Your tech career depends on preparing for the cloud

[Buddahfan]

Experts Warn Of Turbulent Trip To Cloud Computing

Experts Warn Of Turbulent Trip To Cloud Computing

by Scott Neuman
June 14, 2011

When Steve Jobs walked onstage last week to introduce the iCloud, the feeling of anticipation was palpable. Apple's version of "the cloud," he said, would "demote the PC" and usher in the next big revolution.

Jobs said nothing about the cloud-based computing revolution that is already under way — the one taking place in the company boardroom and IT department. Google, Amazon and IBM, among others, are serving a burgeoning market for business-oriented cloud services, which offer corporate clients the promise of cost savings and new capabilities.

Experts, however, have concerns for businesses moving to place their sensitive data in the cloud. It's still vulnerable to crashes and attacks and is likely to open up a whole new realm of legal problems.

cont here

To say nothing about the what if your Cloud Provider shuts down and there is no plan in place to have your Cloud data transferred to another Cloud Provider.

 

[mr pc]

could icloud lower the price of the mac?

doubt it

 

[Mellon Head]

could icloud lower the price of the mac?

doubt it

Nah, they'll raise the price of them because the Mac will have newfangled built in protection when it hooks to the iCloud. No data loss due to iRain.

 

[JerometheGiraff]

I'm ready for Cloud, where is my Job ? Must I become a criminal tell the world my goals, get the help to stop doing crime, then and only then I get a Job in IT. It seems working in a Non-IT field, yet having a clean image gets you no where. Time to become a Gangster.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Here are the "Cloud" jobs of future - Disaster Recovery

4800 Aussie sites evaporate after hack
"I think I'm in shock ... I have lost everything .... I couldnt possibly replicate all those years of work again ... my whole lifes work is gone down the drain," wrote one.
4800 Aussie sites evaporate after hack

"All the King's horses and all the King's men, couldn't put the websites back together again."

 

[mr pc]

Or you could have authorities seizing servers for investigations - holding everyone's data regardless of guilt or not.

F.B.I. Seizes Web Servers, Knocking Sites Offline - NYTimes.com

The F.B.I. seized Web servers in a raid on a data center early Tuesday, causing several Web sites, including those run by the New York publisher Curbed Network, to go offline.

 

[Dave76]

Tip of the iceberg, the more data storage in the cloud, the more this will happen.

Everyone should keep your data backed up and in a safe location.

 

[mjm6783]

Wishful thinking

I think that people are overestimating the everyday user's willingness to adopt a completely new form of data storage and transfer. We can argue all day about the benefits and risk of cloud computing, but the harsh reality is that even if the transition occurs, it will probably be slow and non universal.

Some companies and CEOs are progressive, always trying to be on the cutting edge. But many, like the one I work for, are locked into traditional processes and hardware/software that they are familiar with. It's a hard sell to someone who's system is reliably functional, that they should risk all their data and allocate resources to convert to a different form of data storage and networking.

In the end, the cloud, or something very similar will be an accepted reality. But in all likelihood it will not happen as quickly as many are claiming, due to both technical issues, and unforeseen problems.

 

[mr pc]

Beyond corporate transitions which I would think would be hampered with all these hack attacks as of late, they are still enticed by the "cost effective answer" to IT/software needs with "cloud" computing. Little would they know (or possibly care) that their provider also cuts costs...leaving them vulnerable.

Wouldn't the survival of the "cloud" depend on the speed and volume of consumer interest? A slow transition means losing money, wasting resources, time, energy, servers collecting dust....I would guess some cloud providers won't have that kind of patience and the potential for "cloud" start ups would diminish.

sorta like a lemonade stand in the middle of the desert, some people will stop and have a drink, others will pass - and who knows how often someone even shows.

 

[broeckie27]

Cloud not realist even in Many European Countries

Hi although i m no Cloud specialist i must join the group of CLOUD - DOUBTERS

and my arguments are pretty firm

I have been travelling a lot and many countries in Eastern Europe like Hungary , Poland , Latvia, Slovakia ,Bulgary and even greece, and many others ( i m not talking about Big Cities and capitals like Budapest - Pest) do not have the infrastructure for maintaining cloud. They don t have it right now and it will take many many years and many Euros or dollars before they are ready for this ... Unfortunetaly they Simply don t have the money

I bought a house in Hungary Jagonak together with my brother as the country is lovely warm very beautiful and filled with nice beautiful people but even getting 1,5 Mpbs was a ****ing nightmare .... I don t think many people here don t realize that 95 % of the world simple isn t ready for Cloud ----

What will cloud be then? A thing for the Richest countries in the world to have and all the others can remain stuck in the past .... ??? Still i believe that Cloud will take a big part of the cake and offcourse a thing for the future there will still be a demand for Servers and hardware to have ---


regards out

 

[mjm6783]

Hi although i m no Cloud specialist i must join the group of CLOUD - DOUBTERS

and my arguments are pretty firm

I have been travelling a lot and many countries in Eastern Europe like Hungary , Poland , Latvia, Slovakia ,Bulgary and even greece, and many others ( i m not talking about Big Cities and capitals like Budapest - Pest) do not have the infrastructure for maintaining cloud. They don t have it right now and it will take many many years and many Euros or dollars before they are ready for this ... Unfortunetaly they Simply don t have the money

I bought a house in Hungary Jagonak together with my brother as the country is lovely warm very beautiful and filled with nice beautiful people but even getting 1,5 Mpbs was a ****ing nightmare .... I don t think many people here don t realize that 95 % of the world simple isn t ready for Cloud ----

What will cloud be then? A thing for the Richest countries in the world to have and all the others can remain stuck in the past .... ??? Still i believe that Cloud will take a big part of the cake and offcourse a thing for the future there will still be a demand for Servers and hardware to have ---


regards out

I heard from a buddy of mine that Portugal doesn't even have internet in most cities. So I'm not surprised at your assessment.

