That’s MY Cloud, Not Yours!
By Kate
I was reading an interesting post the other day on the blog Architecture+. JeanRicard served up the topic of Private Clouds and their relation to the future of the AEC industry and BIMs.
Would you rather put your CAD and 3D product design data on a public, private or hybrid Cloud?
It seems that people have no problem putting highly sensitive Sales data on salesforce.com, so you wouldn’t mind putting your highly sensitive product data on a hybrid or public Cloud, right?
Or, are people going to start getting possessive about Clouds, going with the private option?
According to Chris France, CIO of Little Diversified Architectural Consulting:
A private cloud differs from the public cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services or Google by the fact that the cloud computing infrastructure and resources are controlled by the individual business that deploys it.
The full article argues the economical benefits gained by opting for a private cloud.
I can’t help thinking that a public cloud would be more economically efficient for smaller businesses but I haven’t crunched any numbers. 
Show your preference in the below poll and see what other’s think!
Best,
Kate
Related posts:
- SolidWorks in the Cloud
- Do I Need an Invitation to Join CAD/PLM Cloud?
- Results from 3D Perspectives’ Cloud Watching poll
15 responses to “That’s MY Cloud, Not Yours!”
February 11th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Hi, for all of you that are interrested in cloud computing, I highly recommend to watch that (long but) extremely interesting video (http://thinkinbig.org/index.php/2009/10/why-cloud-vendors-lie-to-you-and-how-they-steal-your-money/).
It explains exactly what is cloud computing and the meaning of private, puclic and hybrid cloud.
You may agree or disagree with views expressed there, but the demonstration is quite impressive.
February 12th, 2010 at 9:15 am
The OEMs I think will not allow their closely guarded 3D data on Public clouds. It may happen that Cloud infrastructure providers provide services to different OEMs but manage the user rights to access data. Will be like islands of clouds owned by providers and accessible to users with rights.
February 12th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
In your questionaire one item was missing. It would be “choose no cloud at all”. When all the choices are which type of cloud you prefer you are excluding perhaps the largest single block of voters who would choose none of the categories.
February 12th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
@Jovan, the title of the video intrigues! When I followed the link the page came up blank though. Is there another path to view it?
@Deepak, yes I think various security levels would be necessary. The question is, will people trust them? Most people chose banks and investment firms to babysit their hard-earned money, so having product IP sitting on a public cloud should be no different, non?
@Dave, great point, I totally forgot about the “no cloud at all” option! Why do you think most people would select the “no cloud” option?
February 12th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
Kate,
Try this link: http://blip.tv/file/2714301
The video actually explains that the clouds should not be considered as product but as a necessary evolution of computer resources by transforming them into commodity. It gives a very good insight of what the PLM could be by analogy.
If it does not work, you can try to google the title.
February 16th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Excellent video, Jovan, merci!
March 13th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Thanks for blogging about my article! Most CIO’s are control freaks since our neck is on the line if the company is embarrassed by a security breach or loss of options. Most CIO’s don’t like to get fired and it is a very frequent occurrence. It is true that most small companies can’t afford their own IT dept, therefore they can’t afford their own cloud. Public clouds are the only way to go (I’m liking Microsoft Online) in this case. But what happens 5 yrs down the road and you have all your junk in 10 different public clouds and trying to get them all to cooperate? If you have your own cloud, you have options. You can buy it from “them” or do it yourself. Another thing to think about is the protection of your data. If your data physically resides in another jurisdiction, they may be obliged to cough up your emails to authorities. Are you OK with that? Maybe it’s another US State or an unfriendly country. Maybe YOU live in an unfriendly jurisdiction and use a cloud to move your stuff to a more favorable location. Private vs. Public cloud computing is not all or nothing–You have the control and options you can afford. And with the costs coming down, you can control more and have more options.
March 15th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Hi Chris, thanks for jumping in with your perspectives! Your points about options, data protection and sharing emails are interesting.
Does anyone know anything about user and IP cloud legislation in the making?
March 15th, 2010 at 10:45 am
http://www.iplawalert.com/2010/03/articles/ecommerce/thunderstorms-on-the-horizon-for-cloud-computing/
Above link may be useful for IP and cloud computing
March 15th, 2010 at 10:48 am
Thanks Deepak!
March 15th, 2010 at 10:51 am
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/cloudpolicy/default.aspx
Microsoft calls for regulations for cloud computing.
March 15th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Good articles on cloud IP, but this really is no different thatn dealing with service providers (cloud or no cloud). Sometimes a service provider “cloud” actually is MORE secure and more protected than a small company could do by themselves. Clouds just give you the ability to relocate more stuff. Again, it’s not an all or nothing choice. Some companies will NEVER use a public cloud just like they don’t conduct all their business on a public internet. They will have private clouds on private networks. It’s the classic “make or buy” decision. Only you can decide what is best for your business or govt agency.
March 16th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Chris,
You are spot on. Sorry I haven’t called.
All clouds are private. Clouds are controlled by servers which are purchased to manage resources and rights. Cloud administrators and their users decide whether the information they author, within each Cloud they work, is to be kept Private or made Public.
For construction projects, the big question for me is WHO purchases and administrates the cloud for each project? Is it the Architect? Contractor? Owner? or 3rd party?
April 15th, 2010 at 2:31 am
I am a bit late into this conversation, but find it very relevant given all of the security/privacy concerns raised by the SolidWorks community after the “CAD-on-the-cloud” announcements at SW World 2010. I agree with Chris’ and Kate’s points about private and hybrid clouds, and I think too many people are ignoring those options and assuming that “cloud” and “public cloud” are one-and-the-same. Given Dassault’s position in Automotive and Aerospace (industries with advanced supply/design chains), I think the concept of community clouds are even more powerful. My more complete thoughts can be found here: http://www.razorleaf.com/2010/04/cloud-y-with-a-chance-of-plm/
April 16th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Very nice post on Clouds and PLM Jonathan. I especially like how you compare Public Clouds to landlords and tenants, noting you have no control who the other tenants are.
Your Community Clouds description reminds of (in keeping with the real estate comparisons) an exclusive gated community where you have to get invited or sponsored to live there. I agree with you that this type of configuration would be idea for OEMs and their supply chains.
Thanks for your comment and blogpost.
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