Quest for the Cloud

Say “Cloud Computing” to any random group of people at your organization and you will have enough definitions, interpretations, and expectations to ensure that no one is really sure what it means anymore. Is it just “Web 2.0” technologies, hosted environments, virtualization, community and “crowdsourcing”, or just the next step in the continual evolution of the computing?

Ask the IT department and you’ll hear about cost savings, SLAs, and security risks related to moving stuff out of the on-premise server room. Talk to the younger “Digital Natives” and Facebook, Twitter, MySpace becomes the “language” of choice. A typical business user may also think about LinkedIn, Salesforce.com, or Evernote. Yet another group of people consider anything Internet-based is some form of Cloud Computing – think Gmail, Google Apps, Microsoft’s Live suite, and even Intranet based products such as SuccessFactors.

We’ve started QuestfortheCloud to be able to surface, discuss, and strategize about issues related to Cloud Computing – specifically from the enterprise angle. Some call this “Enterprise 2.0”, but we will cover all types of deployments, from fully Cloud-based solutions to fledgling “Hybrid” solutions that blur the line between providing the value on-premise IT systems and leveraging an increasingly on-demand world.

Interested in contributing content or adding to a discussion??  Drop me an email at: contribute (at) questforthecloud.com

Ashish C. Morzaria