Cloud computing is one of the most popular concepts this year,
having found its way into IT publications, technology websites, IT
knowledge platforms and even technology forums. This concept, which
is yet to become as popular in implementation, was addressed in a
couple of keynote sessions and two conferences at Interop 2009.
One such session looked at the concept of cloud computing, the
challenges and myths surrounding cloud computing and the reality of
cloud computing. The session was chaired by Satish Joshi, Executive
VP, Patni, who provided insights into one of the earliest forms of
cloud computing implementations called ‘Search for Extra
Terrestrial Intelligence’ or SETI, an implementation more
commonly known as SETI@Home.
Sahil Parikh, Founder and CEO, DeskAway, elaborated further on the
concept of cloud computing and aimed to dispel some of the myths
surrounding cloud computing such as the lack of security, loss of
control and ownership of data, cost of ownership and lower maturity
levels of cloud infrastructure.
Parikh also cited the example of a bank cutomer who owns his money
but stores it in the bank; the security of the stored money is the
responsibility of the bank. Similarly in a cloud environment, while
customer data is stored with the vendor, its ownership lies with
the customer and it is the responsibility of the cloud vendor to
ensure secure storage of the data.
Nilesh Patkar, CTO, ANTechnologies, provided examples of companies
that had successfully adopted a particular cloud service and were
looking at eliminating the misconceptions and hype surrounding
cloud computing.
While cloud computing can offer potential benefits, there are
several issues that a cloud-based service comes with. Having faced
a few such issues, Abhinav Jawadekar, Founder, Sound Paradigm
Software Engineering Services, provided some examples of how vendor
lock-in can prove to be one of the biggest challenges faced by
cloud customers.
Jawadekar gave an instance of how changes in APIs by the vendor
caused applications designed in the older version to
malfunction.