[Info-vax] GE Predix Cloud Services

[Kerry Main]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Info-vax [mailto:info-vax-bounces at info-vax.com] On Behalf Of
> johnwallace4--- via Info-vax
> Sent: 25-Feb-16 2:40 PM
> To: info-vax at info-vax.com
> Cc: johnwallace4 at yahoo.co.uk
> Subject: Re: [New Info-vax] GE Predix Cloud Services
> 
> On Thursday, 25 February 2016 16:26:43 UTC, Stephen Hoffman  wrote:
> > GE is now offering their own cloud services.
> >
> > They've clearly been building and using it for their own products, and
> > now folks that don't have a good fit with Amazon or Azure have
> another
> > alternative.
> >
> > http://www.gereports.com/ready-for-prime-time-ge-opens-predix-
> its-digital-platform-for-the-industrial-internet-to-everyone/
> >
> >
> > This being a computing niche or two that some folks have suggested
> for
> > the VSI OpenVMS folks, too.
> >
> > But OpenVMS currently lacks the upper layers and applications and
> > related mechanisms, unfortunately.
> >

Let's not get to caught up in the hype of today. Remember a few years
back how everything was SOA this, SOA that .. term emerged which was
SOA washing .. same thing today for cloud hype.

Public clouds are nothing more than selective IT outsourcing. You decide
to let someone else manage parts of your IT infrastructure for a monthly
fee based on consumption of TBD services.

Albeit on a bigger scale, cloud computing model is very similar to time
sharing i.e. multiple users sharing the same compute platform.

Private Clouds are, according to most reports I have seen, what most 
Enterprise companies are doing today. Private Clouds are nothing more
than internal shared services which has been around in various forms
for decades. Hands up - who remembers the "IT Utility"?

Yes, some big companies are outsourcing non-critical functions like
HR and other functions to "Cloud" vendors, but companies have been 
outsourcing things like this for a long time now.

In all cases above, it all boils down to using IT best practices in a cost 
effective manner to enable your business to become more competitive.

>From my perspective, the three big issues with any type of outsourcing 
are:

1. Loss of customization - while you might be able to do a bit of custom
work, the more the cloud vendor allows customization, the less 
profitable it becomes. Think Change Requests as this is the process that
outsourcers depend on to make money. 

2. Ability to react when things go wrong. You can call your cloud vendor 
when a service is slow or down and his recorded message will say "we 
appreciate your business. If this is a trouble call, please log a call with our 
Help Desk at ..." and then you line up with every other vendor who is 
using that service and wait in line.  

When the CIO breathes fire down on you for why Appx is slow/down, 
your only response is "well, we logged a call, and we are waiting for a 
call back .." Anyone not think this is going to make flames even hotter?

3. Loss of control over latency. Similar to network providers and MPLS
Networks, they will provide high availability numbers (usually only with
"we are sorry", when their numbers are not met), but these do nothing
for applications that are latency sensitive. 

Regards,

Kerry Main
Kerry dot main at starkgaming dot com