Cloudonomics: The Business Value of Cloud Computing, + Website

Issues with the Cloud

A few issues are frequently discussed regarding the cloud.

Assertion 13: However, security and availability are big issues . . .

Let’s take these in turn. Security is an issue in the cloud, no question. It’s also an issue with personal devices and with enterprise devices and with enterprise networks and with enterprise data centers. It’s always an issue. The question is not whether it is an issue but whether security is enhanced or weakened by the cloud.

Data are important assets. So is money. Money and other valuables such as jewelry can be kept under your mattress—a premises solution—or in a bank—a cloud solution. Which has the better security? The bank can afford stronger security in terms of vaults with foot-thick hardened steel walls, and can have a security team made up of security professionals and one or more people on payroll who stay abreast of new burglary strategies and determine and implement counterstrategies.

Not only do cloud providers have similar advantages, but they have additional ones, such as their ability to fend off hundreds of thousands or millions of marauding “bots,” typically PCs that have malware running on them coordinated by software running on one or more remote servers. Although it is likely that there will continue to be security issues with the cloud, the same way that banks still get robbed, chances are your antique watch will be better off in a safety deposit vault than on your fireplace mantel.

Availability behaves ...