 

[brady]

What will cloud be then? A thing for the Richest countries in the world to have and all the others can remain stuck in the past .... ??? Still i believe that Cloud will take a big part of the cake and offcourse a thing for the future there will still be a demand for Servers and hardware to have ---

This is how the world works. Cloud won't change this.

 

[mr pc]

I should buy a chromebook and go to some not so hot spots and then sue Google for false advertising (promising a fast, absolute connection everywhere)

....unless they have many small print disclaimers following all these great features of their net-only computer.

 

[Buddahfan]

The 10 worst cloud outages (and what we can learn from them)

June 27, 2011
The 10 worst cloud outages (and what we can learn from them)

Sending your IT business to the cloud comes with risk, as those affected by these 10 colossal cloud outages can attest


As a concept, there's a lot to like about the cloud. Drop those bulky servers and get yourself a big, white hard drive in the sky. Someone else handles the upkeep and lets you put your data where you want it. Even the word "cloud" itself brings to mind a heavenly (if slightly fluffy) fantasy.
The reality is, of course, a mixed bag. What you gain in avoiding upkeep, you lose in control. And the security concerns are considerable. But nowhere is the nightmare as vivid as it is when your cloud service goes down.
Just ask any of the businesses affected by Amazon Web Services' high-profile outage in April.
"We were pretty blown away," says Nick Francis, whose startup, Help Scout, had launched just one week prior to Amazon's problem. "We definitely weren't prepared."
Francis wasn't the only one caught off-guard. Big-name properties like Reddit and Foursquare fell flat when Amazon's cloud sputtered.
"The cloud has been sold as this magical thing that just works and is totally reliable," says Lew Moorman, chief strategy officer of Rackspace, a cloud provider that's seen its fair share of outages. "The truth is that buying through the cloud is another way of buying computing, and computing is inherently flawed. If you want to make sure those flaws don't hurt you, you have to plan ahead."
To help keep your business pain-free in the cloud, we offer these hard-earned lessons at the hands of 10 of the worst cloud storms the Web has weathered.

cont on link above

 

[Konceptz804]

Most of the CIOs I know here in Richmond are not interested in the cloud and that includes some fortune 500 companies. Cloud at the moment is too expensive, requires bandwidth upgrades that most IT infrastructure managers aren't willing to spend. Heck, you'd be surprised at the WAN speeds of most companies.....IMO dont get your panties in a bunch...cloud is coming but probably not for another decade or so.

 

[mickey megabyte]

maybe in a few years' time once we've got much more bandwidth and ubiquitous connectivity, and security/privacy concerns have been answered, the cloud will be great - but until then:

saying that, i have started using a few cloudy services recently: sugarsync and dropbox (still trying them both) to sync things with my computers and android phone, evernote, readitlater, google bookmarks etc.

one has to keep up with modern trends, eh?

 

[Buddahfan]

Quesiton: If you use Windows Live or Google Apps aren't you using the Cloud?

 

[mickey megabyte]

yes - i suppose this forum is a bit cloudy too...

 

[Tepid]

"If you want to cluster a server or build geographical redundancy, it's easier to do now than it ever was before, but you have to actually take those steps," says Rackspace's Lew Moorman. "The cloud doesn't bring inherent weaknesses that weren't present if you did things in-house before.

Oh yes it does. Such as,.... "you lose control." ,, I fyou know what is going on behind the scenes, you have a better understanding of how to control it and resolve it. Relying on other services, could kill your business and bankrupt you.

"The truth is that buying through the cloud is another way of buying computing, and computing is inherently flawed. If you want to make sure those flaws don't hurt you, you have to plan ahead."

In other words, Lew means, "So, Buy 2 clouds, what's the big deal?" :grouphug: everyone!!

 

[Buddahfan]

Microsoft launches cloud-based Office 365

June 28, 2011, 11:53 a.m. EDT
Microsoft launches cloud-based Office 365

Software giant steps up efforts to compete with Google in cloud

By Dawn Lim, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — With an eye on a bigger bite of the cloud, Microsoft Corp. launched a web-based package of its Office Suite on Tuesday morning.

If you're an entrepreneur, chances are you're constantly on the move and trying to keep tabs on the competition. These tech tools help you run your business more efficiently and fit it all into a 24-hour day. WSJ's Sarah Needleman has the report.

The new service carries a focus on small and mid-sized businesses that often lack the resources to purchase more traditional licenses for the company’s software products, according to Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, who announced the offering at a press event in New York.

Some believe that adopting the small business approach is a smart marketing strategy for a company that has feeling the most pressure from Google GOOG +2.46% in the cloud market, and needs to reduce its service’s price tag to get more revenue.

Office 365 will make Microsoft’s Office tools accessible via the Internet and offer users instant messaging and other real-time communication tools. The service, which has been in beta since October 2010, has seen about 70% of its beta testers come from small and mid-sized businesses, the company said.

“Microsoft has been essentially been seen as a more expensive solution, said Chris Voce, principal analyst at Forrester Research, “Going forward, it’s important for them to convey that businesses get enterprise software for lower costs.”

complete story here