Beware of Cloud-ish Solutions

Don’t be fooled by the ‘Pretend’ Cloud

Marketing wizards have this uncanny way of branding their products with labels closely aligned to customer demands. Some stretch the truth a bit and dilute the entire category. Take organic food, for example. Not all foods labeled as organic meet the same stringent requirements. In fact, recent reports suggest some items carrying the label are not organic at all.

That practice has spread to the tech industry and how companies are applying the cloud ‘label.’ And to keep it confusing, the industry throws around qualifying terms like ‘private’ cloud, ‘public’ cloud and even ‘hybrid’ cloud. Here’s a break down.

Real Cloud

If you are looking for the full set of benefits touted by cloud vendors, then you want a real cloud. Some call this the ‘public’ cloud or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). In other words, this is the real deal. The real cloud not only cuts upfront capital expenditures, but also ensures an organization has the latest features and upgrades. All users are on a single instance of the application or suite, and it’s the latest, most up-to-date version. Updates are automatic and across the cloud. This enterprise-wide approach streamlines productivity and keeps everyone on the same page. The real cloud also offers attractive pay-per-use pricing.

Pretend Cloud

This is where marketing can get deceptive with applications that are cloud-like, but do not provide the full advantages of a real cloud solution. Honest vendors call this a ‘private’ cloud and an even better term would be hosted. But let’s not mince words – this is the pretend cloud. It is not SaaS and does not offer the attractive pay-per-use model that a real cloud can deliver. While this model does move an organization away from licensing software and managing it with on-premise resources, this is a mere dip of the toe into the cloud. This leverages the cloud for only the most basic advantage – software delivery. The pretend cloud struggles or is unable to offer the many other benefits of a real cloud.

Hybrid Cloud

If the pretend or ‘private’ cloud is a mere dip of the toe, then the hybrid cloud helps get the whole foot and, heck, even a leg up to the knee, into the water. That’s because a hybrid cloud includes a blend of elements from premises-based systems plus the ‘public’ cloud (and occasionally pulling in some ‘private’ cloud, too). You might also call this a mixed cloud. It still cannot deliver the full advantage of a real cloud solution, but gets an organization close and could be a bridge toward an eventual real cloud solution.

In fact, the hybrid cloud has been a reasonable solution for some organizations and industries that are concerned with a real or public cloud option. The financial services and healthcare industries have been especially reluctant to bring sensitive customer data into a public cloud solution, but still have the same external pressures to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and have a flexible solution.

As with any technology, the key is in assessing the benefits and evaluating which solution is best suited to your organization. Despite big claims, cloud applications are not one-size-fits-all, and they most certainly are not all created equally. Consider them closely along with the functionality and usability to get the most value from your software.