Top 10 Cloud Computing Complaints

As the popularity of cloud computing is taking off, so have questions and complaints from IT professionals who are using — or considering moving to — the cloud. Industry leaders answer some of the main concerns that they hear from IT staff about the cloud.

Why do we trust Google?

Nobody pushes cloud computing harder than Google: Gmail, Google Docs, Google Apps, Google this, Google that. It’s all based on a framework of remote resources and an amorphous blob of processing that’s been tuned to spit out whatever we happen to be looking for, accept whatever documents we create, and send email and IM messages. And unlike so many other cloud service providers, Google seems to be accepted in this role, while others inspire skepticism.

The Coming Rebirth of the Desktop Computer

Over the past few months, I’ve become increasingly convinced that we’re on the cusp of a transformative cycle that will rival the rise of the Internet. And it’s going to hit users where they live: the desktops, laptops, and mobile devices they use every day.

At the heart of the matter is virtualization. In the data center, no technology I can think of has enjoyed the hockey-stick adoption curve exhibited by server virtualization, where admins can now scale capacity by spinning up virtual machines with the click of a mouse, instead of provisioning physical hardware.

Why Private Clouds Are Surging: It’s the Control, Stupid!

Private clouds do let IT maintain desired control, but they are not always the right choice. The fact of the matter is that public clouds do a pretty good job at providing storage, applications, and compute services on demand. While the myth is that private cloud computing providers “guarantee certain service-level agreements,” the reality is that “private cloud” is just another term for on-premise systems, and on-premise systems typically have an uptime record a bit south of typical public clouds.

Combating Cloud Outages: There’s a Simple Solution

Cloud services fail when the demand overwhelms them — but why is that allowed to happen in the first place?

I was amused by Steve Jobs’ Wi-Fi overload issues during his iPhone 4 presentation. While he could ask the audience to “put your laptops on the floor” and turn off their 3G-to-Wi-Fi devices, most cloud providers won’t have the luxury of asking customers not to use their services when their cloud platforms get oversaturated.

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