“Cloud Computing” is being called the “next big thing”. In 2008, Gartner Group identified “Cloud Computing” as one of the top ten disruptive technologies. I’m sure there is going to be a lot of FUD spread about what the “cloud” can and can’t be used for; however, I’m confident that over the next 5 to 10 years the reality of “Cloud computing” will set in.
It appears that a “perfect storm” of events are “brewing” at the same time: Social Media, Web 2.0 and smart phones. I believe these forces will drive the delivery of application services to the cloud. What is clear, to me, is that “cloud computing” will use hardware virtualization as its foundation. Hardware virtualization turns a physical machine into a virtual machine, which resides on a physical machine. However, the virtual machine can be moved around. If the system requires more resources than what is currently assigned to it, then more resources can be added to ensure the system meets your customer’s service level agreement. One question in my mind is: are the underlying software licensing mechanisms keeping pace with these changes? continue reading » »