Articles on Cloud Computing and Analytics_Paul Barsch

7/30/2019 Articles on Cloud Computing and Analytics_Paul Barsch

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CLOUD

COMPUTINGSMART DATA COLLECTIVE

ARTICLE COLLECTION

Cloud computing. Some argue its nothing more than a

re-dressed virtualization trend from the 1960s. Others

say cloud is the same concept as computertimesharing

and that analysts and pundits should move along astheres nothing new here. Thats pure hogwash.

Think of cloud as a service of computational power,

storage and more, much like the service youd get from

a utility company. The cloud allows you to plug into a

required capabilitywhether its for print servers or

analytics.

Cloud computing is typically available on a metered basis

when demanded, and can be accessed via self-service

methodssimply plug in via a portal and access what

you need. And its delivered via a host of technologies,

software, processes, devices and physical locations that

power this service.

This collection includes articles on cloud computing

concepts, trends, delivery models and challenges. All

articles are written by Paul Barsch, a technology

marketing executive at a $2.4B analytics company based

in the United States.

ABOUT THE

AUTHOR

Fortune 500

marketing directorPaul Barsch has

worked in technology

for fifteen years at

companies such as:

Terayon

Broadband

BearingPoint

ManagementConsulting

HP Enterprise

Services

Teradata

Connect with him on

Twitter

OrLinkedIn
https://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/barschhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/barschhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/barschhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barsch


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Where is the Cloud? .............................................................................................................................. 2

Cloud OPEX vs. CAPEX Which is the Better Choice? ........................................................................ 4

Data Warehouse as a Service

a Good Pick for Mid-Sized Businesses ............................................... 6Will Pay Per Use Pricing Become the Norm? ......................................................................................... 9

Everything But Faster .......................................................................................................................... 11

Private Clouds are here to stay ............................................................................................................ 13

Top Financial Risks of Cloud Computing ............................................................................................. 16

Want Cloud Success? Aim for Simplicity.............................................................................................. 18

Private Clouds for Analytics OVER Public Clouds ................................................................................ 20

Are Public Clouds Hurtling Towards Disaster? ..................................................................................... 21

Could Your Cloud Platform Become a Competitor? ............................................................................. 23

Is Bigger, Better in Cloud Computing? ................................................................................................. 25

From Complexity to Simplicity in the Cloud .......................................................................................... 27

Should Public Clouds Be Considered Complex Environments? ........................................................... 29

Will Cloud Computing Change Your Business Model? ......................................................................... 31

ABCs of Elasticity: Always Be (Thinking) Cloud .................................................................................. 33

CLOUD NOT JUST ABOUT COST SAVINGS ..................................................................................... 35

Moving to public cloud? Do the Math First ........................................................................................... 37CAPEX FOR IT WHY SO PAINFUL? ................................................................................................ 39

What the sharing economy means to cloud computing ........................................................................ 41


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WHERE IS THE CLOUD?

Published November 19, 2012

When the term cloud computing comes to mind, its fair to say that most people

think of it as some nebulous group of computers in the sky delivering content tomobile devices and workstations whenever its required. How far off is thatdefinition, and where exactly is the cloud?

Image courtesy of Flickr. By M Hooper

In a dusty corner of San Antonio, Texas, the cloud is about to come to life. As aMicrosoft corporate VP takes a shovel and firmly plants it into the soil, sheproclaims; The cloud is not the cloud in the sky, its what we are about to breakground on (right here).*

Thats because San Antonio, Prineville (OR), Quincy (Wash), among many othercities across the globe, are now host to massive data centers filled with tens ofthousands of blinking computers owned by Microsoft, Rackspace, Facebook,Amazon and others.

Imagine this: racks upon racks of Intel based servers.Multi-colored wiresnetworked from computer to computer. Huge vaults of pipes for cooling and air-conditioning massive computer farms. A few sleepy network engineers scurryingfrom machine to machine checking connections. Is this the cloud?

Thomas M. Koulopoulos, author of Cloud Surfing says thats part of the story.(The cloud is) is a heavily monitored, fortified, and secure array of computers

that are built with the objective of securing data with multiple layers of physicaland cyber security, he says. But those asking wheres the cloud arent asking theright question Koulopoulos argues. This is sort of like asking, where doeselectricity exist?
http://zton.livejournal.com/35187.htmlhttp://zton.livejournal.com/35187.htmlhttp://zton.livejournal.com/35187.htmlhttp://www.cloudsurfingbook.com/http://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/clouds_2.jpghttp://www.cloudsurfingbook.com/http://zton.livejournal.com/35187.htmlhttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/clouds_2.jpghttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/clouds_2.jpg


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Thats because cloud computing is much more than the device in your hand

streaming music, the corporate dashboard on your wirelessly connected tablet, oreven megawatt powered data centers.

Instead, think of cloud as a service of computational power, storage and more,much like the service youd get from a utility company. The cloud allows you to

plug into a required capabilitywhether its for print servers or analytics.

The clouds is typically available on a metered basis when demanded, and can beaccessed via self-service methodssimply plug in via a portal and access what youneed. And its delivered via a host of technologies, software, processes, devicesand physical locations that power this service.

Thomas M. Koulopoulos asserts that where the cloud physically exists doesntmatter; What counts instead is the questionis it there when I need it? hesays. For people like me, this is too much of a utilitarian approach. I want toknow the where of cloud computing.

Coming back to the original question then, the cloud existsin your connectedhandheld device, on your laptop, in your data center, in another companys datacenter, across millions of miles of fiber optic cables, and wirelessly in the air. Thecloud then, really isnt just a place, its more of a system, a massive investment inpeople, dollars, infrastructure, time and talent.

So where is the cloud? The answer is places seen and unseen. In short everywhere.

*as told in The Shadow Factory by James Bamford.

About the Author

Paul Barsch directs marketing programs for cloud, hosting and managed services for Teradata, aleader in data warehousing and analytics. Paul has also worked in senior marketing roles for globalconsultancies EDS (an HP company) and BearingPoint. Contact him at@paul_a_barschon Twitter.
https://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barsch


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CLOUD OPEX VS. CAPEX WHICH IS THE BETTER

CHOICE?

Published August 15, 2012

Among CIOs and CFOs debate swirls regarding how to best budget for and acquireIT resources. The key questions are; should companies own, lease or essentially

rent IT services via cloud computing? Its actually a tougher choice than you maythink.

An Economistarticleexplains the Big Data conundrum facing globalenterprises. Data volumes are increasing faster than many companies have thecapacity to store much less mine them for insights. In this exploding data

revolution many companies are also finding their internal processesmuch lessbudgetsfor acquiring technology are not keeping up with business user needs.

Thats why cloud computing is so attractive. With the public cloud model,compute, memory and storage can be acquired on a pay per use basis. In the

public cloud there is typically no hardware/software to buy upfront, thuscompanies can use operating expense budgets (OPEX) to fund their needs, givingthem plenty of budgeting flexibility. The alternative is to purchase neededhardware and software outrightthus capitalizing assets (CAPEX).
http://www.economist.com/node/18741392http://www.economist.com/node/18741392http://www.economist.com/node/18741392http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operating_expense.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operating_expense.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalexpenditure.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/clouds-over-fields.jpghttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/capitalexpenditure.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/operating_expense.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.economist.com/node/18741392http://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/clouds-over-fields.jpghttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/clouds-over-fields.jpg


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On the surface, going the OPEX route seems to be the better choice, but its a

more complex decision than it seems.

One primary factor in the CAPEX vs. OPEX debate really boils down to how muchof each budget a company has (as determined by the CFO). Moreover, plenty ofsmall to medium size businesses are capital constrained. They simply dont have

tons of dollars to invest in assets. For these companies it makes sense to discoveroptions such as leasing or cloud that can convert a given investment into anoperating expense that would flow fromSG&Aon the income statement.

