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Cloud Computing is all the rage these days

Sunday 11th July 2010

However, that does not mean that it must therefore be right for you!

"Cloud Computing" may look like a very attractive option.  It undoubtedly offers a number of benefits.  No need to purchase, house and maintain your own servers.  No need to back them up, either.  No need for secure VPN's if off-site staff need to access the corporate systems.  Additional processing power and storage can be made available "on demand" - effectively, "Hire what you need, when you need it, then return it afterwards".  This is perfect for those occasions when there is a sudden, short-duration peak in demand.  

It is not without its drawbacks, of course.  The most obvious one is that it is totally dependent on a reliable broadband Internet connection.  If the broadband goes down, there is no access to the Cloud.  At home, or for emails and general surfing, this is not usually too much of an issue.  If the business is dependent on the Cloud, it is a very different matter.  It is certainly possible to install multiple broadband lines with each using a different ISP and path into the building.  Duplicate routers can provided, with suitably duplicated backup power supplies.  These issues can readily be addressed, with suitable expenditure.

There are other, more intractable issues, however.  What if the company who is providing the Cloud service were to fail?  What would happen to your data and applications?  Even worse, there are legal and security issues.  Teh Data Protection Act is very strict about the physical location of certain data - with the Cloud, you may not know where you data is being stored.  This is hardly likely to impress the Data Protection Registrar!  As for security, how can you be sure that your corporate data is being kept safe from prying eyes unless you keep it locally yourself?

"Let the buyer beware" may be a very old aphorism, but it is very bit as true now as it always has been.