\u201cCloudwashing typically refers to vendors\u2019 and service providers\u2019 exaggerated marketing, where they label a product as \u201cCloud\u201d even when such designation is either completely false or at best, jumping the gun on a future capability … But it\u2019s not just vendors and service providers who Cloudwash \u2013 executives often exaggerate the truth as well … some CIOs are only too happy to put OpenStack or CloudFoundry on their Cloud roadmaps, secure in the knowledge that they will now be able to present themselves as forward-looking and Cloud savvy…\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen this firsthand in various conversations. And I don\u2019t think it\u2019s malicious or wrong \u2013 I think it represents a limited understanding of cloud computing. I like to point back to recent history and the days of datacenter consolidation. The whole thing was pretty straightforward…we installed some software on servers (vSphere, Hyper-V, or similar) and went to work virtualizing servers. From that, I derived benefits that were easy to understand \u2013 fewer servers to administer, less power consumed, vastly improved time to provision new servers, etc. We didn\u2019t have to do much measurement of those things either. Who needs measurement when you consolidate, say, at least<\/em> ten servers onto one. The whole thing was very comfortable. I think \u201ccloudwashing\u201d is a good term, and it feels like an attempt to replay datacenter consolidation in terms of cloud computing. And…It\u2019ll be BETTER! After all, it is cloud, so the benefits must be greater!<\/p>\n Not so fast though. Mr. Bloomberg makes a key point later in the article, and I agree 100%.<\/p>\n \u201cThe underlying story [of cloud computing] is one of business transformation. Cloud Computing does not simply represent new ways of procuring IT assets or software. It represents new ways of doing business. Cloud, along with other <\/em>Digital Transformation<\/em> trends in IT including the rise of mobile technologies, the <\/em>Internet of Things<\/em>, and the <\/em>Agile Architecture<\/em> that facilitates the entire mess, are in the process of revolutionizing how businesses \u2013 and people \u2013 leverage technology. And as with any revolution, the change is both difficult to implement and impossible to understand while it\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I think the author is absolutely correct here. Cloud Computing is a new capability for the business. One of the most exciting prospects of the whole cloud computing scene is this: it allows a business to take on more risk, fail fast, learn, and begin again. Call that the Deming Cycle or P-D-C-A, or whatever you like. Cloud computing has made real the fantastic growth of companies like Uber<\/a> (valuation greater than Hertz and Avis combined<\/em>) and Airbnb<\/a> (in 2014, estimated to book more \u201chotel stays\u201d than Hilton). Two crazy ideas that were no doubt implemented in \u201cthe cloud.\u201d<\/p>\n Cloud is<\/em> difficult to implement \u2013 if you think of it like any other technology project. Where do you start? How do you know when you\u2019re done? Maybe it is not an implementation project at all.<\/p>\n \u201cThe choices facing today\u2019s executives are far more complex than is it Cloud or isn\u2019t it, or should we do Cloud or not. Instead, the question is how to keep your eye on your business goals as technology change transforms the entire business landscape.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t agree more with this. I think that IT organizations should specialize in its company\u2019s core business, rather than administering systems that do not provide competitive advantages. At GreenPages<\/a>, we\u2019re currently bringing to market a set of Professional and Cloud services that will help organizations take advantage of cloud computing that I’m pretty excited about. To learn more about the evolution of the corporate IT department<\/a> and what it means for IT decision makers, check out my ebook.<\/p>\n What do you think of Jason’s take on cloudwashing?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n By John Dixon, Consulting Architect I came across an article from a couple of months ago by Jason Bloomberg in Forbes entitled, “Why Implement Cloud When Cloudwashing Will Suffice?” The article briefly describes adoption of cloud computing and the term “cloudwashing” – what vendors and customers are tending to do in order to get…Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,1897,179],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-11446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cloud-computing","category-cloudwashing","category-featured","tag-cloud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11446\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icloud.pe\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/img><\/a>
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