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July 24, 2008SaaS Not as Cool as We Think It Is
According to some, software as a service and cloud computing are nowhere near as cool as everyone thinks.
A viewpoint in BusinessWeek argues that most of the good points about SaaS are actually just hype. Author Gene Marks argues that SaaS is not cheaper, does not really reduce hardware investment, is not quicker to set up, is not secure, and has not been in use for years. He then concludes that SaaS is "just another option for getting stuff done," which I agree with, but the rest of the article seems to counter sweeping generalizations with new ones. It would be better to caution against irrational excitement and remind readers that SaaS isn't the panacea for all the world's problems and that you do still have to do your research and be careful. Saying that SaaS as a whole isn't easier to set up or cheaper because of a couple of isolated examples seems erroneous when you could quite easily cough up examples of where SaaS can be cheaper and easier to set up. It goes both ways.
Then, an article by James Maguire in Datamation discusses the "many dangers of cloud computing." Maguire doesn't call the benefits of cloud computing "myths" as Marks probably would, but he does point out some important security concerns to keep in mind before choosing a cloud solution, such as ensuring privileged user access, considering data location, having a disaster recovery plan, and looking into the viability of the cloud computing provider. All are good points.
And then, on a very loosely related note, another article in BusinessWeek caught my eye with the headline It's Too Darn Hot. The article discusses the tremendous cost of powering and cooling data centers and how some companies are investigating placing data centers in naturally cold and hard-to-inhabit areas such as parts of Iceland. Apparently data centers spend half their energy usage or more on air conditioning. I suppose this would be one indisputable way in which cloud computing is not "cool."
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Posted by: John Martin at July 25, 2008 10:38 AM | Permalink
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