Servage TotalCloud

There are a countless number of technological buzzwords out there which are constantly banded around the internet- and keeping up with them all can be a chore, not to mention bewildering.

Some terms are built to last- take Cloud Computing for example (as a reader of the Servage TotalCloud blog, we hope you might be familiar with that one!) Similarly, the term Crowdsourcing has continued to thrive both as a word and as a strategy.

Nevertheless, there are many others which don’t catch on and a little Google searching will undoubtedly lead you towards some of them too. But here is one particularly interesting term we believe will bring you up to speed and ahead of the game- it’s a combination of the two aforementioned terms. Not Crowd Computing- but rather Cloudsourcing…

Cloudsourcing reflects the latest trend to source complete solutions to run a business from a public Cloud. Cloudsourcing reduces the cost of IT and provides a service which combines the power of IT applications and infrastructure and its transfer to the Cloud. The outsourcing part is the process of maintaining these Cloud apps and their use.

According to Ryan Nichols of Appirio: “[Cloudsourcing] is the natural combination of two trends that have dominated how enterprises utilize information technology over the last two decades. The first is a shift in how IT is architected– from mainframe to client server to cloud-based technology. The second is a shift in how IT is sourced and delivered–from a purely in-house function to a function increasingly delivered by specialized vendors.

“Both reflect the natural economies of scale in information technology. Organizations shouldn’t be in the business of managing their own data centers any more than they should be in the business of managing their own power plants. And they probably don’t need to have too many expert electricians on staff either– leave that to the experts. Focusing your resources on your organization’s core competencies results in both better service and lower costs.”

Cloudsourcing revolves around the identification of the core essential properties of your business and eliminates the peripheral outside of the core. You have the apps, but you do not need to waste capital on infrastructure paraphernalia which will congest your business at the same time. It is a key innovation which will allow businesses to ensure they avoid becoming top heavy in infrastructure, while also maintaining the importance of scalability and the ability to build IT capacity on a project-by-project basis or to a set fixed term period.

If one Cloudsourcing service begins to renege on their output- replace them. Their cost charge spirals out of control- shop around. You can integrate and create a bespoke service which will allow your business to work under the best operating conditions and function properly.

Cloudsourcing isn’t just another buzzword- like Cloud Computing and Crowdsourcing, it actually performs a useful function for business that will help them get to grips with the latest trends in IT. As Nichols highlights, Cloudsourcing allows each side to play to their own strength, cutting costs and ensuring better quality output of work.

This week’s Fun Friday video states that there are three ways to Cloud Compute- 1) Software as a Service (SaaS), 2) Platform as a Service (Paas) and 3) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). All of the aforementioned methods allow users to run applications and store data online- but each offers a different level of user flexibility and content.

Can you tell them apart? Could you define each service and confidently apply each model to your business plan? No? Well it’s time to get out your notebook and pen, and start to take notes from Christopher Barnatt, the author of ExplainingComputers.com and ‘A Brief Guide to Cloud Computing’ and an Associate Professor of Computing and Future studies at Nottingham University Business School.

Have a great (and informative) weekend!

Last month we posted a blog which advised businesses that are interested in moving to the Cloud to not build technology before securing a security team capable of managing it. This time, we pose a different question-what’s the likelihood of the Cloud becoming a mainstay in your business? And if your company does implement Cloud Computing solutions, to what extent should you do so?

It’s one thing to adopt aspects of the technology, applications and software gadgetry offered through the Cloud but quite another to use it to overhaul an entire business structure.

On the one hand, there is the capability to use the Cloud to maintain the status quo and simply adopt the business data within the cloud for the sole purpose of cutting costs. There is nothing wrong with this of course- the chance to remove the hassle of running an IT department on a fraction of the cost is a worthwhile factor to consider on its own merits.

But the Cloud is capable of much more- and taking a half-hearted approach to implementing it into a business will prove an Achilles heel further down the line.

An important distinction was drawn up this week by CNET guest blogger, James Urquhart: “There is a huge difference between ‘moving to’ the cloud and ‘building for’ the cloud. Are you prepared to invest enough in both?”

Urquhart’s question follows the announcement that Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect, Ray Ozzie, will be retiring from the company in the not-so-distant future. Ozzie’s five year tenure with the computer giants has overseen a technological overhaul in a wide number of areas- Wi-Fi, 3G/4G Networks and downscaled hardware systems to name but a few.

More pertinently, Ozzie has been one of the main visionaries at Microsoft to see the potential and the need for accelerating the capacity and functions of the Cloud. Ozzie’s desire for driving the potential of the Cloud could be said to have exceeded the capabilities of the IT wizards within his own company- pushing the boundaries of combining continuous services alongside connected devices.

Ozzie said: “We’ve seen business processes and entire organizations transformed by the zero-friction nature of the internet; the walls between producer and consumer having now vanished.  Substantial business ecosystems have collapsed as many classic aggregation & distribution mechanisms no longer make sense.”

Cost efficiency remains one of the key factors to attract businesses to the Cloud- but there’s little point trying to save a few bucks if your business simply cannot deal with the ‘live’ nature of the Cloud and the way applications can be used and run.

Taking the more radical step to adopt a TotalCloud has the potential to not only save your business money, but also to embrace the latest cutting technology and steal a march on rival companies. The Cloud places emphasis on what technology does, rather than what technology is. It removes the dependency on internal servers and offers tailor-made packages which will suit businesses on a personal level.

As Ozzie summarises: “Cloud Computing will become pervasive for developers and IT – a shift that’ll catalyze the transformation of infrastructure, systems & business processes across all major organizations worldwide.  And all these new services will work hand-in-hand with an unimaginably fascinating world of devices-to-come.

“Today’s PC’s, phones & pads are just the very beginning; we’ll see decades to come of incredible innovation from which will emerge all sorts of ‘connected companions’ that we’ll wear, we’ll carry, we’ll use on our desks & walls and the environment all around us.”