I think you're missing something in the cloud model. "Running on the Cloud" is a euphemism for a modified delivery model. Cloud moves the capacity planning role out of the delivery track. Capacity planning activity still takes place in all cloud models but it is based on overall usage and forecast rather than being evaluated at time of request. No one is suggesting we don't need the physical hardware just that it shouldn't be the end-users concern when they request a new compute resource.

Go out and find a whitepaper on this stuff that isn't targeted at CEO's. There are some good ones. I'd include links but I work for a vendor and I don't want you to get our slant.

Ignore the buzzwords. Cloud computing is a simple concept. Cloud is web driven model for requesting compute resources that uses automation and virtualization to accomplish the task in a shortened time frame compared to traditional methods. There is no "The Cloud". In a public cloud model you would request these resources and then they would be made available on the public internet or possibly via a pre-defined vpn. You would connect to these machines in the same way that you would connect to any other servers that you have in traditional hosted environments.

There are other models, Private Cloud just uses the same concepts that public cloud uses and applies them to your existing IT infrastructure. Your users get easy access to compute resources and because they are inside your network connecting to them is no different from connecting to any other system you maintain.

Corporations like cloud because it reduces their time to delivery and their overall cost of building a new server. IT people should like it because it enforces standardization, and increases reliability due to the reduced risk of human error. Also IT people should like it because most of what it does is pretty boring anyway and we've all most likely scripted it. Cloud just re-uses those scripts and executes them for us.

Agreed. I think the definition above is a pretty limited view of what "IT workers" defines. There's a lot more going on in the industry.

I think we all need to really listen to the basic message of this article though. Things are going to change, automation and virtualization will become more and more common within the datacenter. Your point on security is a good one but public isn't the only cloud delivery model. A private cloud solution leaves the internal security organization in control. It has higher upfront costs than public cloud but has some advantages.

I think you're right that IT people make or break a solution and the same is true of cloud models. The need for IT people to design, build and repair the automation will stay in the new model. I'm not sure if this is "blue collar" IT or not (sort of a dumb concept). I wish cloud wasn't pushed as a new concept because in reality it's a convergence of a number of concepts that have been in the industry for some time. I think that's what makes it a little more of a reality than the traditional new buzzwords. Cloud Computing is taking the standardization efforts of SOA and ITIL and adding automation and virtualization. Since most of us now have IAAS and PAAS documented it makes it easier for Cloud to catch on.

There will be a shift in roles. People that today have most of their job defined by Server Build, Application installation, or OS installation are in danger. They need to either script themselves out of a job, thereby becoming "Automation Experts" or someone will likely do it for them. Current timelines within organizations for server build of 1-2 weeks is going to become a pressing issue as we exit this recession and try to ramp up new projects. Cloud is available at the right time to address those concerns and is based in concepts that people have already been using for a couple of years. It's possible that the word Cloud will go away but the concepts that it brings are going to stick around for a long time, and be a game changer.

Quick everyone come join us in Arizona. No Earthquakes, No Tornadoes, No hurricanes. The only natural disaster we have is that it gets really, really hot in the summer. And once in a while it rains and everyone panics.

I just had a new house built and they ran cat 6 to all the phone jacks. I thought it was neat and if I ever cancel vonage I can use it as a lan. Then I thought about the fact that wireless is easier and doesn't require a network cable.

Computers are never a solution to lack of knowledge although they can help us manage larger datasets in an efficient way. What it comes down to is the current state of economic theory is not sufficient to model macroeconomics. Some day these theoretical models may improve in which case computers are a great tool for managing what will be a large and complex dataset. To in any way suggest that the current macroeconomic models are anything other than predictive is a lie. So basically it's a choice of where to spend your research money and we should be spending on Economics if we want the model to improve not Comp Sci. Although I think there is plenty of Comp Sci work left to be done, which can be a benefit to multiple disciplines rather than an individual one.

There is a tipping point to the cement argument which is why you don't see it in truly cold locations like Canada. Cement roads have a longer lifespan than asphalt and it works out to be cheaper in some locations. In other locations ,due frost, the ground moves too much to see the return on investment. In Canada where there is heavy frost every winter a cement road would still be required to be repaired every year but at a much greater cost due to the cracks caused by frost. This is why you see more cement roads in the southern states and less in the northern. Asphalt's lower cost to install and repair makes it a better fit in colder areas. Neither is a perfect solution but each serves it's purpose in it's place. The perfect solution, as always, is to give us our flying cars.

Repatriate - To bring or send back (a person, esp. a prisoner of war, a refugee, etc.) to his or her country or land of citizenship.

Please note that it doesn't say bring back to the United states, where they are a citizen.

While I completely agree on ethanol disappearing once subsidies are removed, I can't agree that the increasing cost of wheat is related to ethanol production. In fact it's the rising cost of oil for transportation that is being embedded into the cost of wheat products that is raising their price.