For a number of years now various organisations (mainly with a vested interest) have talked about the Cloud as the next step in the evolution of computing. It is in fact a step back.
Cloud can mean a number of things from simple storage of current and archive data, to processing, collaborative and automated workflows. Anyone around in the 70's and 80's would remember large central computing rooms with dumb terminals (a keyboard and screen - No mouse, it was DOS) on the desk. All the processing and data was provided centrally. A sort or private/enterprise cloud. When these central systems went down departments would grind to a halt. Not even the rudimentary e-mail systems worked. These outages would be a day or two. The rest of the businesses didn't rely of computers as much then so would keep working until the pipeline emptied leaving the computers as the bottle neck.
Businesses couldn't afford these stoppages so as processing storage and memory become smaller and cheaper Desk Top PC's appeared. There was no, or limited, central functions and outages affected one work station or one function. Despite the claims for central computing the businesses voted with their actions. Desk Top PC and later Laptop's have become the norm.
TV broadcasters have been digital in the back office for some time now and have digital tapes going back many years. Production companies and post-production (where they add the special effects, SFX) use and have used digital technologies for over 10 years. They have enormous files and need enormous processing power to render these SFX. Each company has traditionally built their own render farms and stored the content in purpose built wholly owned facilities. So why have they not gone for cloud computing with the cost savings and efficiency improvements promised? For the same reasons those with money have not moved to bit coin.
1) The current method works - its not broken so why fix it.
2) Trust - if you lose all my valuables you bankrupt me/kill my business (also £1 = £1 or 1$ = 1$ and can be replaced with no noticeable difference. Loose the Mona Lisa (and Film/TV is art) or you order/delivery details, and its gone forever Just ask the BBC if they have any regrets, about their habit of wiping tapes of Dr Who etc.
3) Time and effort verses gain - I'll wait for someone else to do it first
4) Security - Theft, remote and physical access, all out of my control.
Google, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Sony etc have all had outages or security compromises. Google has deleted years of bloggers' regular inputs because someone complained. Then when the complaint proved unjust have been unable to restore it. Do you really trust the Cloud and what IT say?
Remember the "millennium bug" that doomsday scenario that had all the computers stop working on 1 Jan 2000? Whole countries never did a thing and I'm not aware of even a minor incident. Now IT would claim its because they did such a good job. Really! The shear scale would make the probability of an error high. No it was mumbo jumbo, gobildy gooke speak of the high priests of a new religion. Like selling burglar alarms to 86 year old widows, they use fear to make their sale. No one was going to get blamed for doing what they said, but if you didn't and they were right it would have been bye bye.
Cloud computing is the other way around. Keep doing what you know works and if it goes wrong there are a number or people to share the blame. Plus it probably wont be catastrophic. Follow the IT to the bright future of Cloud computing and its a bit like following an Officer over the top of the trenches in WWI. You could be a hero, but more likely you and he would both be shot.
Other thoughts! Isn't the internet Cloud computing? Can't you share stuff? Send stuff? Search for stuff? I can even set up rules on my e-mail that do things with files that arrive from specific people! Isn't that (at least the start of) an automated workflow?
Don't we learn from nature, that diversity and having multiple copies of the same animal mean that when a Lion takes out a gazelle (sad though that may be for the gazelle), there are herds that carry on (moments later) as if nothing happened? Isn't that the way you'd want you mission critical business operations to run?
Cloud can mean a number of things from simple storage of current and archive data, to processing, collaborative and automated workflows. Anyone around in the 70's and 80's would remember large central computing rooms with dumb terminals (a keyboard and screen - No mouse, it was DOS) on the desk. All the processing and data was provided centrally. A sort or private/enterprise cloud. When these central systems went down departments would grind to a halt. Not even the rudimentary e-mail systems worked. These outages would be a day or two. The rest of the businesses didn't rely of computers as much then so would keep working until the pipeline emptied leaving the computers as the bottle neck.
Businesses couldn't afford these stoppages so as processing storage and memory become smaller and cheaper Desk Top PC's appeared. There was no, or limited, central functions and outages affected one work station or one function. Despite the claims for central computing the businesses voted with their actions. Desk Top PC and later Laptop's have become the norm.
TV broadcasters have been digital in the back office for some time now and have digital tapes going back many years. Production companies and post-production (where they add the special effects, SFX) use and have used digital technologies for over 10 years. They have enormous files and need enormous processing power to render these SFX. Each company has traditionally built their own render farms and stored the content in purpose built wholly owned facilities. So why have they not gone for cloud computing with the cost savings and efficiency improvements promised? For the same reasons those with money have not moved to bit coin.
1) The current method works - its not broken so why fix it.
2) Trust - if you lose all my valuables you bankrupt me/kill my business (also £1 = £1 or 1$ = 1$ and can be replaced with no noticeable difference. Loose the Mona Lisa (and Film/TV is art) or you order/delivery details, and its gone forever Just ask the BBC if they have any regrets, about their habit of wiping tapes of Dr Who etc.
3) Time and effort verses gain - I'll wait for someone else to do it first
4) Security - Theft, remote and physical access, all out of my control.
Google, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, Sony etc have all had outages or security compromises. Google has deleted years of bloggers' regular inputs because someone complained. Then when the complaint proved unjust have been unable to restore it. Do you really trust the Cloud and what IT say?
Remember the "millennium bug" that doomsday scenario that had all the computers stop working on 1 Jan 2000? Whole countries never did a thing and I'm not aware of even a minor incident. Now IT would claim its because they did such a good job. Really! The shear scale would make the probability of an error high. No it was mumbo jumbo, gobildy gooke speak of the high priests of a new religion. Like selling burglar alarms to 86 year old widows, they use fear to make their sale. No one was going to get blamed for doing what they said, but if you didn't and they were right it would have been bye bye.
Cloud computing is the other way around. Keep doing what you know works and if it goes wrong there are a number or people to share the blame. Plus it probably wont be catastrophic. Follow the IT to the bright future of Cloud computing and its a bit like following an Officer over the top of the trenches in WWI. You could be a hero, but more likely you and he would both be shot.
Other thoughts! Isn't the internet Cloud computing? Can't you share stuff? Send stuff? Search for stuff? I can even set up rules on my e-mail that do things with files that arrive from specific people! Isn't that (at least the start of) an automated workflow?
Don't we learn from nature, that diversity and having multiple copies of the same animal mean that when a Lion takes out a gazelle (sad though that may be for the gazelle), there are herds that carry on (moments later) as if nothing happened? Isn't that the way you'd want you mission critical business operations to run?
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