2012-04-05T18:11:00.002-07:00

History

The underlying concept of cloud computing dates back to the 1960s, when John McCarthy opined that "computation may someday be organised as a public utility."

The idea was simple, but very powerful.
Amazon like many other companies realized that their data center was being utilized way less than their normal capacity. To be precise only 10%. So imagine, some one buys a server for some thousands of dollars, but only utilizes 10% of it, multiple this by the number of servers an organisation buys.

Once the cloud computing architecture started getting better, Amazon came out with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2006. This allowed the external customers to utilize the amazon infra structure on a utility basis. Which means you pay for only the amount of computing power, storage you use.

And as they - Rest is History

What is Cloud Computing

Enough of history, let's get to the point -

Cloud computing is delivering a computing service to the end user, as opposed to a product over the internet. The user may or may not pay for the service.

For example - Google documents, you can use this service for free over the internet, without installing any software. Google docs let's you create word documents, spread sheets and stores it for you. You don't have to physically store the files on your computer. If you have internet you can just login to your google account and view/edit your documents.

There are numerous advantages of cloud computing, some of them are

1. No start up costs.
2. No installation.
3. No maintenance.
4. Accessible anywhere any time provided you have access to internet.
5. Pay per use.

Service Models

Cloud computing models vary: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Manage your cloud computing service level via the surrounding management layer.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). The IaaS layer offers storage and compute resources that developers and IT organizations can use to deliver business solutions. Amazon web service enables IaaS.
Platform as a Service (PaaS). The PaaS layer offers black-box services with which developers can build applications on top of the compute infrastructure. This might include developer tools that are offered as a service to build services, or data access and database services, or billing services. Google provides both Paas and SaaS
Software as a Service (SaaS). In the SaaS layer, the service provider hosts the software so you don’t need to install it, manage it, or buy hardware for it. All you have to do is connect and use it. SaaS Examples include customer relationship management as a service. Salesforce.com is a major player in cloud CRM

Cloud Computing growth projections and predictions

There was a time when the concept was just a hype. Not many people/organizations were comfortable about the fact that their data will reside somewhere else and not in their own server rooms. However, in the recent times, companies like Amazon, Google, Salesforce.com have been able to convince organizations about the strong data security policies in place.

Cloud computing is now becoming a mainstream adoption. The encouraging fact is that a lot of banks, insurance companies are using cloud services to effectively reach their customers and to bring their operational costs down.

According to a Gartner report global spending on SaaS (software as a service) will rise 17.9 percent this year to $14.5 billion.

The recent purchases by major on premise companies like Oracle (bought Taleo for $1.9 billion) and SAP (bought SuccessFactors for $3.4 billion) is a testimony to the fact that people are investing heavily into cloud technologies and the consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable to implement and use these technologies.

A recent announcement from federal government is very encouraging for cloud based service providers and people working in this industry

"The federal government has adopted a “cloud-first” policy that makes cloud, or Web-based computing, the default choice and has required agencies to move at least three services to the cloud within an 18-month period. "

Below are some of the projections according to industry reports

“Amazon Web Services [will] exceed $1 billion in cloud services business in 2012 with Google’s Enterprise business to follow within 18 months” (IDC).

“[In 2012,] 80% of new commercial enterprise apps will be deployed on cloud platforms” (IDC).

“At year-end 2016, more than 50 percent of Global 1000 companies will have stored customer-sensitive data in the public cloud” (Gartner)

Significant players in cloud computing

1. Amazon web services (IaaS)
2. Google (PaaS, SaaS)
3. Salesforce.com (PaaS, SaaS)
4. Workday (SaaS)
5.Microsoft Azure Service Platform (PaaS)
6. NetSuite (SaaS)
7. Rackspace (IaaS)

Linked in Groups

Some of the groups which can help you understand current happenings in the cloud and can help you network with these professionals are

1. Cloud computing
2. Cloud Computing Marketing, Sales and Business Development
3. Cloud Computing, SaaS & Virtualization

Salaries

Make hay while the sun shines, this old saying cannot be more true. The industry is red hot, and there are numerous requirements for professionals with experience. Companies are willing to pay salaries over $100,000 for professionals with 4-5 years of cloud computing experience. Professionals with about 2 years of experience can earn anywhere from $65,000 to $90,000.

Cloud Computing Technologies

History