Why I'm a cloud convert

Foursys managing director James Miller explains why he has performed an - albeit partial - U-turn on the fluffy form of IT

Cloud, cloud, cloud; it's everywhere. But in many cases it's expensive, insecure and I don't really need it... or do I?

Does it actually offer us any benefits? Because I can tell you that for most cases, it actually costs you more.

Why does it cost more?

Anyone who has phoned up a leading supplier and specced out a server in the cloud with bandwidth and data requirements will have been surprised by how much it costs (if it's a UK datacentre, anyway). Particularly when you're starting from a point of already having a computer room/air conditioning etc. that you're paying for. This is mainly down to the cost of bandwidth from a remote site (datacentre), infrastructure and providers needing to make ongoing revenue from renting you a server. Come to think of it, when has renting ever been cheaper than buying?

Do the benefits actually apply to me?

For some time I was very much in the "why bother with it" brigade. Yes, you had the flexibility of being able to fire up servers quickly, but most business do not need that high-speed turnaround. So again, I couldn't really see the benefit of paying more for this kind of service.

When Apple Cloud came along, suddenly all our mobile business data was taken up with backups of people's pictures, videos and phone configs to the cloud, with all this racking up a lovely data bill. Marvellous for these telecoms providers, but this did nothing for my perception of cloud or as Graham Cluley would call it, someone else's computer.

However, 18 months or so ago I changed my view, more quickly than a politician doing a U-turn on a promise.

So do I think the cloud is now a good thing?

Yes, but I don't believe that it makes commercial sense in every single case and, in some cases, security sense, to put everything in the cloud just yet.

But there are some advantages that are worth considering:

1. Simplifying IT

Outsourcing systems to the cloud suddenly means you are not supporting the underlying hardware or virtual infrastructure.

So that's less time spent on the phone to those call centres abroad where you're asked to reseat the CPU in case it has come loose, somehow in the last two years, while it was sitting racked in the computer room.

Less time trying to figure out how you're going to upgrade your virtual platform and fix it when it doesn't quite perform as it's meant to, with the hardware vendor stating the software is to blame and the software vendor denying anything is wrong.

2. Enhancing security

Security delivered via the cloud as part of a managed service is typically updated automatically.

So you get the latest security features pretty much as they are released.
Bug fixes tend to be applied automatically.

The underlying platform is more likely to be thoroughly tested and stable, because the providers have many hundreds or thousands of users hanging off the same system.

However, distinct disadvantages remain for certain types of services delivered via the web. Anyone who has tried web security/filtering in the cloud may have come across the difficulties associated with user authentication and in some cases, performance. Yes, performance!

For example, where your web request is proxied to the providers' cloud (well, their computer in the States) and then they proxy back to the UK for your BBC request... which then goes back to the States, before being delivered to your browser.

I'm in the hybrid camp. I want to use the cloud for things that make my life easier, but sometimes an on-premises solution can be simpler.