Larger companies usually have more significant capital budgets. That said they stillmust balance various and competing alternatives, seeking the best return oninvestment. These companies have capital budgeting processes completed on anannual basis and theyre usually only capital constrained for unexpected mid-yearrequirements or restricted based on investor and/or industryexpectations/guidelines for ratios such ascurrent ratioorReturn on Assets(ROA).

Another consideration in deciding CAPEX vs. OPEX for IT acquisitions is resourceutilization per Chief Information Officer Bernard Golden. In a CIO Magazinearticle,Golden provides an example of the decision to buy or rent a car. If you plan onusing the car full-time, then purchasing/financing the car likely makes the mostsense. However, if you plan on using the automobile only for a week a month,then perhaps renting is the better choice.

In the same way, if you plan on running IT resources at near or full resourceutilization for long periods of time then it probably makes best economic sense topurchase assets (if you have the CAPEX to do so). Using IT resources for just a

little while, and then shutting them down? This is probably the best use case forcloud computing according to Golden.

There aremany facetsto the OPEX vs. CAPEX debate in terms of cloud computing,and certainly more than can be discussed in a short article. However more thandiscussions of which funding model (CAPEX vs. OPEX) for IT is best, a morerealistic choice architecture is 1) which budget do you have available (i.e. somecompanies have little to no capital budgets)? and 2) do you plan to fully utilizethe IT asset for long periods of time (i.e. 1-3 years or more) or do you need it ona temporary basis (days, weeks, months)?

Answers to these questions will initially help you determine which (if any) cloudcomputing options are the best business choice for your company.

About the Author

Paul Barsch directs marketing programs for cloud, hosting and managed services for Teradata, a

leader in data warehousing and analytics. Paul has also worked in senior marketing roles for globalconsultancies EDS (an HP company) and BearingPoint. Contact him at@paul_a_barschon Twitter.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sga.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sga.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sga.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currentratio.asphttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currentratio.asphttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currentratio.asphttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/returnonassets.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/returnonassets.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/returnonassets.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.cio.com/article/700432/How_to_Break_Down_the_OpEx_vs._CapEx_Cloud_Computing_Debatehttp://www.cio.com/article/700432/How_to_Break_Down_the_OpEx_vs._CapEx_Cloud_Computing_Debatehttp://www.cio.com/article/700432/How_to_Break_Down_the_OpEx_vs._CapEx_Cloud_Computing_Debatehttp://the-arrington-group.com/tag/7-featured/12-the-new-normal-opex-instead-of-capexhttp://the-arrington-group.com/tag/7-featured/12-the-new-normal-opex-instead-of-capexhttp://the-arrington-group.com/tag/7-featured/12-the-new-normal-opex-instead-of-capexhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://the-arrington-group.com/tag/7-featured/12-the-new-normal-opex-instead-of-capexhttp://www.cio.com/article/700432/How_to_Break_Down_the_OpEx_vs._CapEx_Cloud_Computing_Debatehttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/returnonassets.asp#axzz22szPClVAhttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/currentratio.asphttp://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sga.asp#axzz22szPClVA


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DATA WAREHOUSE AS A SERVICE A GOOD PICK

FOR MID-SIZED BUSINESSES

Published December 5, 2012

Plenty of mid-sized businesses dont have the time, talent, or investment dollars to

manage a data warehouse environment, much less monitor and maintain theseservices within their own data center. Thats why companies seeking analytic

capabilities are increasingly looking at cloud-based options to shift responsibilitiesfor data warehouse ownership, administration and support to a contracted as a

service provider.

Courtesy of Flickr. by Henk Achtereekte

For mid-sized businesses, cloud computing makes a lot of sense. With cloud, nolonger do such businesses have to worry about procuring and maintaining andcontinually investing in IT resources. Now, companies that might not have beenable to afford world-class infrastructure and talent can access such capabilities ona monthly or subscription basis.

Previously, a mid-sized business had three selections in terms of acquiringanalytics. With the right talent, they could build their own solution from scratch, orutilize open source applications a very impractical approach for small to mediumenterprises (SMEs). Another common alternative was to procure off-the-shelf

applications and/or consulting resources from mid-tier system integrators tocobble together a working solution to meet business needs. These two choices(build vs. buy) in most cases still required a company to staff and manage theservice within their own data center.

A third option was to get out of the service support business altogether bycontracting with a hosting provider to provide network connectivity, security, andmonitoring of the data warehouse environment.
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While hosting is an attractive choice, mid-sized companies still must maintainresponsibility for purchasing technology assets, and application DBA support,providing backup/archive/restore activities, application tuning, and the securityprotection of their business intelligence assets, among other things. These datawarehousing options build, buy, and/or host are still available today.

However, some medium sized enterprises are looking to cloud computing modelsas a fourth option. For companies seeking analytics capabilities to manage andoptimize their business with the ultimate goal of delivering value to their businessand their customers, another intriguing delivery model is acquiring datawarehouse resources as a service.

More than hosting, cloud based Data Warehousing as a Service (DWaaS)typically provides an integrated solution of hardware, software and services in abundled package. These as-a-service offers may include monitoring, securing,maintenance and support for entire data warehouse environment including dataintegration, core data warehouse infrastructure and business intelligence

applications.

DWaaS is seen as a good choice for enterprises seeking an alternative to owning,managing and investing upfront for information technology. And CIOs and CFOsfor mid-sized businesses are finding as a service delivery models especiallyvaluable because many lack capital budgets to acquire technology, or have troubleaffording the expertise needed to run a data warehouse environment.

These are all good reasons to think about the as a service delivery model fordata warehousing. But there are added benefits in terms of a shifting of

responsibility to an as a service provider.

First, solution ownership in terms of capital expenditures becomes a thing of thepast. No longer must CFOs worry about keeping data warehousing assets on thecorporate books. With DWaaS capabilities, solution ownership transfers to the

service provider, thus freeing up capital budgets to acquire other business assetsand ultimately reduces investment risk in buying rapidly depreciating informationtechnology.

In addition, with DWaaS, data warehouse support should be included in theservice bundle. This means that DBA activities such as database and system

administration, backup/archive/recovery, security and performance and capacitymanagement are all likely included in one monthly price. ETL and BI supportmight also extend to monitoring of data integration jobs for completion andensuring delivery of daily/weekly/monthly reports.

Thus, DWaaS should be a complete, integrated and managed service offera veryappealing choice for mid-sized companies. These types of cloud based serviceoffers are appropriate for companies that dont have the time, resources or upfront


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capital expenditures to acquire advanced capabilities that were once limited tomuch larger type companies.

In terms of taking advantage of the power of analytics, who says big companiesshould have all the fun?

About the Author




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WILL PAY PER USE PRICING BECOME THE NORM?


CIOs across the globe have embraced cloud computing for myriad reasons;

however a key argument is cost savings. If a typical corporate server is utilizedanywhere from5-10%over the life of the asset, then its fair to argue the CIOpaid ~10x too much for that asset (assuming full utilization). Thus to get better

value, a CIO then has two choices embark on a server consolidation projectoruse cloud computing models to access processing power and/or storage, when

needed, on a metered basis.

Cloud computing isnt the only place where utility based pricing is taking off. Anarticlein the Financial Times shows how the use of Big Data in terms of volume,variability and velocity, is stoking a revolution in real-time, pay-per-use pricingmodels.

The FT article citesProgressive Insuranceas an example. With the simpleinstallation of a device that can measure driver speed, braking, location and otherdata points, Progressive can gather multiple data streams and compute a usagebased pricing model for drivers that want to reduce premiums. For example, ratesmay vary depending on how hard a customer brakes, how heavy they are on theaccelerator, or how many miles they drive.

