f3yourmind

There will always be someone who will scream that Cloud Computing is new.  And there’s someone else that will tell you it’s old-school-been-there-done-that.  And there will always be some vendor that will try to sell something too.

Since we shrink in body and mind to the state of children when thrown into a new context, beware of stranger danger.  It’s tempting to follow strangers for cheap candy in the cloud.

And yes, like SOA, we’ve seen and done this before.  But I think it is important that we let the passage of time to gel our experiences and ideas over and over again.  Why?  Because contexts change with time and we can use new contexts to innovate again and again and again.

You’re allowed to think … for yourself … and decide … for yourself.

I’ve been thinking about Cloud Computing over the past few weeks.  And the business of Chunk Cloud Computing makes me feel more comfortable than the various “definitions” for cloud computing that is out there.

It amazes me that we, as an industry, find it so hard to converge on common ideas.  So, I’ve tried to formulate my own understanding of cloud computing.

I think it is …

• a very scalable hardware platform that you share but don’t own
• an infrastructure service that you use but never maintain
• a computation environment that scales when you scale
• data storage that is distributed but consistent
• about writing applications that wire up highly cohesive, loosely coupled chunks
• about freedom to choose and change but with greater responsibility and consequences

The last point was enlightening for me.  For sure, some vendor will pitch the “Lower your future running costs” line.  But I think Future Running Costs = Zero.  You never plan for the future but only for what you need right now.

Wow!  that is so Zenful.  Cloud Computing is about living in the moment, all the time.

I will be presenting a half-day master class for the JCSE on 27 May 2009 in Johannesburg.  It’s titled Credit Crunch Metrics and aimed at geek managers.  But it’s all about your code.  It will be an interesting 4 hours.  We will read a lot of code, look at a lot of pictures of designs.  Examine the workflow of teams.  All of this with the explicit intention of determine the cost of writing and maintaining your software.

Why Credit Crunch Metrics? Because we, as an industry, are contributing to the global financial slump.  We need to critically look at how we produce and maintain software by examining “environmental” signs that are commonly ignored.  The cost of development lies in your code, your design and your workflow.  I will show you how to look at these signs and learn from them.  And then, just maybe, we change our industry for the better – one code base at a time.  Otherwise, we might as well substitute “software developer” for “lawyer” in those old lame jokes.

Why am I targeting management in corporate teams? Because managers have the access to the boardroom and they should be fighting the battle for their developers.  So, get your “manager” to sign-up.  Better yet, come along with your “boss” and then take the battle to the boardroom together.

The JCSE and I and both hoping for 15 or more people to attend.  This is not a hard rule, but anything less than 10 will most likely force us to cancel the event.  That would be a sad reflection on the priority thinking of people in our local community.