributed through software to a group of boxes which are all set up to operate in the same way, it would seem that we have reached the best possible solution.

Flaws

On the other hand, we are a species who are afflicted with a very bizarre condition. While there is no name for it, it typically consists of people who believe that they can re-invent anything in a better way, and generally within a very short time frame. Storage.com Miami representative had it very well-put:

While the idea of a cloud system in itself is very nearly perfect, the most major problem that it is ever going to have actually has very little to do with it, and everything to do with the flaws of human beings who think that they can do better on the execution front.

As far as executing the cloud concept, the most likely way that we could end up ruining the technology is to put it together in a fragmented fashion. We can do so through having software inconsistencies (such as setting up the boxes to have different operating systems or file architecture on them), or through hardware problems (such as keeping them on an unreliable power grid and not having backup systems in place). History is unfortunately littered with great ideas which were executed poorly, and have thus lost credibility in the public eye.

Delays Causing Impatience

Another thing which could turn cloud computing from being a great solution to a lot of problems into a lost technological footnote is another component of our human nature: impatience with things that are not perfect. In some cases, the cloud is going to malfunction. No matter how many backup systems we may have in place and no matter how well we plan, failures are going to happen sooner or later. When they do, people are naturally going to wonder whether the cloud is a good idea at all. We are all conditioned to expect things to work all the time.