There are three things that I've been thinking about lately:
- Performance management for cloud computing,
- Cloud computing and carriers (i.e., telecom companies such as telephony and cable), and
- The connection between the two.
The level of interest in what carriers are doing has been sufficient to warrant the attention of industry analysts and entire conference tracks devoted to discussion of the impact carriers are having on cloud computing. Depending on your perspective, you're probably in one of two camps: those who think carriers are too large, slow, and generally old school to offer cloud computing solutions, and those who think carriers are well placed to run them. For simplicity, let's call them cloud carriers. I know, a bit cheesy.
Carriers are typically thought of as large organizations that are not as agile as smaller organizations. The common analogy is that of trying to turn the Titanic on a dime: not so easy. Yet, here are organizations that have a wide ranging clientele that includes the likes of governments (federal, state, provincial, municipal), educational institutions and large enterprise, as well customers in the the mid and mass market segments. Not to mention that they have the scale available to fund and staff product development projects of the scale required to develop and launch cloud based services. This puts them in a unique situation with respect to offering end-to-end services ranging from customer premise equipment, connectivity, data centre, hosted servers, and all manner of cloud based services. Cloud computing, is not a huge stretch when taking this into consideration.
For many organizations, performance management forms a core part of their service delivery strategy. However, these same organizations don't typically control much of the infrastructure that is used to deliver their services beyond the edge of their network; non-core services are offered by various vendors such as ISPs, data centre providers, etc., which makes resolving problems more challenging because there are more intermediaries that affect the service. Throw in the various SLAs that are contracted, and the effective SLA drops to below the lowest contracted SLA.
Since carriers are able to offer a range of services, they are in the unique position of being able to address performance problems globally making it easier for customers to obtain assistance and becoming the proverbial "one throat to choke". Several carriers have already made bets that their customers will buy cloud based services from them and have either acquired smaller service providers or invested in the technologies and infrastructure required to deliver those services.
Despite the fact that AWS has clearly claimed the lead in the cloud service provider market, it is too early to count out carriers: they have the hallmarks of an integrated service provider as well as the means to deploy services and support them. Look to carriers to make an even bigger push into cloud services in the next few years.
It's been a while coming. Many people with whom I have spoken have been saying that there is little in the way of direction in Canada with respect to cloud computing. Such an organization would help to shape Canada's nascent cloud market and would help the Government of Canada develop its national strategy for cloud computing including how legislation would fit into the picture.
Over the past few years, several events that are focused on cloud computing or that have dedicated tracks related to cloud computing have cropped up in the US (see Cloud Connect, Interop, etc.). However, there have been few, if any, national non-partisan conferences aimed at helping Canadian organizations make decisions about cloud computing, whether these organizations are consumers or service providers, for profit or not for profit, government, of private sector.
It is pretty well known that Canada lags behind the United States in terms of IT innovation and adoption rates and cloud computing innovation and adoption is no different. At this point, it is fair to say that we are anywhere between 1-3 years behind. Suffice it to say, Canada needs to catch up. And, as long as there is no unifying organization that can provide some direction and cohesion in the market, it will remain behind with a fractured market and consumers who are confused as to offerings in the market place. Shaping the market and guiding users should be an overarching goal for any national organization.
Another way a national cloud interest group would help advance cloud computing in Canada is by advocating it with the Canadian Government, both from its position as a potential user and its position as legislator and regulator. Relatively speaking, we are still in the early days of cloud computing, but it is not the wild west. Governments are trying to make sense of this new business model. What are the impacts on privacy? What is the impact on e-commerce? What is the impact on the economy? What about jobs? For example, Microsoft recently commissioned a study that examined the question of jobs: the implication is that cloud computing will create 70,000 jobs in Canada by 2015. A national interest group would be in a position to accumulate relevant information and prepare briefs for government officials who are responsible for the day-to-day management of the country and its laws and regulations.
Lastly, it is of paramount importance that any emergent national cloud interest group remains impartial with respect to service providers and not promote one's services over another's; transparency will be key in maintaining impartiality so as to avoid any perception of conflict of interest. This impartiality will be important to maintain the thought leadership that it will inevitably generate through its activities and exposure to the cloud community in Canada and the United States.