Cloud computing harnesses internet to provide IT services

Thursday, Oct 21, 2010

Gulf News

The concept is based on protected open access over secure networks

Dubai Confused about what cloud computing is? Blame IT vendors trying looking to cloud the issue, says Google’s Abdul Wahid Bendaoua, the company’s regional head of enterprise.

Cloud computing, he says, is simple. It is using IT services over the internet.

“When we started talking about cloud, it was simply for everyone,” he said, but then a lot of vendors started selling the concept of private clouds.

“There is no private cloud,” he says. “There is a cloud, and that is public.”

When he says public, Bendaoua says he means an environment run by a big organisation which can provide good security and software — over the internet — to its clients.

Companies can run more applications than just Google Apps over the cloud. Saleforce.com, which partners with Google, offers CRM (customer relationship management) software over the cloud, and other companies have developed their own applications to place on the cloud.

When IT vendors say they are selling private clouds, what they are actually selling is virtualisation, which is when a company’s employees access one centralised computer system (or data centre) through their monitors. A virtualised system works and feels almost no different from a normal network computer system, but companies save money by cutting down on the number of PCs they own.

The advantage of cloud is that companies don’t have to buy or maintain a data centre. According to a Gartner report, IT departments spend 80 per cent of their time maintaining their systems.

Security concerns

The confusion is fuelled by security concerns and a lack of understanding how cloud computing works. Many companies say they feel more secure knowing that their data is stored “on site,” but Bendaoua says cloud computing is just a secure on-site data centre. “If you don’t trust the cloud system, then you are not ready.”

Bendaoua says he doesn’t believe there is any sector or industry that couldn’t use the cloud. He points to governments in central Europe and even some banks that are moving to the cloud.

Bendaoua is, of course, also in the business of selling cloud services. He said the company is still expanding into the Middle East, but that Google has a long history of working in the cloud.

“When you talk about Microsoft and you talk about IBM and Oracle and so on, they are new,” he said.

“So they have to go through all the experiences we have. We already have over 3 million companies — not customers — companies on our cloud environment.”

Google would not release revenue information from its Middle East business.

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Caption Leadin

Cloud Computing Technology Concept

VIRENDRA SAKLANI/Gulf News

Computing innovation

Advertising signboard carriers at Gitex Technology Week. Companies can run more applications than just Google Apps over the cloud.

VIRENDRA SAKLANI/Gulf News

Looking for answers

Visitors seek information about new models of mobile phones at the Nokia pavilion yesterday.

WAM

Distinguished presence