It is hard to imagine that not long ago computers were human. The word’s original meaning was literally a person that solved equations, using a mechanical calculator. Companies employed these large metal structures to do number crunching, and serve as a data center mainframe. Now they are disappearing all together, technology shifts to meet the demands of today’s society, submitting to various mutations as the years pass.
The original computer platform, referred to as the mainframe, has been ousted by minicomputers, giving way to the personal computers, now being offset by hand held devices with Smartphone architecture, completely disrupting the computing structure through this sequence. Computing is taking on yet another role, becoming more centralized, turning into a “cloud”, incorporeal and exploited when and where it is required.
The establishment of this cloud is more than a platform shift; indisputably modifying the information technology industry to such an extent that the way people work and companies function, will allow digital technology to infiltrate every niche of the economy and of society. This is not some technological nirvana that the IT industry is using to concoct new buzzwords to keep people interested, but instead a rampant term that has spread avariciously. Cloud conferences, cloud blogs are such an obsession that it may have peaked already. Gartner, a research firm, claims that cloud computing will transgress through a “trough of disillusionment”, entailing a stage in which the hype cycle of technology will fail to meet the expectations of consumers. However, the possibility of the term may already seem passé; but the cloud is going to continue to grow from an amalgamation of cut-rate power processors with ubiquitous networks. Data centers become factories delivering computer services as an online service with wireless networks connecting to such software. This disaggregates computing into component services, turning into an “internet of things” used by billions of different devices. With financial institutions creating computing grids, they will be able to link software as a service over the internet. Such computing cloud operators like Amazon and Google engage in this IT system. However, it seems that all firms will soon have no choice but to switch their infrastructure as well.
In my mind, cloud computing is just a service oriented architecture that companies have been flirting with for quite some time. The main issues at hand are dealing with the security of information. Firms essentially trust their second most valuable currency, data, in the hopes that it has not replicated or outsourced to entities that they do not want that privilege extended. The article says that companies will not be able to link service to the enterprise firms due to the security issues and conformity compliances that it faces, but firms already use their most valuable currency, money, to cloud computing services such as banking. People put trust into banks hoping that they keep an eye on their money. This same trust needs to be instilled by the Googles, Amazons, telco’s, etc. This notion is not impossible, but it is an action that needs to be taken care of before large firms buy in. For now, you will not have to bid farewell to a data center that models a raised floor, cooling data center for its IT department, until a reliable cloud model ascends.
"Let it Rise." Economist.com. 23 Oct. 2008. http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12411882.
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