The Data Center: Security, Compliance Issues Holding Back the Clouds

By John Rath

August 15, 2008 — (Page 1 of 3)
In previous columns I described consumer and enterprise cloud computing. I told myself that I didn’t want to write on the topic anymore—primarily because it is getting a second round on the hype cycle and maybe a little too much attention (and resultant misunderstanding). I decided to take a step back, though, and think about the concepts and technology, and where we are in the technological maturity of cloud computing.

I don’t think it is worth trying to define what cloud computing is, since I have read a lot of definitions by some very credible people and I don’t think I agree with any of them 100 percent. I think the main reason that the definitions are so rough right now is because we are still in the beginning stages. As I’ve explained before, clouds aren’t any miraculous new technology; it is simply the evolution of computing and the future of how information technology can potentially operate going forward. I think today’s definitions are too much of a comparison with the Internet itself, or SaaS. True cloud computing is still in research and development and the best is yet to come.

The two things (in my opinion) holding back cloud computing from truly taking off in the enterprise are security and compliance. With an abstract concept like cloud computing, telling your security department that you are moving the company’s sensitive data and mission-critical processing to a “cloud” might get some laughs. Exactly where is the data physically located? Are there other companies using the same equipment? Who has access to these systems? How is data transferred to and from the cloud? What operating systems run the cloud? What if the cloud provider goes out of business?

All of the governance and security work to secure business transactions and data simply cannot be thrown out the window with a bunch of unknowns because the cloud is cost-effective and means less overhead and worries for the company data center. From an ITIL standpoint clouds can be a dream for businesses that apply chargebacks. Because clouds form a pay-as-you-go model, you can tie specific service catalog items to the exact compute and storage power used in the cloud. I think there are some emerging market opportunities to compliment the cloud such as Operations Support Systems software to help manage the accounting of cloud resources and cloud management software for the sake of compliance and monitoring. Companies or projects to watch include Elastra, Rightscale, Kaavo, Mosso, 3tera and the Eucalyptus project.

Related Search Term(s): backup & recovery, cloud computing, security

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The Data Center: Security, Compliance Issues Holding Back the Clouds

By John Rath

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