Cloud Computing an Utility

Abstract

computing has been given the highest amount of attention by technology leaders and it is being claimed to be the next big thing not only for IT industry but the way IT is being viewed by the companies around the world. This report aims at studying the historical parallel models of utility industries which had the same characteristics as the cloud computing and develop understanding of the potential cloud computing holds for future. This report is broadly structured into four main sections. The first section provides a snap shot of current state and a geography based outlook for its market potential. Also, we briefly discuss the major trends which are shaping up the cloud computing industry and their likely impact going forward. Second Section of the report brings out the similarities between how the evolutions of other utilities like electricity and water and the extent of their impact to the World. We extended Carr's argument of IT as a commodity a step further by finding similarities with Utilities like electricity and water. The main learning that we derive out from the study of electricity and water is that the biggest driver behind the growth of these utilities was in the basic economic efficiency achieved through the centralized production which enabled their transformation into a utility and brought much more value to the society. We further discussed important similarities between electricity and IT cloud computing like decline in productivity after arrival of these technologies, large number of innovations that followed by these utilities, the economies of scale present in these industries, pay-as-you-go model, customization with standardization and possibility of having centralized operations. Computing's resemblance with electricity and other utilities was noted in the past but through the third section of this report, we examine that why computing comes with its unique challenges that cannot be traced back to history parallels like electricity and how cloud computing can play a vital role to bridge this gap. In the last section of the report we propose a framework for developing an Ecosystem which will address the challenges for a fast paced Cloud absorption and take IT closer to utility status. Also, it emphasizes the importance of policy environment and role of regulatory authorities in shaping utilities industry. In this regard, report outlines the broad principles on which Indian policy makers and regulatory authorities need to consider for an act that will enable industry to reap benefits of cloud computing. We conclude report on that note that cloud computing has taken IT closer to utilities and now time has come for industry to start applying utilities learning's to IT in cloud computing.