Comments on: Why the Cloud will Vaporize

By: The shape of the cloud : Public or Private

The shape of the cloud : Public or Private — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:24:38 +0000

[...] You can read EMC’s Chuck Hollis take on private clouds here. Here is a different take on the cloud and what it should or should not mean. As usual, Steve Duplessie does not mince words in this article on why the cloud will vapourise [...]

By: jeff

jeff — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:47:19 +0000

Thanks for the quick reply Steve, got it. I agree that the rubber meets the proverbial road when it comes to recovery. I also think the (relatively) little guys have to focus on delivering superior customer service if they’re to survive in a world where Google et al may choose to disrupt a cozy market at any time.

By: Steve Duplessie

Steve Duplessie — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:16:45 +0000

I don’t think so, or at least, hope not. My point on the Cloud Apps post was that the attributes of a good cloud app are being tolerant of high latency and requiring low bandwidth, for example. One directional apps, like backup, are fine – but recovery, well that’s not so good. BI, on the other hand is one way – data goes out to the cloud, and never has to come back – only the results of the query are what comes back – which doesn’t suffer from low bandwidth or high latency.

My point on the Cloud vaporizing was simply that if you are a “provider” you better be big, I don’t see there being much room for little guys as pure play providers. Little guys best focus on application value if they want to prosper. Who will be the next Salesforce.com? Cheers

By: jeff

jeff — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:15:29 +0000

Great article Steve. But doesn’t this contradict your earlier post “Cloud Apps That Make Sense – Hint: Backup isn’t One” Am I missing something? Is it that BU remains a must have but that online is and will remain the wrong delivery method?

By: Angus

Angus — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 19:32:42 +0000

Just been to my second cloud conference. I am now convinced of the forecast: cloud clearing.

Mind you, if you can get the money from VCs on the back of cloud but not believe your own BS, I would say go for it.

By: Jonathan Evans

Jonathan Evans — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:40:15 +0000

This all comes back to ‘legitimacy’ – whether you have cloud, Saas, on-premise it doesn’t really matter as fundamentally if you don’t have something that the market sees value in and people will buy, you don’t have anything just vapor.

The risk of this current band wagon is that established companies will potentially loose credibility and serious value. There are too many people who believe the ‘hype’ at high levels in business where they can make ‘messaging changes’ that really have no value whatsoever and damage reputations.

It’s very similar to the bricks and mortor vs on-line of old argument when the ‘bubble burst’ – getting the traditional businesses- those who have achieved success because they have something that people want to buy and moving them to ‘bricks and clicks’ – how many of them ‘messed up’ big time, lots and its taken them years to sort themselves out.
It all comes back to VC’s – they want to have the next big investment aka google, the new biz goes away, gets the marketing machine going and off the snow ball rolls.
Ultimately it’s simple as Steve says – this is IT, I cannot agree more. Technology has advanced, which creates many choices as to how we want the value to be delivered and at what price.
The most pressing issue i see is privacy – it’s really going to kick in soon, where is my data? i don’t know, maybe in a datacentre in China? Hence it’s flawed from a legal angle.
I suppose when you look at it, all the VC money being poured into ‘cloud’ is only benefitting a few namely Google, Cisco and the guys who sell all the kit that VC backed cloud vendors need – now that’s a great business model!
Great article Steve – more please!

By: The Cloud: Substance wins over Form

The Cloud: Substance wins over Form — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:02:58 +0000

[...] ESG fame) gave a unique twist to this age-old ‘form vs. substance’ conundrum with this incisive post on the Cloud here [...]

By: Could Cloud Exchanges Work For Storage? - Enterprise Storage Strategies

Could Cloud Exchanges Work For Storage? - Enterprise Storage Strategies — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:52:19 +0000

[...] issue. Public cloud storage for the enterprise isn't a race to the bottom in terms of cost; it has to be about more than just cheap capacity. Indeed, the public cloud storage market is already splitting into three categories: Cheap personal [...]

By: Scott L

Scott L — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:38:55 +0000

I think this goes without saying based on my previous comments but *standing ovation*

By: Cloud computing not vaporizing anytime soon. « The Server Room

Cloud computing not vaporizing anytime soon. « The Server Room — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:33:52 +0000

[...] } I just read a provocative piece about why cloud computing will vaporize. I think the oracle is out to lunch on this [...]

By: Genuis

Genuis — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:45:08 +0000

This makes the most sense of any cloud commuting story I have ever read!

By: Dan Stocker

Dan Stocker — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:16:21 +0000

Great article, Steve! But I think the title is a little bit misleading. I would have put “cloud business” there instead of “cloud”.

By: bert

bert — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:15:10 +0000

haha… “There is no such thing as a private cloud. A private cloud is called IT” I like this

By: Bobby Moulton

Bobby Moulton — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 22:49:35 +0000

AMEN Steve!

We have been around for 10 years and have seen VC funded trends come and go with the wind. Remember when SRM wasn’t a feature but a platform that IT couldn’t live without and CreekPath was going to dominate the storage industry?. We agree with you position 100% but nothing is going to change for the VC’s — they are like high-handicappers in golf who hit 1 drive a round on the screws while splitting the middle of the fairway and think to themselves “if I keep trying it will happen again”. All the while their other 15 or so drives end up in the woods and make for a long walk spoiled. In terms of SSP’s that 1 long drive on the short stuff was Storage Networks. As for the Cloud, we won’t hold our breath waiting for that perfect drive from the unknown (nor is that our partnership approach), but there will be a level of fascination to see who the other 15 shanks in the woods belong to…

As far as we are concerned, one of your final comments was music to our ears:

“Companies that provide arms and means to leverage the cloud will do fine.”

Cheers,

Bobby Moulton
President
Seven10 Storage Software