Cloud vs. in-house

After I had attended the last class that includes cloud computing lecture by Ms. Shoptaw, I was motivated to do this blog. Begin with the definition of cloud computing, I believe that there are not many people who are familiar with this word. It is defined in a different way, for example, some analysts and vendors define cloud computing as an updated version of utility computing: basically virtual servers available over the Internet. Others argue that it is anything you consume outside the firewall is “in the cloud,” including conventional outsourcing. Based on Wikipedia, cloud computing is a way of computing, via the Internet, that broadly shares computer resources instead of using software or storage on a local PC.
Cloud computing allows consumers and businesses to use applications without installation and access their personal files at any computer with Internet access. This technology allows for much more efficient computing by centralizing storage, memory, processing and bandwidth.
Cloud computing is broken down into three segments: “applications,” “platforms,” and “infrastructure.” Each segment serves a different purpose and offers different products for businesses and individuals around the world.

According to the recent article “Cloud vs. in-house: Where to run that app?,” Bill Claybrook covered the basic host-versus-outsource decisions that is usually made by IT managers, and the new options of public and private clouds, what was most interesting is the dilemma many in IT are finding around having new choices.
The best approach is the IT manager considering its company requirements first, and see if he can knock a few platform contenders off the list. He has to examine — in order — security, privacy, compliance, performance, and then features and functions of the platform so that he can knock public clouds out of contention quickly, if they aren’t a good fit. If public clouds are not an option, he can certainly build his own private cloud, leveraging virtualization technology to provide better server utilization.
In my opinion, there are some bad results of having cloud. It is bad enough when we lose our Internet connection for email and web surfing. But the recriminations will occur when the entire office grinds to a halt.
“Two-edged sword”

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9162542/Cloud_vs._in_house_Where_to_run_that_app_?