The installed device works wirelessly to stream automobile data back toProgressives corporate headquarters, where billing computations take place innear real time. Of course, the driver must be willing to embark upon such apricing endeavor, and possibly lose some privacy freedoms, however this is often asmall price to pay for the benefit of a pricing model that correlates safer drivinghabits with a lower insurance premium.
http://www.smartercomputingblog.com/2012/11/09/a-data-center-conundrum/http://www.smartercomputingblog.com/2012/11/09/a-data-center-conundrum/http://www.smartercomputingblog.com/2012/11/09/a-data-center-conundrum/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3c59d58a-43fb-11e2-844c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2FcRL6Qn1http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3c59d58a-43fb-11e2-844c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2FcRL6Qn1http://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot.aspxhttp://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot.aspxhttp://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot.aspxhttp://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/will-pay-per-use-pricing-become-the-norm/traffic-jam/http://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot.aspxhttp://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3c59d58a-43fb-11e2-844c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2FcRL6Qn1http://www.smartercomputingblog.com/2012/11/09/a-data-center-conundrum/http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/will-pay-per-use-pricing-become-the-norm/traffic-jam/http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/will-pay-per-use-pricing-become-the-norm/traffic-jam/


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And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Going a step further to true utility basedpricing, captured automobile data points also make it possible to create innovativepricing models based on other risk factors.

For example, if an insurance company decides it is riskier to drive to certainlocales, or from 2am-5am, they can attach a premium price to those decisions,

thus letting a driver choose their insurance rate. Even more futuristic, it might bepossible to be charged more or less based on discovery of how many passengersare driving with you!

Whether it is utility based pricing of electricitybased on time of day,cloudcomputing, or evenpay as you go insurance, with the explosion of big data andother technologies, its already possible to stream and collect various data,

calculate a price and then bill a customer in a matter of minutes. The keyconsideration will be consumer acceptance of such pricing models (consideringvarious privacy tradeoffs) and adoption rates.

If the million data collection devices Progressive has installed are any indication,much less the general acceptance of utility priced cloud computing models, itappears weve embarked upon a journey in which its far too late to go back home.

About the Author

http://www.ctenergyinfo.com/dpuc_time_of_day_rates.htmhttp://www.ctenergyinfo.com/dpuc_time_of_day_rates.htmhttp://media.amazonwebservices.com/AWS_Pricing_Overview.pdfhttp://media.amazonwebservices.com/AWS_Pricing_Overview.pdfhttp://media.amazonwebservices.com/AWS_Pricing_Overview.pdfhttp://media.amazonwebservices.com/AWS_Pricing_Overview.pdfhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/04/04/can-pay-as-you-go-auto-insurance-save-you-money/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/04/04/can-pay-as-you-go-auto-insurance-save-you-money/http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/04/04/can-pay-as-you-go-auto-insurance-save-you-money/https://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/04/04/can-pay-as-you-go-auto-insurance-save-you-money/http://media.amazonwebservices.com/AWS_Pricing_Overview.pdfhttp://media.amazonwebservices.com/AWS_Pricing_Overview.pdfhttp://www.ctenergyinfo.com/dpuc_time_of_day_rates.htm


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EVERYTHING BUT FASTER

Published September 18, 2012

Speed might not be the only way to win in the marketplace, but it sure does help.

Companies are discovering that the element of speedin decision making,delivering products and services, and communicating is one of the few bastions ofcompetitive advantage still remaining.

Image courtesy of Flickr. the prodigal untitled13.

Zero latencyis the process of removing/reducing the time between an eventand action. Those companies that can react and respond to changing marketconditions faster than competitors (in a value creating manner) usually end up the

first to the lunch table.

Amazon is a great case study of a company pursuing zero latency whereverpossible.

Take for example Amazons initiative toroll out new warehouseson a global basisto compete with retailers. Currently on Amazon.com, when a customer orders aproduct they have shipping options including overnight delivery. However, if newwarehouses are closer to customers, its feasible for Amazon to offer same-dayshipping (by 4pm). This of course will put pressure on brick and mortar retailersthat currently have the advantage ofget it right now.

Amazon has also worked out this time to value concept with cloud computing

solutions. In the past, if a particular company wanted to acquirehardware/software solutions, it was necessary to negotiate with vendors, signcontracts, and get products shipped, installed and turned on. Such a process couldtake anywhere from two weeks to two months or more. With cloud computing, itsnow a lot easier toacquire similar capabilitiesfrom Amazon Web Services with justa credit card and a checkbox for the customer agreement for use of services. With
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cloud computing, the time between event (the need for IT solutions) and action(gaining IT solutions) is down from weeks to minutes.

High frequency trading is another area where speed equals advantage. With thismode of trading, the key for hedge funds and investment banks is to co-locateservers at stock exchanges to reduce the roundtrip time needed to complete an

equity trade. Now traders are competing with faster machines, better algorithmsand faster pipes into stock exchanges. In a field where trades are made inmicroseconds, those who can trade faster than others gain significant advantageto thetune of millions of dollars.

Of course, theres also a downside to speed. As business processes are cut andpaste to reduce steps, and decisions are made faster and faster (nearing thespeed of light) its much easier to make mistakes. And when mistakes are made(see Knight Capital), there is little to no time to correct them.

Speed wins, but theres definitely a careful balance between winning (too) fast and

losing slow. The key for each business is to find that balance and discover areaswhere customer needs arent being met, then work to reduce the time between

event and value to as close to zero as possible.

About the Author

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2012/aug/22/citylihts1-wall-street-gambling/http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2012/aug/22/citylihts1-wall-street-gambling/http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2012/aug/22/citylihts1-wall-street-gambling/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19214294http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19214294https://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19214294http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2012/aug/22/citylihts1-wall-street-gambling/


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PRIVATE CLOUDS ARE HERE TO STAY

Published July 17, 2012

Some cloud experts are proclaiming private clouds are false clouds, or that the

term wasconveniently conjuredto support vendor solutions. There areotheranalystswilling to hedge their bets by proclaiming that private clouds are a goodsolution for the next 3-5 years until public clouds mature. I dont believe it.

Private clouds are here to stay (especially for data warehousing)let me tell youwhy.

For starters, lets define public vs. private cloud computing. NISTandothers doa pretty good job ofdefining public cloudsand their attributes. They are remotecomputing services that are typically elastic, scalable, use internet technologies,self-service, metered by use and more. Private clouds, on theother handareproprietary and typically behind the corporate firewall. And they frequently sharemost of the characteristics of public clouds.

However, there is one significant difference between the two cloud delivery modelspublic clouds are usually multi-tenant (i.e. shared with otherentities/corporations/enterprises). Private clouds are typicallydedicatedto a singleenterprise i.e. not shared with other firms. I realize the abovedefinitionsare notaccepted by all cloud experts, but theyre common enough to set a foundation forthe rest of the discussion.

With the definition that private clouds equate to a dedicated environment for asingle or common enterprise, its easy to see why theyll stick aroundespecially

for data warehousing workloads.

First, theres the issue of security. No matter how locked down or secure a publiccloud environment is said to be, theres always going to be an issue of trust that

