Over the last few years, several trends have emerged in the broad cloud computing space.
There is now a plethora of aaS companies. SaaS, BIaaS, IaaS, PaaS and OtherThingsaaS I can’t think of. Not to be the forecaster of doom, but all things cloud will not survive. As with every technology cycle, some companies will grow, some will be acquired, and some will fail. Of those that thrive, many will not be the pure cloud-based technology we primarily see now. I say primarily because the transition to a modified technology or business model is already occurring, and more will be on the way in the coming two years.
Some of the changes that have already started include the move from exclusively public clouds to private clouds and hybrid clouds, such as GoGrid’s hybrid infrastructure cloud that combines virtual and physical servers within its public cloud service. Part of the idea behind this is companies can leverage the additional server capacity when it is needed and can scale quickly, thus providing an answer to the question: “how can we plan for dynamic levels of need?”
When the SaaS companies appeared, there were two versions: the one-size-must-fit-all version, which forbids any customization, and the primarily-custom solution companies, which happened to deliver their solution via the cloud. The one-size-must-fit-all version prided itself on never having human interaction as part of their solution. The result is often dirty data or bugs that aren’t found until late in the process. Version two, the primarily-custom solution, is unscalable. These highly-customized solutions are also often much more expensive than what is expected because a significant portion of the features are created for a specific company. This may be how traditional consulting firms such as Deloitte or Accenture operate, but for most this is not a sustainable business model. If these companies do not primarily standardize their solutions, they will hit the ceiling on their growth ramp.
What’s missing in both of these versions is a balanced human element. Even IBM’s Watson is not infallible when it comes to understanding the context of data. This, along with the inevitability of data to age, will require human interactions, at least for the most critical corporate functions.
Along with the changes listed above, an additional cloud computing change is the need to be available cross-platform. We are already seeing this in the web2video and TV anywhere spaces. How long will it take for critical enterprise solutions to follow?
I’m excited to see the developments of the next few years. With so many changes in their infancy, the next two to three years should produce some amazing new developments.
Fork In The Road 