Reqs for Cloud Apps

We talk about the cloud and its benefits all the time. But to get the benefit of cloud adoption, there are certain requirements. In nutshell-- you need a Cloud application but do you know what you should look to ensure that you make the right choice?

Before making the decision, ensure:

a) Whether the application is multi-tenant in true sense. The main benefit of the cloud applications is that many could access the application without any issues or creating problems for each other. It’s like staying in an apartment with many tenants that too in harmony.

b) Is the solution really scalable? You as an organization would grow, and can the solution keep in pace with your growth? Hence scalability becomes a major requirement.

c) Can it integrate seamlessly? Unless it integrates without any issues with your business critical applications and into your organization, there won’t be much help in using the solution.

d) How secured is it? You would not want any security breaches or intrusion into your systems. So security forms a critical concern.

e) Can it be deployed easily and quickly? Faster deployment saves money and time, and ensures that your systems are up for business faster.

f) Do you have control over it?

Personal Cloud to beat the PC

Tech Research Firm, Gartner recently declared, "The personal cloud is poised to eclipse the PC as the hub of consumers' digital lives by 2014 as rapid growth in the use of apps and services introduces a new paradigm for how people store, synchronize, share and stream content."

Michael Gartenberg, Research Director at Gartner mentioned, “The personal cloud isn't a single offering, but a reflection of consumers' expectation that their content will flow seamlessly as the result of a combination of services that overlap the consumer, business and government domains. It encompasses content storage, synchronization, sharing and streaming, as well as context-based access.”

Competition in the personal cloud market to grow in the following areas:
Mobility and Location: Contextual devices and platforms are evolving, giving consumers the ability to access relevant information from the location of their choosing on their favorite devices.
Platform Independence: The result of the move from PC to the cloud will be that the core purchase driver for consumers will shift from the operating system to the nature and function of the personal cloud services available to a platform. Platforms will not be judged solely by number of apps, but also by the availability of core personal cloud services for business and personal needs, for both content creation and content consumption.
Seamless Synchronization: Since the personal cloud comprises different service offerings, seamless synchronization will be essential for success. At the simplest level, this means synchronization of content stored locally and mirrored to a given service. This content could be office documents and music and video collections, but could also extend to other types.

Cloud for Consumers

Google is finally out with Google Drive, the cloud based service for users.

It joins the competitive market of cloud storage providers like Microsft SkyDrive, Amazon Cloud Drive and Apple iCloud.

 Personally, I have been using Skydrive, and have no issues as such with it. I have seen that Amazon Cloud Drive also works fine. Additionally, Apple users love iCloud for its easy to use facility.

Google does seem to be a late entrant to the game. And then with the failure of Buzz, Orkut and not so well received Google+, the company must be betting on it.

But focusing on things like free 5 MB space won't do good for Google, as Amazon has been giving the same since long.

I have not really looked into the product to see how exactly is it different from the others. Like me, I am sure rest of the users would be looking for the extra something that would prompt them to choose one cloud storage solution over the other.

But I am thrilled! And am sure, we are going the Cloud Way--and that the right way, that is!