will need to be overcome by contracts and/or SLAs (and possibly penalties forbreaches). Enterprises will have to trust that their data is safe and secureespecially if they plan on putting their most sensitive data (e.g. HR, financial,portfolio positions, healthcare and more) in the public cloud.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amazon-cto-vogels-counters-private-cloud-pitch/36271http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amazon-cto-vogels-counters-private-cloud-pitch/36271http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amazon-cto-vogels-counters-private-cloud-pitch/36271http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amazon-cto-vogels-counters-private-cloud-pitch/36271http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amazon-cto-vogels-counters-private-cloud-pitch/36271http://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2010/01/17/PrivateCloudsAreNotTheFuture.aspxhttp://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2010/01/17/PrivateCloudsAreNotTheFuture.aspxhttp://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2010/01/17/PrivateCloudsAreNotTheFuture.aspxhttp://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2010/01/17/PrivateCloudsAreNotTheFuture.aspxhttp://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdfhttp://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdfhttp://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1035013http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1035013http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/public-cloudhttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/public-cloudhttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/public-cloudhttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/private-cloudhttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/private-cloudhttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/private-cloudhttp://blogs.gartner.com/thomas_bittman/2010/05/18/clarifying-private-cloud-computing/http://blogs.gartner.com/thomas_bittman/2010/05/18/clarifying-private-cloud-computing/http://blogs.gartner.com/thomas_bittman/2010/05/18/clarifying-private-cloud-computing/http://www.paypercloud.com/Public-versus-Private-Cloud-Hosting-Comparison.aspxhttp://www.paypercloud.com/Public-versus-Private-Cloud-Hosting-Comparison.aspxhttp://www.paypercloud.com/Public-versus-Private-Cloud-Hosting-Comparison.aspxhttp://smartdatacollective.com/paulbarsch/51963/top-financial-risks-doing-business-cloudhttp://smartdatacollective.com/paulbarsch/51963/top-financial-risks-doing-business-cloudhttp://smartdatacollective.com/paulbarsch/51963/top-financial-risks-doing-business-cloudhttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/cloud.pnghttp://smartdatacollective.com/paulbarsch/51963/top-financial-risks-doing-business-cloudhttp://smartdatacollective.com/paulbarsch/51963/top-financial-risks-doing-business-cloudhttp://www.paypercloud.com/Public-versus-Private-Cloud-Hosting-Comparison.aspxhttp://blogs.gartner.com/thomas_bittman/2010/05/18/clarifying-private-cloud-computing/http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/private-cloudhttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/public-cloudhttp://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1035013http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdfhttp://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2010/01/17/PrivateCloudsAreNotTheFuture.aspxhttp://perspectives.mvdirona.com/2010/01/17/PrivateCloudsAreNotTheFuture.aspxhttp://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amazon-cto-vogels-counters-private-cloud-pitch/36271http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/amazon-cto-vogels-counters-private-cloud-pitch/36271http://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/cloud.pnghttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/cloud.png


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Second, theres an issue of performance for analytics. Data warehousingrequirements such as high availability, mixed workload management, near real-time data loads and complex query execution are not easily managed or deployedusing public cloud computing models. By contrast, private clouds for datawarehousing offer higher performance and predictable service levels expected bytodays business users. There are myriad other reasons why public clouds arent

ideal for data warehousing workloads and analyst Mark Madsen does a great job ofexplaining them in thiswhitepaper.

Third, in the multi-tenant environment of public cloud computing, there isincreasing complexity which will lead to more cloud breakdowns. In a public cloudenvironment there are lots of moving pieces and parts interacting with each other(not necessarily in a linear fashion) within any given timeframe. Theseenvironments can becomplex and tightly coupledwhere failures in one area easilycascade to others. For data warehousing customers with high availabilityrequirements public clouds have a long way to go. And the almost monthlycloudbreakdown stories blasted throughout the internet arent helping their cause.

Finally, theres the issue of control. Corporate IT shops are mostly accustomed tohaving control over their own IT environments. In terms of flexibly outsourcingsome IT capabilities (which is what public cloud computing really is), IT iseffectively giving up some/all control over their hardware and possiblysoftware. When there are issues and/or failures, IT is relegated to opening up atrouble ticket and waiting for a third party provider to remedy the situation(usually within a predefined SLA). In times of harmony and moderation, thisapproach is all well and good. But when the inevitable hiccup or breakdownhappens, its a helpless feeling to be at the mercy of another provider.

When embarking on a public cloud computing endeavor, a company or enterpriseis effectively tying their fate to another provider for specific IT functions and/orprocesses. Key questions to consider are:

How much performance do I need? What data do I trust in the cloud? How much control am I willing to give up? How much risk am I willing to accept? Do I trust this provider?

There are many reasons why moving workloads to the public cloud makes sense,and in fact your end-state will likely be a combination of public and privateclouds. But youll only want to consider public cloud after you carefully thinkabout the above questions.

And inevitably, once answers to these questions are known, youll also concludeprivate clouds are here to stay.
http://sites.teradata.com/PrivateCloud/Cloud-Computing-Models-for-Data-Warehousing/.ashxhttp://sites.teradata.com/PrivateCloud/Cloud-Computing-Models-for-Data-Warehousing/.ashxhttp://sites.teradata.com/PrivateCloud/Cloud-Computing-Models-for-Data-Warehousing/.ashxhttp://smartdatacollective.com/paulbarsch/47990/are-public-clouds-complex-environmentshttp://smartdatacollective.com/paulbarsch/47990/are-public-clouds-complex-environmentshttp://smartdatacollective.com/paulbarsch/47990/are-public-clouds-complex-environmentshttp://gigaom.com/cloud/how-to-deal-with-cloud-failure-live-learn-fix-repeat/http://gigaom.com/cloud/how-to-deal-with-cloud-failure-live-learn-fix-repeat/http://gigaom.com/cloud/how-to-deal-with-cloud-failure-live-learn-fix-repeat/http://gigaom.com/cloud/how-to-deal-with-cloud-failure-live-learn-fix-repeat/http://gigaom.com/cloud/how-to-deal-with-cloud-failure-live-learn-fix-repeat/http://smartdatacollective.com/paulbarsch/47990/are-public-clouds-complex-environmentshttp://sites.teradata.com/PrivateCloud/Cloud-Computing-Models-for-Data-Warehousing/.ashx


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About the Author



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TOP FINANCIAL RISKS OF CLOUD COMPUTING

Published June 13, 2012

Cloud computing definitely hasupsideas adopters can speed delivery of analytics,

gain flexibility in deployments and costs, and transfer IT headaches to anothercompany. However, with all the advantages of cloud, its important to keep inmind there arefinancial risks to cloud computingincluding potential costs from

lawsuits and reputational damage from cloud provider security/privacy databreaches, and possible revenue losses from cloud provider downtime/outages.

For any type of business decision, there are various risks that should beconsidered strategic, operational, financial, compliance and reputational(brand). These risks should also be criteria for any decision to move workloads tocloud computing. However, for sake of discussion, lets focus on financial risk.

First, for cloud computing there are financial risks in terms of potential data or

privacy loss,especially in complex multi-tenant environments. If there are databreaches of unencryptedpersonally identifiable information(PII), many US stateshavelawsthat require consumer notification. Companies accused of data breachalso typically provide consumer credit monitoring services for up to one year.Oneresearch firmestimates total costs due to a data breach average $7.2 million(USD). In addition, such breaches may open up companies to class actionlawsuits that could total millions more in damages.

To mitigate risks of data loss or privacy breach, cloud providers do everything intheir power to safeguard data including: server hardening, user provisioning andaccess controls, enforcement of policies for passwords and data privacy,monitoring/logging for intrusion detection, self-auditing, third party security audits(when specified), mandatory training for personnel and in some cases encryptionof tables and/or columns.

And while in many cases the above practices are more robust in public cloudcomputing environments than in most corporate data centers, there are stilllagging trust concerns of possible cloud data loss or privacy breach. Perhaps this is
http://web2.sys-con.com/node/640237http://web2.sys-con.com/node/640237http://web2.sys-con.com/node/640237http://agimo.govspace.gov.au/files/2011/11/Cloud-Financial-Draft-Better-Practice-Guide-AGIMO-Blog.pdfhttp://agimo.govspace.gov.au/files/2011/11/Cloud-Financial-Draft-Better-Practice-Guide-AGIMO-Blog.pdfhttp://agimo.govspace.gov.au/files/2011/11/Cloud-Financial-Draft-Better-Practice-Guide-AGIMO-Blog.pdfhttp://www.zdnet.com/blog/saas/security-risks-of-multi-tenancy/1007http://www.zdnet.com/blog/saas/security-risks-of-multi-tenancy/1007http://www.zdnet.com/blog/saas/security-risks-of-multi-tenancy/1007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personally_identifiable_informationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personally_identifiable_informationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personally_identifiable_informationhttp://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/01-02/bill/sen/sb_1351-1400/sb_1386_bill_20020926_chaptered.htmlhttp://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/01-02/bill/sen/sb_1351-1400/sb_1386_bill_20020926_chaptered.htmlhttp://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/01-02/bill/sen/sb_1351-1400/sb_1386_bill_20020926_chaptered.htmlhttp://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20110308_01http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20110308_01http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20110308_01http://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/one-thousand-dollar-bill.jpghttp://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20110308_01http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/01-02/bill/sen/sb_1351-1400/sb_1386_bill_20020926_chaptered.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personally_identifiable_informationhttp://www.zdnet.com/blog/saas/security-risks-of-multi-tenancy/1007http://agimo.govspace.gov.au/files/2011/11/Cloud-Financial-Draft-Better-Practice-Guide-AGIMO-Blog.pdfhttp://web2.sys-con.com/node/640237http://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/one-thousand-dollar-bill.jpghttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/one-thousand-dollar-bill.jpg


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why, at least for the next 2-3 years, companies willincreasingly choose privatecloudover public cloud environments.

