Cloud technology is a hot-topic these days... and why shouldn't it be? I manage SAAS products and think that cloud technology is the way we need to move our businesses.
There are a lot of reasons why we should:
- Data Storage
- Collaboration
- Accessibility
- Flexibility/Agility
There are also reason why we shouldn't:
- Security (I know a lot of you will comment about this one)
- What happens next?
- Does it live up to the hype?
- What if the internet 'breaks'?
One of my major issues with cloud technology is the data that sits on it - once it's there, how can you get rid of it? (Arguably, I shouldn't have a blog if I don't want my information public) If you post a comment on an article you've read through your Twitter account that's attached to your Facebook account that feeds into your blog, it's one comment with 4 places you can find it - and this doesn't include what happens with the people who have access to it.
What happens when your 16 year old kid posts something on Reddit that could dramatically impact his/her future? Going a bit off topic - but how can we get more control over the cloud? And, how can we regulate who owns that information or data (or comment)?
I gravitate toward cloud technologies and computing because it makes my life easier - but at what expense?
I talk about this topic with my wife every now and again in a social media context. People complain about privacy issues in one breath and in the next breath post everything about their lives to all of their networks. That's the extent of my commentary because I really don't have an answer to any of these questions. I think it's human nature to come up with an answer after something really bad happens because of it.
ReplyDeleteAgree - I think a lot of it is about finding a happy medium. Hopefully I can do that!
DeleteThanks for the reply Andy :) Hope to see you back here soon!
Sadly, I think that many enterprises are leaping into the cloud without understanding the ramifications of having their data out there, and not completely under their control.
ReplyDeleteMy last gig, I watched an exodus from the corporate data center to the SaaS cloud. Fax servers. Email. Document management. When I would ask them about customer privacy, and security of their data, I got a lot of empty stares. Many just ASSUME that Google, Microsoft, Amazon et. al. can handle that and they don't have to worry.
Alas, I fear it is a lot like people who process credit card transactions. You can gloss over the PCI-DSS regulations until you have a breach. Then the $#!t hits the fan.
I want to believe that my data on Google is secure. But I keep backups elsewhere.
I agree 110% about companies jumping into the cloud without really knowing about it. I want to believe that my data and documents are secure where I have them as well, but I do have them saved elsewhere... I guess that's a bit of my cautious personality coming out!
DeleteThanks for the comment :)