There is no doubt that cloud computing, or "The Cloud" as many are referring to it these days, is a hot topic for most of our customers whether they are just looking into it or actively adopting it. What is cloud computing and why do businesses need or want it? Most would say cloud computing refers to the ability to deploy and consume IT services over the internet by leveraging an infrastructure which is highly virtualized in nature, managed in a consistent and highly predictable manner, and dynamic in nature. Its dynamic nature offers elastic scalability enabling you to consume the resources you need when you need them and release them when you don't. Interest in cloud computing is growing rapidly among companies of all sizes because it can help reduce costs, increase IT efficiency and productivity, provide continual and consistent access for remote users, supports a pay as you grow model, and overall increases business agility.
Certainly, the above definition captures the concept of the cloud and its potential benefits, but is there more to it than just that? That is a loaded question, especially because it involves a yes or no answer. I personally believe it is much more, or should I say it will become so much more, than what I defined above. It is absolutely all of the above, but it is also the biggest breakthrough in computing since the invention of the internet, or possibly even bigger. Why, you ask? That requires a very brief look at why this model is an established and effective way at delivering a service consumed by millions, sometimes billions of people.
Look at it this way: your power company has basically been providing the equivalent of cloud services for years. Similar to many other utilities, cloud computing is simply taking a physical service we use daily and transforming it into a resource we consume. At its core, it is no different than the concepts of power, bandwidth, gas, or water consumption. Using a power company as an example (which happens to be the best in the business at providing a critical utility based service), the power company have routed power on demand as needed, and metered and charged for usage as appropriate across the global power grid for decades. Think about that. A service nearly every single person needs, routed across a global power grid, or network if you will, and billed with precise accuracy. It is bought and sold depending on demand and is delivered to the end consumer in the specific amounts they need, adjusting levels up and down as it is needed. Most importantly, this concept has been embraced by the entire globe.
Cloud computing is the transformation of physical computing infrastructures such as corporate networks into utility based computing infrastructure. The transformation involves changing everything from hardware, software, services, and support resources into a utility that is metered and billed based upon usage and consumption on an as needed basis. What a concept: Pay for only what I use? Really? (In my opinion, there is a huge amount of inconsistency in how that is done. Often times, it is cheaper to go with an always on provider than a usage based billing provider. This will improve significantly over the next few years.)
The Internet, which is our "global power grid", is better and faster than ever. A combination of new software, hardware, and the transformation of IT management into a service has made utility IT infrastructures, and thus both public and private cloud computing, a viable solution for everyone. Cloud computing is cost effective, easy to support, highly scalable, and highly efficient, which maximizes usage of resource and reduces overall carbon footprint globally. It is here to stay, possibly even eventually becoming the largest contributer to the reversal of global warming. The rabbit hole goes a bit deeper: the VDI.
Probably the most underestimated and overlooked capability the cloud has enabled is the VDI (Virtual Desktop Interface). This is the new PC. There are those who may scoff at this comment. Sadly, they probably work at Google or Apple. The VDI is the new PC - the PC of the future. I personally believe that this is the most impacting feature the cloud will enable; it will redefine personal computing as we know it and bring to life the first truly Future Proof PC. Yours forever. Forever new.
Honestly, I cannot dive very deeply into this topic as InfinIT is nearly ready to enable its VDI offering which is going to shock the computing world. Look for this in a future blog where you can become part of our iDNA - for free. What I will say is the VDI will enable an entire market of new, extremely advanced, highly efficient solutions to flood the market place. It will allow us to make breakthroughs in technology that enables us to do things that have been talked about for years yet were never altogether possible. Perhaps not as impressive as "Beam Me Up Scottie", but game changing nonetheless. Efficiency enhancements aside, consider with me if you will, your desktop PC in the cloud, accessible as a highly secure service from any internet connection 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Your house, car, wallet, watch, iPod, iPad, cell phone, TV... The list doesn't stop. We will be inventing gadgets that leverage this for decades. Yes. Decades. It changes the entire landscape of computing. There is more, a lot more, but we will save that for a later time. Check back soon for a blog post and official beta release of our iDNA - VDI. The PC of the future is here today and the future is free!
We forgot to answer the question, "Why do businesses need it?" Well, why do businesses need the internet?