To mitigate financial risks some companies seekindemnificationwhere the cloudprovider agrees to take on or share liability of security breach including costsassociated a breach. However, cloud financial indemnifications areextremely rare,

and even if offered, the risk associated with such breaches is oftentransferred toinsurance companiesvia purchase of cyber insurance. And of course, suchinsurance costs will be baked into cloud service fees.

Other financial risks for companies doing business in the cloud include loss ofrevenues if there are significant availability issues. If cloud environments are downfor hours or days, this could adversely impact a business ability to perform

analytics or reporting and thus may affect revenue opportunities. To offsetpossible lost revenues, most cloud providers will sign up for availability SLAs andassociated penalties (usually redeemable asservice credits).

Cloud computing has so much upside, that its very easy for business managers todeclare all things must be cloud. Thats well and good, but one must also

carefully consider cloud risks. And while risk cannot be eliminated, it can surely bemitigated with proper planning and execution whenthings go wrong.

Companies considering cloud computing must remember that just like inoutsourcing, theres no such thing astransference of responsibility. In movingworkloads to the cloud, carefully document upsides and downsides, examine yourdecisions in terms of risk (including financial ones), and then make the bestdecision possible for your particular organization.

About the Author

http://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/technology/cloud-computing/methodology.jhtmlhttp://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/technology/cloud-computing/methodology.jhtmlhttp://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/technology/cloud-computing/methodology.jhtmlhttp://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/technology/cloud-computing/methodology.jhtmlhttp://blog.techcontracts.com/2011/11/06/who-should-indemnify-whom-and-for-what/http://blog.techcontracts.com/2011/11/06/who-should-indemnify-whom-and-for-what/http://blog.techcontracts.com/2011/11/06/who-should-indemnify-whom-and-for-what/http://www.infolawgroup.com/2010/05/articles/cloud-computing-1/whats-in-googles-saas-contract-with-the-city-of-los-angeles-part-one/http://www.infolawgroup.com/2010/05/articles/cloud-computing-1/whats-in-googles-saas-contract-with-the-city-of-los-angeles-part-one/http://www.infolawgroup.com/2010/05/articles/cloud-computing-1/whats-in-googles-saas-contract-with-the-city-of-los-angeles-part-one/https://casro.haysaffinity.com/_file/JLT%20-%20Cyber%20Risk%20in%20the%20Cloud.pdfhttps://casro.haysaffinity.com/_file/JLT%20-%20Cyber%20Risk%20in%20the%20Cloud.pdfhttps://casro.haysaffinity.com/_file/JLT%20-%20Cyber%20Risk%20in%20the%20Cloud.pdfhttps://casro.haysaffinity.com/_file/JLT%20-%20Cyber%20Risk%20in%20the%20Cloud.pdfhttp://aws.amazon.com/ec2-sla/http://aws.amazon.com/ec2-sla/http://aws.amazon.com/ec2-sla/http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/06/atul-gawande-failure-and-rescue.htmlhttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/06/atul-gawande-failure-and-rescue.htmlhttp://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/06/atul-gawande-failure-and-rescue.htmlhttp://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/cloud-cant-outsource-responsibility-or-managers/48480http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/cloud-cant-outsource-responsibility-or-managers/48480http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/cloud-cant-outsource-responsibility-or-managers/48480https://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/cloud-cant-outsource-responsibility-or-managers/48480http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/06/atul-gawande-failure-and-rescue.htmlhttp://aws.amazon.com/ec2-sla/https://casro.haysaffinity.com/_file/JLT%20-%20Cyber%20Risk%20in%20the%20Cloud.pdfhttps://casro.haysaffinity.com/_file/JLT%20-%20Cyber%20Risk%20in%20the%20Cloud.pdfhttp://www.infolawgroup.com/2010/05/articles/cloud-computing-1/whats-in-googles-saas-contract-with-the-city-of-los-angeles-part-one/http://blog.techcontracts.com/2011/11/06/who-should-indemnify-whom-and-for-what/http://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/technology/cloud-computing/methodology.jhtmlhttp://www.pwc.com/en_GX/gx/technology/cloud-computing/methodology.jhtml


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WANT CLOUD SUCCESS? AIM FOR SIMPLICITY

Published May 30, 2012

Retailers have long followed the mantra of stack it high and watch it fly. In fact,

stores often pile goods to the ceiling, make shoppers navigate in-aisle displays,and price everything with bright and obnoxious signage. However, someprogressive retailers have discovered that reducing choice can actually boost

sales. And in terms of cloud computing, one successful vendor has taken a pagefrom this retailing playbook by removing confusing computing choices.

Image courtesy of Flickr

InLess is More in Consumer Choice, I cited a 2007 study in which researchersconducted experiments in a shopping mall aimed at understanding mental fatigueassociated with too much choice. The studies concluded that when faced with toomany buying options, study participants couldnt stay on task in completing

projectsin effect their brains were overwhelmed by choice overload.

The folks at Amazon Web Services (AWS) have figured this out. Cloud computingcan already be avery complex endeavorwith behind the scenes infrastructureconsisting of interconnections among servers, networks, applications, controllersand more. So, by abstracting the complexity of cloud architectures via a simpleuser interface, AWS makes cloud computing easy to consume.

But AWS has taken simplicity a step further by actually reducing mental clutterand choice. Cloud Scaling CTO, Randy BiasnotesAWS reduces choice by simplyprovidinginfrastructure as a servicewithout all the bells and whistles associatedwith offering the entirecloud stack. AWS provides and maintains virtualizedstorage and compute resources, AWS users need to provide whatever else theyrequire. AWS, Bias says, has reduced choice by simplifying the network model,
http://www.iccds.com/supermarket-pathmark-attempts-to-%E2%80%9Cstack-it-high-watch-it-fly%E2%80%9D.htmlhttp://www.iccds.com/supermarket-pathmark-attempts-to-%E2%80%9Cstack-it-high-watch-it-fly%E2%80%9D.htmlhttp://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/consumer-choice-less-is-more/http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/consumer-choice-less-is-more/http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/are-public-clouds-complex-environments/http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/are-public-clouds-complex-environments/http://www.cloudscaling.com/blog/cloud-computing/what-is-amazons-secret-for-success-and-why-is-ec2-a-runaway-train/http://www.cloudscaling.com/blog/cloud-computing/what-is-amazons-secret-for-success-and-why-is-ec2-a-runaway-train/http://www.cloudscaling.com/blog/cloud-computing/what-is-amazons-secret-for-success-and-why-is-ec2-a-runaway-train/http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaShttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaShttp://natishalom.typepad.com/nati_shaloms_blog/2012/05/mapping-the-cloudpaas-stack.htmlhttp://natishalom.typepad.com/nati_shaloms_blog/2012/05/mapping-the-cloudpaas-stack.htmlhttp://natishalom.typepad.com/nati_shaloms_blog/2012/05/mapping-the-cloudpaas-stack.htmlhttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/three-choices.jpghttp://natishalom.typepad.com/nati_shaloms_blog/2012/05/mapping-the-cloudpaas-stack.htmlhttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/Infrastructure-as-a-Service-IaaShttp://www.cloudscaling.com/blog/cloud-computing/what-is-amazons-secret-for-success-and-why-is-ec2-a-runaway-train/http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/are-public-clouds-complex-environments/http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/consumer-choice-less-is-more/http://www.iccds.com/supermarket-pathmark-attempts-to-%E2%80%9Cstack-it-high-watch-it-fly%E2%80%9D.htmlhttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/three-choices.jpghttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/three-choices.jpg


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(and) pushing onto the customer responsibility for fault tolerance as server

instances are not persistent.

