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The benefits of cloud computing are being seriously questioned, and perhaps even undermined, by recent articles and reports in high-tech publications. In the analyst sector, Gartner claims that cloud computing is now close to its "Peak of Inflated Expectations," suggesting that it will soon experience disillusionment among enterprise users, while some journalists are highlighting present obstacles that face cloud computing, including concerns such as incompatibility of the different cloud platforms and security issues.
At face value, some of the concerns may seem legitimate, but a closer look illustrates that solutions are available for the problems raised, weakening the attacks on the cloud’s future. Most of the challenges raised to cloud computing relate to developing cloud applications or to the complexities of porting existing applications to different cloud platforms. But behind the scenes, the problems are clear and the solutions either exist or are forthcoming for developers.
For IT managers, the nuances of the problems are merely distractions. To simplify the solution, we can explain it by saying that within the layers that comprise cloud computing, cloud vendors left out an essential layer that is required in order to create a standard, cross-platform, manageable environment for applications.
What makes this layer so vital? This layer is an essential link between the application itself and the cloud infrastructure. This application layer runs above the cloud infrastructure providing runtime environment, thus allowing development and management tools. Only by utilizing the application layer, a standard development paradigm can be offered for developing cloud applications. This is also needed so the applications created can run and be managed on different cloud platforms and across them.
Today, the lack of appropriate application layers remains the biggest setback for enterprises and developers seeking to move to the cloud. Understanding its significance, it is surprising that those application layers were left out by cloud infrastructure vendors. I would venture to guess that the reason might originate in their unwillingness to enable easy mobility between cloud platforms, or that they want to keep their existing development tools valid whether they fit the cloud needs or not.
As a result, while cloud computing advances, there are a few efforts from software companies to create such application layers, and those who have made the attempt are largely ignored by the media, perhaps because none have yet succeeded in achieving full maturity.
Yet one of the key benefits in the application layer is its ability to provide a solution to the security problems of the cloud. The potential security hazards can result in unauthorized access to data, which may not be monitored or controlled, but this can be resolved within the applications layer as well. The fact that one single layer can resolve most if not all of the concerns might lead to believe that we are soon to see a comprehensive solution that would bring cloud to enterprises or enterprises to the cloud.
Hence, whether or not we agree with the Gartner report that refers to the “hype” of cloud computing, it seems that we are moving fast toward fully comprehensive cloud solutions that include application layers. It might be sooner than expected before we can create fully functional enterprise applications running with ease on Microsoft Azure, Amazon EC2 and Google App Engine.
There must be a standard set of stages, sorta' like the 7 stages of grief, for how vendors face off with transformational services. Early on they say "we have this totally open thing" and forget to say that its only open if you use our proprietary way of doing things.
Vendors will take your Application Layer advice on Cloud Computing when there's money in it, more money than selling their not-that-flexible clouds as they are. We can only hope that time is near.