UALA LUMPUR: Many businesses look at cloud computing as a platform for software-as-a-service, or SaaS. But enterprise software vendor Citrix Systems also sees it as a platform for infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS).
Michael Harries, director strategy and communications at Citrix Systems, said that in an IaaS setting, cloud computing enables companies to outsource activities in datacentres to external cloud providers.
Software architects, he said, can also take advantage of the technology in a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) environment and run the backend of their applications in the cloud, with the ability to deliver the programs to any device that connects to the Web.
Such is the flexibility of cloud computing that he believes it will change the way users — businesses and others — consume technology.
Through the SaaS model, users are able to access software from the Internet and run it as if the programs are stored on a computer’s hard disk. Web-based e-mail, such as Microsoft’s Hotmail and online wordprocessing software Google Docs, are examples of SaaS.
According to Harries, users need only connect to the Internet to access the software and because these applications are not stored on a PC hard disk, they can worry less about losing their data whenever the computer fails or is lost.
“All they would need to do is get a new machine, connect to the Web, and they’re back on track again,” he said.
Not for everyone
However, this does not spell the end for “on-premises software.” Harries said that such applications will continue to be relevant to users who are not well versed in Internet use.
“These help new users familiarise themselves with the computer and teach them how to use the software before they engage in Internet use,” he said. “Think of these as training wheels.”
Harries cautioned that cloud computing also presents several issues that need to be addressed before full-fledged convenience can be enjoyed.
Vendor lock-in is one such issue. Critics of cloud computing have warned that consumers are in danger of losing control over their data because they in effect hand over the maintenance and management of the information to cloud providers.
It will also be more difficult to switch between service providers. As an example, imagine the effort needed to merely shift personal information between social networking sites Facebook and MySpace, let alone corporate data between cloud providers.
Harries said the threat of vendor lock-in exists in these early days of cloud computing, which is why standardisation of the cloud is important.
Standardising the platform, he said, will enable vendors to offer their services more easily because different systems will be able to interoperate with each other but standardisation will also make it easy for users to swap service providers.
But make no mistake, he said. “Cloud computing is here to stay. Businesses that put this platform on the backburner will fall behind once the kinks are worked out.”
Given the flexibility that cloud computing offers, Harries added, its future prospects are bright as sunny skies.
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