Bias also explains that AWS EC2 service requires developers to fit theirapplications to the infrastructure, not the other way around. Amazon iseffectively saying to developers, Build your applications with our infrastructure in

mind so they are cloud ready, instead of build your application first, and thenleave it to AWS to figure out how to scale it.

Going forward, there will be plenty of technology savvy buyers with the ability tosort through myriad complex cloud computing options. However, there will also belarge segments of cloud buyers (i.e. those in lines of business) that will want tosign up for cloud computing with corporate credit cards. These buyers willappreciate simple user interfaces, easy to access resources, and less mentalclutter and exhaustion for buying decisions.

When it comes to choice architecture for cloud computing, AWS shows us less

really is more.

About the Author



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PRIVATE CLOUDS FOR ANALYTICS OVER PUBLIC

CLOUDS

Published in Teradata Magazine, May 23, 2012

Cloud solutions are useful when additional computing power is needed. And cloud

capabilities are relatively easy to procure because customers can sign up with acredit cardvia an online portaland start using services within minutes. This is

the public cloud delivery model of Amazon and Google, among others.

Public clouds, however, can have a not-so-silver lining, with documentedconcerns over security, privacy, availability, data loss and latency issues.Organizations wishing to mitigate risks associated with storing and analyzing

sensitive data in public clouds are increasingly turning to private clouds.

Public cloud solutions generally satisfy user expectations for applications like sales

force automation or marketing campaign management. However, datawarehousing requirements such as high availability, mixed workload management,near real-time data loads and complex query execution are not easily managed ordeployed using public cloud computing models. By contrast, private clouds for datawarehousing offer the higher performance, better security and predictable servicelevels expected by todays business users.

Read the Teradata Magazine article

About the Author


http://www.teradatamagazine.com/uploadedFiles/TDMO/v12n02/Articles/PDFs/Stretch-Your-System.pdfhttp://www.teradatamagazine.com/uploadedFiles/TDMO/v12n02/Articles/PDFs/Stretch-Your-System.pdfhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/cloud1.pnghttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://www.teradatamagazine.com/uploadedFiles/TDMO/v12n02/Articles/PDFs/Stretch-Your-System.pdfhttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/cloud1.pnghttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/cloud1.png


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ARE PUBLIC CLOUDS HURTLING TOWARDS

DISASTER?

Published April 12, 2012

The freight train of cloud computing has left the station and is on an exponential

growth tear. But just like in the cartoon strips, there might be broken tracks or achasm ahead with emerging complexity and ensuing fragility in the public cloud. In

terms of cloud computing, should enterprises enjoy the fast paced ride, or thinkcautiously about what lies ahead?

Cloud computing makes sense for companies seeking to deploy IT solutionsfaster and more flexibly on a pay-as-you go basis. However, its not all upside forcloud computing as complexity in cloud environments (especially public) increase,theres also potential for catastrophic failure within systems. And while IT andbusiness users should expect occasional downtime, as public cloud complexityrises theres also potential risks for much worse.

Previous columns have examined architectures andtechnological complexitiesofcloud computing environments. Weve also examined how the moving pieces in

cloud computing are often interdependent and tightly coupled where failure in onecomponent can affect the performance of others. We have also seen how its wiseto not assumelarge cloud providers offer a safer choicein terms of keeping datasecure, and protected from loss.

As cloud environments inevitably experience technological advances, increasedmulti-tenancy, colossal system sizes, tight coupling of processes and components,and myriad IT personnel decisions (and errors) these systems will grow more riskyto the point where system accidents will become commonplace.
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Charles Perrow, author of Normal Accidents, says of such environments; Given

(these system) characteristics, multiple and unexpected interactions of failures areinevitable. This is an expression of an integral characteristic of the system, not astatement of frequency.

Solutions then to these challenges then include adding more redundancy and

buffers for components and processes and also additional data protections (i.e.backups on and offsite) to prevent temporary or worse complete data loss. Itshould also be a goal to lessen the chances of failure through better training ofpersonnel managing such systems and disaster planning with the expectation thatsystem failure isnt just possible, its very likely.

Public clouds are extremely beneficial to many organizationsallowing them toobtain compute and storage resources with just a few clicks and a creditcard. However, there are certainly risks and other considerations (e.g. operations,data, security, privacy, legal) as welland these should not be overlooked.

Perrow reminds us that great events have small beginnings. With data as thelifeblood of an organization, its good to enjoy all the benefits that cloud computingbrings, however its also wise to pay attention to the little details and

dependencies that could turn a small hiccup into a severe case of heartburn.

About the Author


leader in data warehousing and analytics. Paul has also worked in senior marketing roles for global

consultancies EDS (an HP company) and BearingPoint. Contact him at@paul_a_barschon Twitter.
http://www.amazon.com/Normal-Accidents-Living-High-Risk-Technologies/dp/0691004129https://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://www.amazon.com/Normal-Accidents-Living-High-Risk-Technologies/dp/0691004129


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COULD YOUR CLOUD PLATFORM BECOME A

COMPETITOR?

Published September 4, 2012

As more companies turn to cloud computing, social media and online selling

platforms to avoid spending budgets on infrastructure, it is also likely that they aresharing a key business enablerbehavioral data. So what happens when your

cloud-based provider shifts from providing infrastructure or a platform for yourbusiness to actually competing with you?

Image courtesy of Flickr. Kevin H.

Online businessZyngaunderstands while they develop games such asFarmville, Mafia Wars and others that run on Facebooks platform, its also not far-fetched that Facebook could get into the profitable business of gaming. In fact,Zynga isturning away(though not completely) from Facebook to also supportgames for Google plus and other social/mobile platforms.

Thats also because theres nothing that prohibits Facebook from doing exactlywhat Zynga does making great games. As a Forbes article points out while the

relationship between Facebook and Zynga iscurrently symbiotic, There are manythings Facebook could do to damage Zyngas business such as limiting the

Facebook access of game developers, modifying Facebooks terms of service,giving more favorable treatment to Zyngas rivals and buildingFacebooks own

games.

The same is true for businesses that operate using Amazon.coms infrastructure

for warehousing and shipping. A Financial Timesarticlecites Amazon.com as
http://zynga.com/http://zynga.com/http://zynga.com/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/zynga-branches-away-from-facebook-becomes-more-competitive/60401http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/zynga-branches-away-from-facebook-becomes-more-competitive/60401http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/zynga-branches-away-from-facebook-becomes-more-competitive/60401http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2011/12/02/why-zynga-is-not-worth-7-billion/http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2011/12/02/why-zynga-is-not-worth-7-billion/http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2011/12/02/why-zynga-is-not-worth-7-billion/http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/853556b0-c9eb-11e1-a5e2-00144feabdc0.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/853556b0-c9eb-11e1-a5e2-00144feabdc0.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/853556b0-c9eb-11e1-a5e2-00144feabdc0.htmlhttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/ribbons_kevin-h.jpghttp://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/853556b0-c9eb-11e1-a5e2-00144feabdc0.htmlhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2011/12/02/why-zynga-is-not-worth-7-billion/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/zynga-branches-away-from-facebook-becomes-more-competitive/60401http://zynga.com/http://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/ribbons_kevin-h.jpghttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/ribbons_kevin-h.jpg


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offering sellers access to a marketplace of 173 million people. However, the articlealso mentions the downsides include giving Amazon direct access to these

customers for information and communication and the potential for conflicts ofinterest.

