Explaining Platform as a Service – Part 2

In my last post, I discussed the business rationale behind one of the key tenets of cloud computing – Infrastructure as a Service or IaaS.  Services such as Amazon.com’s EC2 enable startups to avoid all the painful, costly and time-consuming efforts of setting up a data center infrastructure.  With IaaS new companies do not need to invest as much in capital expenditures for hardware and software.  Furthermore, startups can get to market faster by avoiding the trial-and-error learning process necessary to build a secure, high-performance web platform.  But while IaaS is compelling it is in many respects incomplete.

Explaining Platform-as-a-Service to Business Executives

Everyone is talking about cloud computing these days.  As a spokesperson at a technology firm I am often asked to my opinion of the various models by employees, journalists and customers.  Perhaps the most confusing concept in the area of cloud computing is Platform as a Service or PaaS.  I recently completed reading Marc Benioff’s book Behind the Cloud, which offers excellent insights into one of the industry’s best known PaaS offerings – Force.com.  Benioff provided the best explanation I have heard for the rationale for PaaS.  In recent weeks I have been testing out a new explanation of PaaS based upon Benioff’s principles, but with an expanded version of the story.  Rather than focusing on APIs and development languages I have been taking the approach of explaining the business value of PaaS – specifically from the perspective of a startup.

Cloud Product Managers need to Take More Responsibility for Operational Aspects of their Services

In my last post, I began a discussion on how the role of product managers is changing with the emergence of SaaS and cloud computing.  One of the most significant differences product managers need to embrace surrounds the pricing model.  Another significant challenge is in the area of requirements gathering.  Product managers need to not only define the features and functions of cloud—based services, but also requirements for how the product will be operated and serviced throughout its lifecycle.  With cloud services, product managers need to define requirements for operational aspects such as privacy, security, upgrades, interoperability and service level agreements. 

Pricing Cloud Services

Everyone is talking about cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) these days.  Almost every technology vendor has announced a cloud strategy – even the traditional software zealots.  But what do cloud computing and SaaS mean for product managers?  In a recent report, Forrester Research stated that “No member of the development effort faces greater change in moving into the SaaS world than the product manager.”  The functions performed by product managers do not necessarily change in a cloud computing world.  However, the approach to activities such as requirements gathering, marketing programs, pricing and contract terms can be different than with traditional IT.  Perhaps, the biggest change is in the area in pricing models.

Outages Suffered by Cloud Computing and SaaS Providers

Over the past 18 months there have been an increasing number of high-profile outages amongst providers of cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendors.  Application vendors Intuit and Workday both suffered extensive service disruptions, which impacted a broad segment of their user community.  Infrastructure providers have suffered short outages over the past year as well.  Even heavy weights amazon.com and Google each have experienced minor service interruptions demonstrating that no service providers are immune from data center incidents.

Three Funny Cloud Computing Videos

This past weekend I had the opportunity to present at Product Camp DC on the topic of Designing Products for the Cloud.  There was a great discussion amongst the group in the room which represented a range of SaaS, cloud computing and traditional technology vendors.  To kick-off the presentation I shared a few of the funnier videos that I have come across on YouTube.  Links to the top 3 are below.

Designing Products for the Cloud

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the first ever Product Camp DC.  Over 60 marketing professionals attended the event, which was hosted at the Network Solutions office in Herndon, VA.   I presented on the topic of Designing Products for the Cloud – Considerations for Product Managers building on SaaS and Cloud Computing platforms.  There was a healthy discussion during the session as a number of product managers from SaaS, cloud and traditional technology vendors debated the issues. 

The Big Switch is Not about Cloud Computing

The Big Switch is extremely well written, with lots of fascinating historical stories and analysis of potential changes to society resulting from technology. But I think that the description on the back cover – “The Definitive Guide to the Cloud Computing Revolution” – is misleading. Because, in my opinion the book is not really focused on Cloud Computing.

2.0 Has Lost All Credibility

There was an article in the June 15th edition of Business Week entitled Cloud Computing 2.0. This caught my eye as it was one of three stories featured on the cover apparently designed to entice readers to want to buy the issue. My reaction was the opposite. Cloud Computing 2.0? This is the height of insanity! Anyone who is the least bit educated in the concept of Cloud Computing knows that it describes a future vision for how IT will be delivered. The author and publication were, no doubt, using 2.0 to get attention and sell magazines, which brings me to my point. Too many people are using 2.0 as a strategy to get attention. Consequently, “2.0” has lost all credibility in my opinion.

Cloud Computing and Batman

When I first heard about the concept of Cloud Computing about 18 months ago, my first reaction was – “This must be a joke!” How is “Cloud Computing” different than Utility Computing; Grid Computing; On Demand; Storage Service Providers; Storage as a Service; Software as a Service; and Application Service Providers? These are all new terms created by the IT industry over the past 10 years to describe the arrival of the ultimate, disruptive paradigm shift in computing. All of these terms are just variants of the same business model – hosted services managed by a third party provider with virtualized architectures, rapid scalability and a usage based billing model.