Selecting Cloud Providers

Cross posting from CloudAve - specialist Cloud Computing and SaaS blog.If you're moving towards cloud computing, what's your shortlist? What questions should you ask? What answers should you demand? Join this panel of analysts and cloud computing experts as we build a selection criteria live, arming you with the facts you need to pick a cloud solution that's right for you.Speakers:

A discussion about dedicated versus agnostic platforms ? Alex Barnett pointed out that the Intuit Partner Platform is agnostic ie not targeted specifically to service Intuit parent company applications. (Disclosure ? I?ve done a little bit of work with Intuit on the partner platform while in Boston)A general discussion on conflicts of interest ? don't cloud providers have conflicts of interest in wanting to help users waste cycles versus helping them optimize their operations. Some good comments about the cloud computing relationship being more of a partnership ? when transparency and mutual benefit prove value and encourage customer loyalty.Plenty of discussion around the costs of cloud computing ? which is always a shame ? I?ve long said that selling cloud computing based purely on cost savings is not only potentially wrong, but also a mistake in that it forgets the real value to be derived from this stuff. I?d have thought at an event like this the cost discussion would have been left behind.Are enterprises only after ?legacy? component-centric clouds or will they eventually want to rebuild their apps for scalable services? Originally most organisations were looking at 'skunk works? applications ? now they are getting more comfortable with the concept and moving to more core functions. The comment was made that ?nobody ever got fires for buying from IBM?? Vendors report being scared off cloud computing by traditional vendors deriding cloud computing services as unreliable. Alex Barnett talked about the IPP where, he said, Intuit adds value to third party SaaS vendors by creating a trust relationship ? gaining some of the halo of trust from Intuit as the platform provider.Finally a brief discussion about private clouds, whether they are real and how providers work with them. A reminder of the presentation this morning where it was mentioned that cloud computing is a way of thinking about openess more than a location. As such a provider with their own virtual data centre that is thinking about how data will work and interrelate with the outside world can justifiably claim to be a cloud computing user.Related Posts From Cloud Ave: