Architecting the Cloud: Design Decisions for Cloud Computing Service Models (SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS)

Chapter 3

Cloud Computing Worst Practices

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

—Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame baseball player

The U.S. Army invested $2.7 billion in a cutting-edge cloud-based solution with the goal of communicating real-time information from various sources to assist in battlefield operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The system failed to deliver and actually hindered operations instead of helping. As one person put it, “Almost any commercial software product out there would be better.” Cloud computing can create huge competitive advantages if applications and services are correctly architected to satisfy the business requirements. This chapter discusses the nine common mistakes that companies make in the cloud. At the end of the discussion for each common mistake, recommendations for avoiding these mistakes are given.

Avoiding Failure When Moving to the Cloud

Historically, many companies fail when it comes to implementing new and transformational technologies. There are many causes of failure. Sometimes companies fail because they don’t fully understand or embrace new technologies. Sometimes they rush into development mode and forgo the necessary architecture and design steps. Sometimes they have unrealistic expectations like too-aggressive due dates, too large of a scope, not the right people, and many other reasons. The next few sections focus on the top reasons why companies moving to the cloud might fail.

Migrating Applications to the Cloud

A common misperception ...