Cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS) emerged as the hot new technology trends this year. Companies from Microsoft to Big Blue to Oracle have announced intentions to shift from traditional client-server delivery models to the cloud-based software distribution.
Barry Gill, product development manager at Mimecast, warns against believing all the hype. "The temptation is to believe that every piece of software should be delivered via the cloud, or that every IT problem can be solved by partnering with a SaaS provider. This is patently not correct. Not all clouds are created equal and there are a lot of options when it comes to flavours of cloud service. The hype is completely overwhelming our ability to make pragmatic and informed decisions."
Talking at the ITWeb SaaS Conference, Gill spoke of the four cloud choices and how companies can test their capacity to adopt a cloud service. "On-premise is the only option if `control` is a driving force in a company. There are a lot of downsides to on-premise solutions, mostly linked to the costs of running complex IT systems, but ultimately the decision is based whether a company trusts a partner with their data," says Gill.
The concept of the `internal cloud` is a new one. On-premise vendors are making their products more relevant in a SaaS world by mirroring the provisioning flexibility of SaaS mostly through the use of virtualisation. "This doesn`t solve any of the issues of on-premise solutions. It just turns hardware complexity into software complexity, which means more money spent managing a more complex environment. Of all the potential articulations of the cloud, I am most cautious of this one," says Gill.
The managed service solution is a very common one, as including SaaS services in bundled offerings that often includes bandwidth, access and other services, clients are able to consolidate costs and IT management with one company. "The problem here stems from the fact that managed service providers seldom developed the technology themselves. The best cloud computing solutions are those built on a single technology platform - one set of source code that drives every module. Managed service providers rely on third-parties to maintain, upgrade and improve the service. This means the weakest link in the chain is your third-party supplier`s third-party supplier. Not a good thing," says Gill.
Mimecast is based on a business philosophy that the public cloud offers the best possible basis for SaaS. The cost benefits, simplicity, improved visibility and control make a good solution. "The challenge is an emotional one. How many of us are ready to make the jump from server in my office to unseen database in the cloud? Not many. This is why Mimecast works with a hybrid model - a mixture of on-premise and cloud services which work together," says Gill.
Cloud computing offers fantastic alternatives to the nightmare and cost of on-premise e-mail management, but not all cloud computing solutions are made equal. With so many choices, its vital that IT decision-makers take a pragmatic and realistic view of the capacity for distributed control in their companies, the cost benefits of cloud and the long-term IT strategy. Only by bringing all of this information into play will the correct SaaS decision be made.
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