Cloud computing is gaining momentum in Hong Kong. According to a recent survey conducted by Hong Kong Productivity Council on companies in Hong Kong, over 30% of the respondents said they are using cloud-based application. Today, cloud computing is developing in three directions:
Firstly, new data centers have been built and there are more to come. IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service) seems to be the low hanging fruit in cloud computing.
Secondly, many organizations, including the government, have started to research on and formulate their "cloud strategies." Many of them are trying to identify the applications or services that can be migrated to the cloud, whether it is public or private, and the associated costs and benefits.
Thirdly, there is initial consensus in the market that security in the cloud remains a concern. The adoption of cloud computing should start with SMBs (Small-Medium Size Businesses) instead of organizations that face stringent security controls like financial institutions.
Cloud service brokering
To understand cloud computing based on the simple classification of IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service), PaaS (platform-as-a-service) and SaaS (software-as-a-service) is perhaps just tipping the iceberg. There are far more opportunities inside a cloud, or between clouds.
The beauty of cloud computing is that there is not only one cloud or one form of cloud. There are in fact many clouds that operate in different forms. Organizations are advised to learn about the opportunities in cloud computing, and how different clouds can co-exist, co-operate and collaborate.
According to Gartner, three services types can be derived from cloud computing:
- Service collaboration -- comprises hybrid models including service plus process, service plus software and service plus devices;
- Service brokering -- includes service cooperation, service dispatching, and service aggregation; and
- Service governance -- comprises service provision, service monitoring and service assurance.