Something smells rotten in Denmark (it’s probably all that cheese).
This past weekend I started thinking about what it really means to have your databases hosted in the cloud. My first thought was that it struck me as being exactly the same as an Application Service Provider. I mean, MS SQL is an application, right? And you would be looking to have someone outside your company provide you that application as a service you would pay for. So…is there a difference between the Cloud and a good old-fashioned ASP model?
Here is the wiki entry for ASP. Decide for yourself. Note the mention of how ASP is also known as SaaS, or “Software as a Service”. Perhaps putting your database in the Cloud would now mean we have a “Database as a Service”, and that is the difference, that you are focusing on a specific piece of the software/application being offered.
Now, while we argue over the definitions of all of this, and where to draw the lines, and compare and contrast architectures, let me offer you this article, which asks the simple question “Is Software as a Service Really Cheaper?”
http://software.silicon.com/applications/0,39024653,39397645,00.htm
Ok, quick show of hands. Who thinks Cloud Computing is going to take off faster than an F-15? Now, from that set of people who still say “Hell-to-the-yeah”, does that mean your business is doing so because it will be a way to reduce costs? If so, have they ever tried to define all of the costs associated with a traditional ASP/SaaS/DaaS model?
The Cloud Is Not New
The idea of pushing your data to somewhere else is not new. It has been around for decades. In the past ten years some different business models have sprung up. One of them was called ASP, which still exists today. Some ASP’s have changed their identity to something more hip, calling themselves SaaS, but they are essentially the same. Now, how many people are putting their heads in the Cloud because they believe it is something shiny and new, but have no idea if it is actually something better?
I usually ask myself all the time “am we in a better place now than a year ago?” The answer is almost always yes. On the surface it would seem the Cloud is indeed the future, but I would be very inclined to take a second and third look at all of the hidden costs associated with a Cloud model. If the Cloud really is an old idea being spun differently, then there is no reason to believe that there is going to be an incredible push for the Cloud very quickly. At least not by business that do some reasonable research into the costs associated down the road with one form of architecture. If your business changes ideologies and architectures frequently and doesn’t mind spending money freely, then you will probably adapt to the Cloud quickly.
It will take some time for business that do adapt to the Cloud quickly to publish some metrics regarding their costs savings before everyone else will follow suit. Believe me, business will always look to save money first. If the Cloud does save money for them, then other business will make plans to start shifting their architecture to the Cloud as well, which could mean more than a handful of DBA’s will need to package their old selves as something shiny and new as well.
I still believe we have more than a few years before we have to worry about all of this. Sure, change is coming, but not as fast as some would like to believe, regardless of all the NDA gossip going around the rumor mill these days.
