Cross posted from the Cloudability blog

In my last post I spent time talking about what “cloud” is. You’d think that the technological advantages it brings, alongside the flexibility and attractiveness from a business perspective would make cloud a slam dunk. Unfortunately however many people see cloud as the latest in a long series of tech industry created gimmicks and, as such, not to be taken seriously. The technology industry is always quick to call a particular innovation “revolutionary’. Given that fact, it is unsurprising that some people are dubious about accepting that Cloud is anything more than a slight evolution of what has gone before. While this reluctance is understandable, we also believe that Cloud Computing is indeed worthy of the title “revolutionary”. It is important to have an understanding of the component parts of Cloud – not just from a technical perspective, but the different aspects that go together to make a product or service. Cloud is essentially a ubiquitous product of service that is enabled through four distinct traits:

  • Virtualization – The ability to increase computing efficiency
  • Democratization of computing – Bringing enterprise scale infrastructure to small and medium businesses
  • Scalability and fast provisioning – Bringing web scale IT at a rapid pace
  • Commoditization of infrastructure – Enabling IT to focus on the strategic aspects of its role

We don’t need to go into these traits in detail, but suffice it to say that Cloud is a combination of technological innovations, alongside (most importantly) new business and delivery mechanisms and it is this combination of technical and business traits that is the foundation upon which a revolution is being built. The key point to understand here is that traditional IT leverages some of these traits. But Cloud Computing, by combining all of them, and delivering IT in an easier way than previously, is fueling a revolution in the way technology is created, delivered and acquired.


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Ben Kepes

Ben Kepes is a technology evangelist, an investor, a commentator and a business adviser. Ben covers the convergence of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users.

1 Comment
  • As with all revolutions there will be “rebels” and “loyalist”. No matter how valuable, or innovating the new tech is, the “loyalist” will never adopt early, and will wait until his competition has far surpassed him and his abilities. I spend a great deal of my day triing to get manufacturing companies into the cloud and out of the I.T. Buisness. I’m always stunned at the ones that just refuse to not budge.

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