Recently I spent a week in South Korea where I had the opportunity to speak at several events, meet with customers and press, and enjoy the gracious hospitality of our Korean partners. Now, Seoul is a very savvy place when it comes to technology as witnessed by advanced consumer electronics devices like incredibly feature-rich cell phones and GPS units, many of which are unavailable in the States. This technology awareness spills over into the realm of IT, as well. Wherever I went, far and away the number one topic of conversation among IT folks was cloud computing. If anything, the level of interest may be even higher than in the US.

One of the challenges, however, in discussing cloud computing – made even more apparent when speaking through an interpreter – is establishing which variant or flavor of the term is being talked about. A recent ACM paper identified 22 different definitions for cloud computing. I’m not going to attempt to repeat or interpret them here, but cloud computing fundamentally represents a services-based approach to delivering IT functionality. It also implies a heavy dependence on virtualization and related technologies and the ability to distribute, relocate, and reallocate resources with a high degree of flexibility. Beyond this there are numerous subtleties and differences of opinion as to the appropriate scope of the cloud (e.g. infrastructure, platform, application) as well as distinguishing architectural and technological components.

Setting all of this aside, here are some basic observations about the direction of cloud computing:

- Cloud computing represents a fresh approach for realizing the long-held desire of many to evolve to a utility model for computing
- External cloud service options promise to be many and varied, and determining which functions to cede to the cloud and which to maintain internally will require a solid understanding of the tradeoffs
- While some organizations will opt for cloud services from external providers, many organizations will attempt to become internal providers of cloud services (and others will, of course, do both)

Utility computing, by definition, implies delivering services efficiently. Regardless of your particular cloud definition, the principal attraction of using a cloud service is greater efficiency. This means that a cloud service provider – be it internal or external – must be able to deliver their services in a way that provides utility-like benefits, including continuous availability, dynamic resource allocation, concise reporting and metrics, and, if not lowest cost, then at a minimum, a clear picture of what is provided at a given cost.

Unfortunately, these traits are not among those that one associates with IT organizations today. So, the question is: can IT organizations transform themselves into internal effective cloud services providers. For more thoughts on this, see http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/66990.html?wlc=1241620670.

-Jim Damoulakis, GlassHouse CTO