Cloud computing

[ExtremeX]

iTunes / Apple App Store / Media is almost like that as well.

Not that I game much anymore but gonig old school here, look what happened to games like Counter-Strike. Now its all managed via Steam, just like what Sony is trying to do.

I haven't purchased physical game media in ages, its all electronic licences. There was a time when I enjoyed having the physical thing but its in the past.

[Nose Nuggets]

You'd be surprised the level of control Gmail / Gapps allows admins. Its come a long way in the last year. I can appreciate the perspective of "wanting to make sure you have work " - just because it's physically no longer your responsibility doesn't mean it doesn't require real IT professionals to admin

i have enough customers to not really worry about the lack of work, as we still provide all the basic helpdesk stuff as well but even all that aside - i just prefer being able to deliver to the customer. i hate telling them "i have a ticket open with XXXXX, and im waiting on them".

[Coded-Dude]

on a very related note : Anyone see what Sony is trying to do with their next Playstation ? They are trying to figure out a way to never transfer physical game ownership to the end user and instead sort out some sort of "cable tv" licensing style with everything being hosted.

I hate the idea @ present because the breadth of content is no where near the size needed to justify a syndication licensing approach - basically they are trying to make a "pay per view" console gaming experience. Should be interesting

I heard the used game issue was FUD, but it is interesting to see developers and publishers trying to remove the used game market from the....market. Putting small brick and mortar stores and places like gamefly out of business.

[Deadbolt]

i have enough customers to not really worry about the lack of work, as we still provide all the basic helpdesk stuff as well but even all that aside - i just prefer being able to deliver to the customer. i hate telling them "i have a ticket open with XXXXX, and im waiting on them".

I know that feel. We are retiring a CMS environment that had "different APIs" in that the customer (us) were not given various java docs and its resulted in so many of those situations it would be infuriating if I paid in deliverables.

The biggest part to cloud computing in any aspect is making sure it is thoroughly investigated from performance, service expectations and ultimately in the situation services expectations are not met - whats the worst case scenario.

The best way I can relate shopping for cloud solutions is like shopping for a JSR portal web app / environment : A lot of promises get made and you really need to be judicious in determining which is true and which is "marketing"

[Coded-Dude]

Its like shopping for a good VoIP provider too...plenty of promises as well as lots of problems. I want a cloud solution because I am tired of migrating hardware & software, and all the re-configuring that goes with it. Woo Hoo!

[Deadbolt]

Its like shopping for a good VoIP provider too...plenty of promises as well as lots of problems. I want a cloud solution because I am tired of migrating hardware & software, and all the re-configuring that goes with it. Woo Hoo!

yeah but never get down about it, and if you do remember the old asian proverb :

"Where would the Gardener be without Weeds?"

[walletclan]

salesforce

[Deadbolt]

excellent CRM

[xrMike]

Just curious about something... How do you maintain control over your corporate IP, trade secrets, etc. if you have a hosted/cloud solution for your email? I mean your provider can tell you pretty much anything they want re: the Fort Knox-like security of their datacenter, and all you can do is take their word for it, seems to me.

[Deadbolt]

Just curious about something... How do you maintain control over your corporate IP, trade secrets, etc. if you have a hosted/cloud solution for your email? I mean your provider can tell you pretty much anything they want re: the Fort Knox-like security of their datacenter, and all you can do is take their word for it, seems to me.

good question! Generally speaking, any business with the necessity of IP and what not will go through a rigorous exploration process prior to solution choice.

This will of course include liability assessments and "can the host pay damages if it hits the fan" --- most "cloud computing" is only really attempted by large companies; google, amazon, Salesforce, etc...

Cloud computing is like "AJAX" - a buzz word that simply refers to an approach not a product - every implementation of that approach can be excellent or ultra wonky - its up to the end user to decide what is right for them and their needs.

Specific security guarantees or measures im not privy to as im a code peon not an IT architect so my input on these sorts of things come from a "how useful is this to us" not so much an "is this a secure infrastructure" ( obviously i have my own security concerns but that relates to the actual implementation of software running rather than system architecture and what have you )

IT guys sort out the environment, i just figure out where to put the semicolons

[ExtremeX]

Just curious about something... How do you maintain control over your corporate IP, trade secrets, etc. if you have a hosted/cloud solution for your email? I mean your provider can tell you pretty much anything they want re: the Fort Knox-like security of their datacenter, and all you can do is take their word for it, seems to me.

Well that's a why some companies will never adopt hosted services like this...

Some of it has to do with how sensitive the data actually is, sometimes its a trust or retention issue...

I don't think the local corner shop bakery or whatever has an issue with it, but I'm pretty sure a defense contractor might approach that differently.

Services like this arnt for everyone, nor should it be. All of our email is cloud based via hosted exchange direct from Microsoft, but we maintain our own internal in house file servers and manage our VPN gateways internally. Anything sent via email isn't sensitive enough to even worry about it.

[Deadbolt]

I think everyone is over thinking this issue.


Cloud computing is not here to replace the proprietary system(s) that allow you to measure antigravitational fields within a 35foot diameter sphere of metal.

Its here to manage simple things like the collaboration between business colleagues via simple spreadsheets, email, calendars, database views (and edit screens if you have the developers!) and all that other mid level, cog and wheel stuff.

"The Cloud" beyond that - if you are interested in the next tier, is simply chained systems sharing computational load. At that point we're largely beyond a common Exchange or Google Apssss discussion and you're making much more money than you ever really thought you could make for designing 3dimensional fart jokes

[Johnnyfres]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg12qNRgSag

Here you go. This is what "Cloud Computing" is.

[Coded-Dude]

deadbolt has it right......it's really two tiers in the sense we are discussing.

Hosted apps and data for SMB - Centralized, always online: customer contacts, projects management, email, leads, sales forecasts, etc. & Private cloud environments - Designed for larger corporations or companies with a desire for cloud computing and a need for total control of the data. Regardless of the need, there are a plethora of solutions on the market.

HP on Tuesday announced its HP Converged Cloud with a "hardened" version of open source OpenStack software. With the HP approach to cloud computing, enterprises will be able to implement an architecture internally that will potentially match up with an external cloud service provider, offering a smoother path to future hybrid cloud operations.

source - full article

[ExtremeX]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg12qNRgSag

Here you go. This is what "Cloud Computing" is.

haha, love it

funny because its true