Cloud Computing - Will it pull us out of Recession?

I have been finding a lot of news on cloud computing now a days and it seems to be drawing a lot of attention from many as well. The term, as technocrats like to project is actually to bedazzle - such as “Ruby on Rail” (look at the name again!). In plain simple terms, it is a service in the web! Almost all the giants of Internet Era have embraced Cloud Computing in some way or another.

Some even have predicted that it will pull us out of the recession! I would love to see that happen, but before that, let us check some facts here first and fast.

What are the Arguments in Favor of Cloud Computing?

I find the below 5 compelling.


1. You do not need to have any backup:

Being a developer myself, I understand the importance of backup and of course the pain of it, if the data is huge.

When you have the data in the cloud, you need not have any backup at all. It is logical. But not completely true! Why? We will see in few minutes.

2. You are not dependent on the OS:

Well, you like it or not, Microsoft controls your PC. If you are on Unix or its variants lover, then you may have some other installation such as Open Office. But you DO need installations of software and if any other required as associates - say you want to export your Project Plan to Excel or you want to import your Calendar to MSP 2007 and so on.

To me, this argument looks irrefutable.

3. You can collaborate better:

Collaboration is a known word for any developer. You check in, check out and check in via some version control software. Imagine the same control on a document by a multitude of developers.

This argument is valid, but is not entirely flawless.

4. Browser is the new OS and it is the future:

Well, a number of browsers have come in (Google recently came up with one as well) and all claim that it will be new OS in the coming decade.

Here I will go for a fundamental question. Why do we need Software? The common answer will be for better productivity, efficiency, and yes, a better quality of life. And it cloud computing does help via social networking sites, video uploading facilities, blogging et al.

However, it is not entirely the truth.

5. Cost Effective, Scalable, Saleable and Green:

People say it is cost effective, but not impact is not dramatic. I agree that it is scalable and looking at some other advantages it is definitely saleable. Of course it is Green as you do not need that many computers to be wasted/upgraded/maintained as you see now.

This is also a good argument.

What can counter them?

1. You do not need backup:

Wrong.
First reaction is – do you want to say I will be online all the time? Definitely not. So, we have offline facilities. But then, if you have offline facilities what about they getting corrupted as they have to be stored somewhere also. It is actually in plain simple terms a cache in your local machine.

2. Browser is the new OS and it is the future:

This I am listening for almost a decade and it is still in the “back to the future” stage!

Software is not always about social networking, search engine – vertical or horizontal or posting videos on the net. It is actually much more than that. This argument holds good only when you consider the former idea behind software (btw, it looks hot and sexy now a days to be a social networking site or search engine type!). For real time system applications to solve real industrial problems, browsers can hardly be the OS.

3. Robust Systems:

Amazon recently went down for a long period of time and it was a real killer. So also a number of important sites have gone down for good amount of period in recent memory.

Building a site with 100% uptime is virtually impossible today.

In fact, as more and more users have access to the net, net transaction will be more as people will hate doing things by moving out which can be done from the comfort of home. And so far, I have not seen any of them to be that robust.

Bottom-line: This is a new trend and is fast catching up. But time will tell how far it will be effective. My guess is a desktop coupled with a cloudtop (if you can say that to be word!) will be the best choice. Sites which have to communicate better in an innovative way have seen success and people have made money out of it. However, Cloud computing is no way replacing the current way of computing - no definitely not.

Coming to the recession part - I am not an economist, but it is well known market will be back when consumers regain their confidence. An i-Phone or an i-Pod works in the market as it brings not only value to the consumer, but also a kind of pride in owning it and sense of joy in using it. Will Cloud computing be the next catalyst for consumer spending? Unfortunately, I can not say "CONCLUSIVELY YES". But then, time will tell.


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