[LINK] RFC: Cloud Computing

[Ivan Trundle]

On 24/11/2009, at 10:00 AM, Roger Clarke wrote:

> At 9:54 +1100 24/11/09, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
> ....
>> Cloud environments might be OK for isolated applications, but 
>> extending your operational environment into a cloud is fraught with 
>> both problems and risks.
> 
> Among other things, I'm going to have to do some differentiation 
> between applications, based on their importance.
> 
> The 'mission-critical' jargon is dopey (an inappropriate import from 
> military contexts, where it *does* make sense).
> 
> But some concept may be needed such as 'capable of bankrupting me if 
> it goes wrong', to distinguish from 'would be a handy adjunct to our 
> marketing analysis' and 'can go missing for a few days and it won't 
> matter much'.

Agreed. It's a slippery slope. There are so many business practices which require careful evaluation of risks, and placing one such practice in the 'capable of bankrupting me' category is woefully inadequate in isolation. 

Rather, it's a risk matrix which becomes more complex as you introduce more variables. Most people prefer simplicity, and strive for it, but in real businesses, this is not as readily achievable as we might hope.

Cloud computing - for some - actually REDUCES the risks, believe it or not.

iT