(click to vote)This is a long overdue post, following on from CloudCamp London, which was the second ever CloudCamp, and the first in the UK. It’s been a couple of weeks of firsts, what with WordCamp too. And yes, before you ask, I have been a busy camper - so much so that I am taking time out to go camping tomorrow, but that is another post.
Like many technology trends, cloud computing is a series of waves and threads, not a single happening. Software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS - a la SalesForce.com), generally lots of things as a service - XaaS.
There were some cracking presentations, especially Simon Wardley’s “Gang up now before the *aaS Cloud gets you” which was delivered in a Lessig presentation style than was more Lessig than even Lessig himself.
Hosted services aren’t new, in Internet terms. However, what is new is the brewing perfect storm:
- Affordable, ubiquitous Internet access (Mobile for flexibility, Ethernet services for high bandwidth).
- Scalable, but low entry computing services (Thanks to Google and Amazon’s cloud services).
- A bevy of Internet start ups producing applications and users that are keen to consume them.
My favourite technology of the evening was really James Governor’s Segway (founder of RedMonk - his write up of the event here: CloudCamp London: the inauguration). However, I didn’t manage to persuade James to part with it, although he did get me thinking more generally about Cloud Computing and the surrounding issues.
Cloud-based services are going to be a increasing part of business life, and understanding them will be essential. There are a number of benefits and a number of challenges, which I’ll touch on in the next few posts…
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[...] Cloud Computing holds the potential to transform business IT, or at least the ownership of the infrastructure. The last CloudCamp was a must-attend event for anyone in the Cloud Computing world (write up at Redcatco: “Living in the cloud computing“). [...]