Cloud Computing and Open Source: The Barrier Breaker

The industry hype surrounding cloud computing continues to grow, with vendors rapidly moving to create new cloud solutions or to reposition existing solutions as being suitable for cloud deployments. The hype is helping to highlight the compelling benefits, as well as the barriers, to widespread adoption.  Added to this, there are many definitions of cloud computing, so there is plenty of scope for confusion. Two things at least are clear:  First, cloud computing is a huge growth area because it combines modern technologies in a way that offers clear benefits to end users. Second, the underlying technology foundation of almost every, cloud is virtualization.

So what are the benefits of cloud computing?

Operational benefits:

• The ability to quickly deploy applications and services.
• Scale up and down on demand.
• Improve service to internal developers and business users.
• Redeploy resources instantly to support the business.

Cost benefits:

• Eliminate the need to procure and manage hardware.
• Only pay for what is consumed.
• Achieve greater CAPEX and OPEX efficiencies through a shared infrastructure.

IT leaders are well aware of the capabilities of virtualization, but it is worth pointing out that many of the benefits of cloud computing, including those listed above, rely upon virtualization technology.

Meanwhile, IT managers that wish to use cloud computing as part of their infrastructure also have a number of other high-level issues to contend with, beyond virtualization. Perhaps most important is the realization that a compute cloud is most attractive, and most challenging, when it is outsourced. The instant availability, scalability, and pay-as-you-go pricing model is perfect for today's business environment. On the other hand, placing one's critical applications and data into the hands of a third party is clearly not for the faint hearted. So, for many, an internal cloud deployment built using existing virtualization skills provides a logical first step for critical applications, even at the cost of some benefits. External clouds can then be used for low-priority applications or, if practical, for absorbing peak loads, until the attributes that are required for wider usage, for example security and interoperability, are met.

Eventually, as experience with internal and external clouds grows, IT managers will look to use both types interchangeably. Delivering solutions that support this "spillover" model, where virtual systems and applications can be seamlessly moved between in-house and hosted environments, is the challenge that vendors have to meet if cloud computing is going to truly succeed across enterprises of all sizes.