Platforms such as Amazon, Facebook, and even cloud computing services such as

Salesforce.com, NetSuite or Google all provide services in the cloud that make iteasier for companies to avoid paying for software and hardware upfront. Inaddition, platform as-a-service providers (PaaS) such as Force.com offer cloudbased delivery models for deploying applications.

And while for small to medium sized businesses there is plenty of upside inavoiding hard to come by capital expenditures for infrastructure, the downside ofcloud computing is that companies may be sharing information with their cloudproviders that gives them insights into marketplace segments.

For example, infrastructure and platform cloud providers have access to online

traffic patterns and consumption or development needs. And in most instances,online selling platforms (i.e. Amazon.com) have behavioral data on customershopping patterns, market baskets and purchases. Armed with massive amountsof behavioral data, its becoming easier for such companies to analyze largemarketplaces and decide if they want to get in the game themselves or at the

very least use such data to improve recommendation systems or categoryprofitability.

Information is power and giving up too much information, especially behavioraldata is definitely a downside of using cloud computing providers.

Anarticlein Technology Reviewsums it up nicely, Hundreds of thousands ofdevelopers know building apps that rely on the Facebook or Twitter platformscomes at a riskat any time, the companies can change their access rules orlaunch competing features.

Some companies have little choice in using cloud computing providers to quicklyget to market by avoiding capital outlays and shortening development times.However, its also important to acknowledge risks of sharing valuable behavioraland other data types with your friendly cloud provider.

About the Author


http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428691/startups-worry-that-twitter-and-facebook-are/http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428691/startups-worry-that-twitter-and-facebook-are/http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428691/startups-worry-that-twitter-and-facebook-are/https://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/428691/startups-worry-that-twitter-and-facebook-are/


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IS BIGGER, BETTER IN CLOUD COMPUTING?

Published April 2, 2012

Bigger is betteris a phrase thats widely assumed to be self-evident. However,

whether it is cruise ships capsizing, or international banks catching a majorcold/flu in the 2008 Financial Crisis, we know that while theres presumably safetyin the concept of size there can also be inherent complexity and subsequent risk.

Courtesy of Flickr/Serhat Demir

Risk management is a critical topic business and IT professionals must takeinto account in terms of cloud computing. And especially for mission critical datasuch as human resources, payroll, financial or even patient data, security and

privacy of sensitive data is a paramount concern when considering cloud deliverymodels.

But in cloud computing, risk comes in other forms as well including financialviability, especially when there seems to be a new cloud entrant in themarketplace every week. New and attractive markets usually attract entrants at asizzling pace, however, when the eventual market shakeup comes due, theres

also a chance your cloud provider might go out of business completely, taking yourdata and applications with them.

And lets not forget operational risk in the cloud, where it might be assumed large

cloud providers might have the upper hand in hiring the talent and expertisenecessary to manageinherently complex cloud environments. However, all thetalent in the world is not going to save an environment thats poorly architected,

tightly coupled, and one operational mistake (or bad decision) away fromcatastrophic meltdown.

Ultimately, one cannot master risk. Instead, management of risks is about all wecan hope for.
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Mark Twain once famously said; put all your eggs in one basket and then watchthat basket. However, Mr. Twain surely didnt have cloud computing on the mind

when he spoke.

For IT and business professionals considering cloud computing solutions, itsprobably tempting to short-list those providers that have a sizable and large cloud

computing presence (e.g. the top ten largest and established vendors). However,for a few of these companies, cloud computing is an ancillary business and theresno guarantee that strategic plans wont shift to the point that spin-offs arent apossibility. In addition, with cloud computingmarginsalready thinning bysomeestimates, theres also a good chance investor pressures may force cloud

providers to skimp on redundancy or recklessly cut corners elsewhere.

Long way of saying, when it comes to cloud computing, Im not convinced theressafety in numbers, nor that a bigger presence and/or market share signals afundamentally better offer.

About the Author


http://www.talkincloud.com/amazons-cloud-computing-profit-margins-are-shrinking/http://www.talkincloud.com/amazons-cloud-computing-profit-margins-are-shrinking/http://www.talkincloud.com/amazons-cloud-computing-profit-margins-are-shrinking/http://search.sys-con.com/node/1000828http://search.sys-con.com/node/1000828http://search.sys-con.com/node/1000828http://search.sys-con.com/node/1000828https://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://search.sys-con.com/node/1000828http://search.sys-con.com/node/1000828http://www.talkincloud.com/amazons-cloud-computing-profit-margins-are-shrinking/


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FROM COMPLEXITY TO SIMPLICITY IN THE CLOUD

Published March 22, 2012

The inner workings of cloud computing can be quitecomplex. Thats why the

founders ofDropboxare on the right pathmake cloud computing as simple aspossible with easy to understand user-interfaces to maskbehind the scenesinfrastructure and connections.

Open up the lid of black box cloud computing and what youll see is anythingbut simple. Massive and parallel server farms that never sleep, algorithmsworming and indexing their way through global websites, large data sets waiting inanalytical stores for discovery, message buses that route, control and buffersystem requests, and massive processing of images, text and more on a grandiosescale.

Thats why companies that take the complexity out of cloud computing arethriving. Take for instance, Dropbox, a company that allows users to access theirpersonal or corporate files from any internet connected device. ATechnologyReviewarticle featuring Q&A with CEO Drew Houston cites the efforts of Dropboxto mask behind the scenes efforts of having your stuff with you, wherever you

are.

With various operating systems, incompatibilities, file formats and more, Dropboxengineers had to wade through mountains of bugs and fixes to make the userexperience as seamless as possible. There are technical hurdles that we had to

overcome to provide the illusion that everything is in one placeand that getting itis reliable, fast and secure, Houston says.

Looking at Dropbox from the outside, a user only sees visual feedback via afolder, icon or the like on his/her desktop. But underneath the hood theres a

whole gaggle of technologies and code that makes Dropbox work. And to create aseamless experience, painstaking efforts are involved down to the tiniestcomponents says Houston; Excellence is the sum of 100 or 1000 oflittle details.
http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/are-public-clouds-complex-environments/http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/are-public-clouds-complex-environments/http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/are-public-clouds-complex-environments/https://www.dropbox.com/https://www.dropbox.com/https://www.dropbox.com/http://www.technologyreview.com/web/39653/http://www.technologyreview.com/web/39653/http://www.technologyreview.com/web/39653/http://www.technologyreview.com/web/39653/http://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/simplicity.jpghttp://www.technologyreview.com/web/39653/http://www.technologyreview.com/web/39653/https://www.dropbox.com/http://paulbarsch.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/are-public-clouds-complex-environments/http://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/simplicity.jpghttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/simplicity.jpg


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If information technology leaders plan to bring BI to the masses, simplicity will

be a necessary requirement to mask the inherent complexity of cloud computing.Ultimately, there are plenty of business users that wont care how their particular

applications are delivered, only that they are carried out with efficiency, reliabilityand security. Thus, user interfaces designed with clarity, elegance and ease-of-usein mind will ultimately put a wrapper on complexity and drive further adoption of

cloud computing delivery models.

And its also likely that business users will never appreciate the hard work that

goes into designing, delivering and sustaining their applications on a 24x7x365basis, and accessible from any internet enabled device. But then again, perhapsthats the point. Application availability, security, reliability, simplicity andproductivity are now the expectations of business users its best to deliver inthe cloudexactly what they want.

About the Author


http://www.inc.com/paul-barsch/placebos-mexican-coke-acupuncture.htmlhttp://www.inc.com/paul-barsch/placebos-mexican-coke-acupuncture.htmlhttp://www.inc.com/paul-barsch/placebos-mexican-coke-acupuncture.htmlhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://www.inc.com/paul-barsch/placebos-mexican-coke-acupuncture.html


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SHOULD PUBLIC CLOUDS BE CONSIDERED

COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS?

