http://www.infoworld.com/article/2841806/cloud-computing/true-cost-cloud-computing.html
I wanted to throw one pure technology article in this category. Cloud computing has been a buzzword for the last 4-5 years, over that time, the term has remained the same but the products and services under "Cloud Computing" have changed significantly. Giving a limited amount of server room space in my organization cloud computing comes up often as an alternative to server room build outs. We have virtualized our server infrastructure at a rate of around 80% as a major step in reducing our overall footprint. At some point even virtualization won't be enough and we will need to cross that bridge of outsource vs hosting internally. Cloud storage was one of the first items we looked into, vendors are offering $.03/GB of storage which is a rather amazing price. What you also need to take into account is the cost for accessing, modifying or adding data.
The infoworld article discusses the need to make sure you take into account these types of items but also discusses the need to make sure you look at the skill sets involved in cloud development, architecture and other areas. Also, to ensure that you add in the security and governance costs of hosting data off-site.
Amazon provides a good calculator to estimate monthly expenses.
http://calculator.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html
What I found is that you truly need to understand what the difference is between the different Get/Put, Data Transfer In and out. Increasing some fields significantly increases monthly costs so organizations need to make sure they truly understand the data or services are currently doing before they move them to the cloud.
In cloud computing, right now competition is the consumers friend.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/amazon-cuts-aws-data-transfer-pricing-us-eu-and-apac/
Amazon, Google, Microsoft are in a constant battle which results in price wars that continue to drive down costs. So you need to make sure when doing these calculations you take into account the most current prices.
Very interesting article! It sounds like your hand is being forced due to physical space. I did some reading up on the cloud and it seems companies are moving to the cloud to future proof themselves and to stay competitive. Your post goes into some deep calculations in cost and data transfer. Clearly you know your stuff! I gained some valuable knowledge on the issue of cost and what to consider. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLarry