Cloud Computing Digest

We’re back! Sorry I missed last week. I had family coming to visit and was so excited is completely slipped my mind Here’s hoping this week’s content makes up for it.

First off I have a link that I’m really happy about. Consolidate Graphics in Texas is going into cloud computing in a big way! What makes this so significant I that CGX deals with data that is highly subject to HIPAA compliance (a US standard for the handling of health care related personal information).  My firm is pleased to have CGX as part of our Azure Privilege Club program and even more pleased to see them able to take advantage of the cloud in this way.

ReadWriteCloud is back on my radar again this week (I’ve linked to them frequently of late). This time they have an editorial from Klint Finley talking about where Microsoft’s direction *should* be. Namely less focus on licensing and advertising revenue and more on monetizing access to the data they have available to them. Interesting idea.

Related pretty closely is and editorial from Tom Lounibos at Soasta.com about the impact cloud computing could have on the “technology giants”. Will they adjust their distribution models to compensate? Or will they be able to force cloud computing into their established models.

My buddy Carl Brooks over at SearchCloudComputing.com put up another editorial last month. He highlights some common cases for leveraging cloud computing services. I’ve seen these scenarios first hand with small and medium businesses. Unfortunately, the story for the enterprise isn’t quite as simple.

Then there’s this HPC thing again. IBM announced high performance computing for the private cloud. This solution is focused at scientific and technical workloads, but I’m sure it’s capable of much more. And since this is a private (aka on-premises) solution, the issue with transferring large datasets around isn’t a challenge.

Lastly, I’m never one to shy away from the negative about cloud. And on that subject, Dave Laskowski, a colleague of mine from Chicago sent me a good editorial. This NY Times op-ed is a nice cautionary tale about leveraging the cloud and what happens when security fails. And a message I raise with all the clients I talk to about cloud.

Until next time!