What is Cloud to you?

More and more companies are using Cloud services, according to research by CBS. In 2021, the figure was as high as 66% [1]. The popularity of Cloud services is largely due to the fact that companies want to pay according to usage. No operational costs on IT and no longer having to invest in hardware are a big desire for many companies. The solution? To the Cloud! At least, this was the ‘default’ answer for a long time. But with the current turmoil in the world, that answer is no longer so obvious.

Larik-Jan Verschuren, CTO at Fundaments, talks about the changing definition of Cloud in this article.

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‘Protests and riots in France, war in Ukraine and crashing banks in America: there is quite a lot going on in the world. The divisions between major powers are getting bigger and bigger. This is also affecting the world of IT and weighing on the definition of Cloud. For example, what to make of Project Texas? Through this initiative, China's TikTok is trying to eliminate America's fear that user data is being passed on to the Chinese government. With this, they claim that American data is stored on American soil, managed by an American company under the supervision of American staff. Sovereignty is the key word here. To put it briefly: the days when Cloud was a generic concept are far behind us. With the changes in the world, you not only see more and more regulation, but also awareness is becoming more and more prominent. Is all of this really helpful? Partly if you ask me. Becoming aware and thinking carefully about where you have your crown jewels is of course good, but it should not spill over into propaganda. An important first step in this is to be aware of it and think carefully about what the definition of your Cloud actually is.’

‘Over the past few months, I have seen many cases come up for review when it comes to the question ‘how do we move to the Cloud?’ These cases were very diverse: ranging from a request to be able to convert the local enterprise data centre to a bar, to simply closing a data centre to reallocate costs. The central driver in all the cases: control. Especially important in this is cost control (predictability), but also simply technical control.’

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‘From an expenses point of view, Cloud is not easy: many platforms, but especially hyperscalers, offer more and more features and therefore more and more cost components. That multiplied by the fact that everything is Pay as you Go and can be paid in retrospect, makes the invoice increasingly complicated and the amount at the bottom of the line not easy to predict. What has not changed in this, by the way, is the desire to still consume services in a pay-as-you-go model.’

‘’Next to that control, it is precisely within this that I see a widening demand. A lot of issues are about managing applications and the associated underlayer. And it is precisely that underlayer that is still sometimes underestimated in the ways it can be consumed. Where 9 times out of 10 you hear: it's a platform from Cloud provider X, the answer is multi-faceted. From talking to customers and prospects, I also sometimes hear the question that it should simply be a piece of data centre with a monthly model linked to pay by consumption. Realising that Cloud is ultimately a running server that needs to be managed opens up a lot of possibilities.’

‘For anyone thinking about outsourcing IT to an operational model involving usage by consumption, I would say: think carefully about what exactly you want to achieve. Is it a piece of shifting risk in investments? Or does technology and therefore the way of working need to change? Solutions in this, however, are very different. Not to mention the piece about awareness I started my story with. The same question applies there too: what do you expect from the solution when it comes to your company's crown jewels (data)?’

‘’At Fundaments, we offer a legion of answers. I like to think along with you in this and take on the challenge of facilitating the best-fit solution. Do you have a question? Contact me!"

[1] https://longreads.cbs.nl/ict-k...

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