Cloud computing : Demystifying the technology

Objectives

To study the general framework of cloud computing

The analysis of Historical development of cloud computer and its technical
advancements over the years.
Study the characterstics and features and applications of cloud computing.

What this section covers:

--->Introduction (Executive Summary)
CIO's list cloud technology is second.
What do NSA (National Security Agency, USA) and CERN have in common?
Wide scale adoption of technology and how I see the future in it. Distributed system
basics. Exaplain as a pre-requisite. Popularity and google trends.
Top IT skills for 2014 : Big Data, mobile, Cloud, and Security.
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/top-it-job-skills-in-2014-big-data-mobile-cloud/#fta
g=RSS56d97e7
Not covered:
Myths about cloud computing (Try to include only the ones to which we have written)
Mundane tasks : Finding best diagrams for explaination where even necessary.
Assemble Everything.

Executive Summary
(Pending)
Introduction
At the Gartner Emerging Technologies conference in 2008, analysts Daryl Plummer
and Thomas Bittman made a bold declaration that: By 2012, 80 percent of Fortune 1000
companies will pay for some cloud computing service, and 30 percent of them will pay
for cloud computing infrastructure.
In January 2010, Gartners prediction became more specific and even more
dramatic: By 2012, 20 percent of businesses will own no IT assets(Gartner, 2010).
Expert forecasts ranging from IDC and Forrester to Yankee Group and Redmonk paint a
similar picture (Simonds, 2009).
While it is always difficult to predict the future, the signs are appearing that cloud
computing is poised for a breakthrough. Before you bet your business on it, however, its
worth investigating the relationship between the excitement around new technologies
and actual investment.
Hype Cycle

Figure 1: Cloud Hype Cycle

Industry analysts use a Hype Cycle (originally developed by Gartner and loosely
depicted in Figure 1) to describe the tendency for new technologies to garner an excess
of interest long before they are mature enough to be deployed in production
environments. The disappointment that many advocates feel when their initial zeal is
frustrated leads them into a Trough of Disillusionment. During this phase many lose
heart and redirect their interest toward other promising ventures. However, as the
underlying problems are resolved and aligned with user needs the systems become
ready for the mainstream and interest picks up again.

There is an element of subjectivity around the precise positioning of any technology in

the cycle. Gartner placed cloud computing in the middle of the initial slope in 2008 and
advanced the position to the peak of the hype curve in 2009. Other analysts loosely
concur with this assessment there is little disagreement on the level of enthusiasm
around cloud computing, even if it may already be seeing some signs of the onset of
disillusionment in 2010.
Survey | Popularity
A more objective, albeit not necessarily extremely reliable, way to gauge the [2]
excitement around any given topic is to use Google Trends ( Figure 2) . You can enter
a search expression and Google will provide a graphic representation that illustrates the
relative frequency of search of this specific expression over time.
For instance, the figure below illustrates the popularity of the phrase Cloud
Computing over the past five years. Until the middle of 2007, the term was virtually
never used in search queries nor did it appear in news references. Since then, the search
requests and appearances in news articles have grown dramatically.

Figure 2: Google Trends: "Cloud Computing" [2]

Needless to say, it is obvious from the above that there has been a major shift in
interest toward cloud computing over the past three years. Comparing these results to
the graphs generated for other topics such as Grid Computing, Web 2.0, P2P,
Wireless you will see a stark contract in the shape of the curves.(Figure 3)

Figure 3: Comparing poplarity using Google Trends: Cloud Computing, Grid

Computing and Mainframe Computing[3]
Business and Financial estimations:<incomplete>
As we know that 2009 may long be remembered as the year of the worldwide economic
downturn. The impact across many industries, including IT, was devastating. And yet,
even then, there were bastions of hope in the midst of all the turmoil. One of the most
prominent IT analysts, Gartner, identified cloud computing as the primary source of
growth in IT spending, increasing over 20% year-on-year to global revenues of $56B in
2009 and [1] surging to over $130B by 2013.
Conclusion:
(Pending..)
Notes and References:
[1] Gartner estimates are expressed in U.S. dollars. Gartner, Inc., 56 Top Gallant
Road, Stamford, CT 06904 USA, +1 203 964 0096www.gartner.com
[2] Google Trends :http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=cloud
%20computing&cmpt=q
[3] Google Trends :http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=cloud%20computing%2C
%20Grid%20computing%2C%20Mainframe%20Computer&cmpt=q