Published March 13, 2012

A recentanalyst reportsuggests public clouds are prone to failure because they

are inherently complex. However, just because there are multiple interactingobjects in a particular environment, this doesnt necessarily imply complexity.

Cloud computingis all the rage for business users and technology buyers. Andwhy not, especially because it provides a fast and flexible option for deliveringinformation technology services. In addition,cloud computing also drives

valuethrough higher utilization of IT assets, elasticity for unplanned demand, andscalability to meet business needs today and tomorrow.

However, there are risks in the cloud, especially in the public cloud where businessand news media regale with case studies of data loss, security issues, failedbackups and more. Perhaps one reason that public clouds areprone to failureand perhaps always will beis thatsome analystsconsider these environments tobe complex and tightly coupled. And if indeed this is the case, then IT buyersmust consider that failure isnt only possible, its inevitable.

Yet, first we must ask, are public clouds really complex environments?

To understand if a particular system is complex, we must understand if ithascharacteristicssuch as connected objects (nodes and links withinterdependencies), multiple messages and transactions, hierarchies, andbehavioral rules (instructions).

Public cloud services available from companies such as Microsoft, Google, AmazonWeb Services (AWS) etc., often consist of various components such as applications
http://www.gartner.com/id=1843014http://www.gartner.com/id=1843014http://www.gartner.com/id=1843014http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://web2.sys-con.com/node/640237http://web2.sys-con.com/node/640237http://web2.sys-con.com/node/640237http://web2.sys-con.com/node/640237http://www.cloudave.com/14264/intel-joins-hands-with-academia-for-cloud-computing-research-2/http://www.cloudave.com/14264/intel-joins-hands-with-academia-for-cloud-computing-research-2/http://www.gartner.com/id=1843014http://www.gartner.com/id=1843014http://www.gartner.com/id=1843014http://pages.cs.brandeis.edu/~pablo/thesis/html/node9.htmlhttp://pages.cs.brandeis.edu/~pablo/thesis/html/node9.htmlhttp://pages.cs.brandeis.edu/~pablo/thesis/html/node9.htmlhttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/server-farm1.jpghttp://pages.cs.brandeis.edu/~pablo/thesis/html/node9.htmlhttp://www.gartner.com/id=1843014http://www.cloudave.com/14264/intel-joins-hands-with-academia-for-cloud-computing-research-2/http://web2.sys-con.com/node/640237http://web2.sys-con.com/node/640237http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computinghttp://www.gartner.com/id=1843014http://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/server-farm1.jpghttp://paulbarsch.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/server-farm1.jpg


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(front end and backend such as billing), controllers and message passingmechanisms, hardware configurations (disk, CPU, memory), databases (relationaland NoSQL), Hadoop clusters and more. In addition there are variousmanagement options (dashboards, performance monitoring, identity and access)and these environments typically operate with multiple users,multipletenants(compute environments shared with more than one application and/or

company), and sometimes span multiple geographies. And from a complexitystandpoint we havent even yet discussed processes in building cloudenvironments much less operating them.

In summary, in a cloud environment theres lots of moving pieces and parts

interacting with each other (not necessarily in a linear fashion) within any giventimeframe.

Multiple interacting agents can help define whether a particular environment iscomplex or not, however another key determinant is also very importantwhetherprocesses are tightly or loosely coupled. Richard Bookstaber, author ofDemon of

Our Own Design, writes that tightly coupled systems have components criticallyinterdependent with little to no margin for error. When things go wrong, (anerror) propagates linked from start to finish with no emergency stop button to hit,Bookstaber says. So a tightly coupled system is one where linkages(dependencies) are so tight that errors or failures cascade and eventually cause

the entire system to fail.

This discussion is important from a risk management perspective for cloud

computing. If we believe that data is one of the most valuable assets of acorporation and if we believe public clouds are complex environments with tightly

coupled components that have little to no slack (buffers) to stop failures, thenthere should be a set of practices and processes set in place to manage thepotential risk of data breach, theft, loss or corruption.

About the Author


http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9175079/Multi_tenancy_in_the_cloud_Why_it_matters_http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9175079/Multi_tenancy_in_the_cloud_Why_it_matters_http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9175079/Multi_tenancy_in_the_cloud_Why_it_matters_http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9175079/Multi_tenancy_in_the_cloud_Why_it_matters_http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Our-Own-Design-Innovation/dp/0471227277http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Our-Own-Design-Innovation/dp/0471227277http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Our-Own-Design-Innovation/dp/0471227277http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Our-Own-Design-Innovation/dp/0471227277https://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttps://twitter.com/paul_a_barschhttp://www.amazon.com/Demon-Our-Own-Design-Innovation/dp/0471227277http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Our-Own-Design-Innovation/dp/0471227277http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9175079/Multi_tenancy_in_the_cloud_Why_it_matters_http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9175079/Multi_tenancy_in_the_cloud_Why_it_matters_


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WILL CLOUD COMPUTING CHANGE YOUR

BUSINESS MODEL?


Cloud computing is changing the manner in which consumers and businesses buy,

manage and use technology. However, the impact of cloud on technologyproviders is causing an even more pressing adjustmentas business models shiftfrom simply selling and servicing technology to instead helping companiesconsume it.

The business model for plenty oftechnology companies hasnt changed muchover the last fifty to sixty years. Sell equipment or software, install it, provide a bitof training, and reap contracts from subscriptions and/or maintenance. And if itisnt broken dont fix it, right?

The rise of cloud computing is changing this paradigm.

In an October 2011 report, Bo Di Muccio and Thomas Lah ofTSIA Researchsuggest a drastic change is coming to technology service providers. Instead ofsimply installing and managing technology (via shared or managed services),cloud computing will force companies help users consume or use technology to

achieve business benefit.

Prior to cloud computing, companies buying technology had no choice but toaccept complexity, say Di Muccio and Lah. To reap benefits of technology,

business line managers enlisted system integrators or consulting firms to install,integrate and manage technology on their behalf. In addition, companies had towrite an upfront check (capex) for hardware, software, training andimplementation.

Cloud changes this model. Instead, as more business managers get comfortablewith cloud and its inherent benefits, Di Muccio and Lah argue technology serviceproviders will be forced to adopt a consumption economicsmodel where they no
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longer receive payment for shipping, installing and servicing a box, but insteadreceive revenues based on usage (pay per use).

Di Muccio and Lah also mention that cloud based computing shifts risk frombuyers to technology service companies. For example, in previous years abusiness line manager might pay half a million dollars to a vendor, whether he or

she uses the technology or not. With cloud computings pay-per-use model, therisk shifts to the vendor which only gets paid when technology is consumed.

To be sure, the shift in mix of complexity vs. consumption is not occurringovernight. However, with adoption of cloud computing increasing exponentially,technology and service providers must make plans today to meet tomorrows

business expectations. This means development of new pricing models, products,services, skills and training to make companies more than buyers but alsosuccessful consumers of technology.

About the Author



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says that because of over-optimization, the smallest disruption in Heathrow

causes 10-15 hour delays.

Bringing this back to the topic at hand, when a business runs its IT assets atcontinually high utilization rates its perceived as a beneficial and positive

outcome. However, running systems at near 100% utilization offers little spare

capacity or slack to respond to changing market conditions without affectingexpectations (i.e. service levels) of existing users.

For example, in the analytics space, running data warehouse and BI servers athigh utilization rates makes great business sense, until you realize that businessneeds constantly change: new users and new applications come online (often asmid-year requests), and data volumes continue to explode at an exponential pace.And we havent even yet mentioned corporate M&A activities, special projects from

the C-suite, or unexpected bursts of product and sales activity. In a complex andevolving world, solely relying on statistical forecasts (i.e. linear or multiple linearregression analysis) isnt going to cut it for capacity planning purposes.

On premises capacity on demand pricing models and/

Documents

Articles on Cloud Computing and Analytics_Paul Barsch