Will 2014 be the year of Community Clouds ?

As the year of SMAC the outlier which changed  the fortunes of business across the world in 2013.
Looking into the crystal glass, we see that next year 2014 will the year of Community Clouds which will change the fortunes of companies which specialize in data center solutions.
We will see community clouds being build by the Fortune 500 companies in a collaborative manner, business across Europe will drive the adoption of Community Clouds in Europe to adhere to the ENISA guidelines.
Cloud Computing now moves beyond cost it is about reliability, economics of scale, security and mutli device support and global standards.
Community clouds will be adopted by the banks of Europe, the pharmaceutical companies of Europe, the European Union and more.
Developing regions in the globe too will adopt cloud computing, Africa will lead the charge with large nations like Brazil, Latin American countries and across the APAC region.

A Bus in Mumbai, A community initiative !

Everyone is worried about privacy in the cloud and the community cloud will allow them to build the trust and reliability and economy of scale they are seeking.
In a world that cannot retreat from Digital footprint, the community cloud will be the way forward and 2014 will be the year of Community clouds.
Companies like HP, IBM , DELL will benefit from this thrust as their hybrid cloud adopters will migrate to community clouds from public clouds.
Public clouds will continue to be fueled for the PUBLIC by social media applications, but enterprises will take refuge in Community clouds.
Are you ready with your road-map for the Community Cloud Explosion in 2014?

Virtualization is not Cloud Computing

Recently Forrester stated that 70% of "private clouds" aren't really clouds at all

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/022613-forrester-private-clouds-267108.html

Therein lies a tale of deceit, misinformation and false gratification of many organizations believing they have a cloud in place. 

To get the facts right we need to revisit the definition of cloud computing as defined by NIST which in may opinion is the final authority on cloud computing standards and is followed by the industry and professionals. 

http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf

Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared 

pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that 

can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. 

This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment 

models.

Essential Characteristics: (Five)

On-demand self-service. 

Broad network access. 

Resource pooling. 

Rapid elasticity.

Measured service. 

Service Models: (Three)

Software as a Service (SaaS). 

Platform as a Service (PaaS). 

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). 

Deployment Models: (Four)

Private cloud. 

Community cloud. 

Public cloud. 

Hybrid cloud. 

Cloud Computing affects traditional hardware and software vendors adversely.

Though virtualization may provide resource pooling and rapid elasticity, there will be a need for on-demand self service, broad network access and measured service to meet the essential characteristics of cloud computing. 

But in a thrust by manufacturers for servers and hardware and connected virtualization solutions and software there has been pressure on NIST to change the parameters of cloud computing, thankfully NIST has held its ground, though there is a regular clamor to change the definitions to meet the needs of IS Vendors who have millions of dollars a stake. 

I know of a bank in India who claims to have implemented cloud computing, though nowhere do they publish their architecture or their adherence to the NIST cloud definition. The vendors who have sold them the hardware and software for virtualization are delighted to tout this as a cloud implementation and even the CIO has won a few award for taking the bank to the cloud. This is not the only instance of false reporting of cloud computing implementation. To add to this the said bank also runs a SAAS banking solution on it purported cloud and has signed up a number of banks for its services. The Indian regulators are clear that data cannot be kept in a public cloud or outside India, but they have no guidelines for cloud computing in India.

Since there is no enforcement or regulation for  Cloud Computing other then guidance from NIST, CSA and ENISA the vendors and their customers continue to brag  about their cloud computing prowess without adhering to the standards.

Virtualization  comes with its own risk though it seems attractive given its significant return of investment, I remember an IT team wanted to virtualize their infrastructure. When queried about their expertise they told me they had installed the virtualization environment on their desktop and were ready to do the same to their data center. Though I recommended that they not go ahead, I am sure they would  implemented virutalization without understanding their lack of skills and the risks for their organization.  I am sure they will soon brag about having built a private cloud for their organization. 

It it time for more compliance in cloud computing implementation and there is a need for a certification process to quality that the organization is truly cloud ready from a reputed assurance consultancy or a knowledgeable cloud evangelist. 

Do share your stories of organizations who have reached the cloud without NIST guidelines, love to hear about them.