The Subtle Push to the Cloud

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item The Subtle Push to the Cloud

  • I really hope that the split between SQL Azure and on-premises SQL Server is somewhere close to 50/50 just so that both remain equally valuable to Microsoft. Perhaps they will add more features to the lower versions in order to tease them into SQL Azure later on.

    Who knows? Not I. I am the worst predictor I know.

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

  • There is no way that we in the NHS could use cloud computing in general, or Azure in particular, especially for databases that contain patient data. The risks of unauthorized access is too high to begin with and when you add to that the fact that a US judge could order Microsoft to grant access to your data (see here http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/28/us_judge_digital_search_warrants_apply_everywhere/), we wouldn't be able to guarantee the required level of data security. The ISC (Information Security Commission) would gut us, it would probably cost more in fines for breach of patient data security than we would save in licensing and hardware, which is the point of the legislation.

  • Alex Gay (4/29/2014)


    There is no way that we in the NHS could use cloud computing in general, or Azure in particular, especially for databases that contain patient data. The risks of unauthorized access is too high to begin with and when you add to that the fact that a US judge could order Microsoft to grant access to your data (see here http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/04/28/us_judge_digital_search_warrants_apply_everywhere/), we wouldn't be able to guarantee the required level of data security. The ISC (Information Security Commission) would gut us, it would probably cost more in fines for breach of patient data security than we would save in licensing and hardware, which is the point of the legislation.

    So true. In the UK there will be many more industries under similar restrictions (e.g. financial data)...and then there is the rest of the world too.

    Maybe that means that there is room for supporting both online and on-premises!!!

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

  • Gary Varga (4/29/2014)


    I really hope that the split between SQL Azure and on-premises SQL Server is somewhere close to 50/50 just so that both remain equally valuable to Microsoft. Perhaps they will add more features to the lower versions in order to tease them into SQL Azure later on.

    Who knows? Not I. I am the worst predictor I know.

    This is my position as well - I would like real choice in the market to allow businesses to choose private or cloud.

    I actually struggle to get a decent non smart phone these days - every phone shop sells the same phones it is disappointing when markets seem to reduce in choice.

    When vendors push people in directions they want rather than what their clients want - it is often an inspiration for open source.

  • Dalkeith (4/29/2014)


    ...When vendors push people in directions they want rather than what their clients want - it is often an inspiration for open source.

    Totally agree. This is the point when customers add their financial backing to open source projects because they are the only ones close to satisfying their business requirements. I just hope MS does not lose sight of that.

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

  • In today's news the US Government have decided that Microsoft data held in Ireland must be made available to the US government. If that decision is upheld then the implications for the Azure cloud are horrendous. For many cases it kills Azure stone dead. Presumably this dictat will eventually hit Amazon and any other primarily US based company.

    It's a trick situation because on-line data is effectively stateless. Who owns the data, who has rights to it? The companies who put the data where it is or the companies who store the data?

    Should data storage be considered to have the sanctity of the priests confessional box?

  • David.Poole (4/29/2014)


    In today's news the US Government have decided that Microsoft data held in Ireland must be made available to the US government. If that decision is upheld then the implications for the Azure cloud are horrendous. For many cases it kills Azure stone dead. Presumably this dictat will eventually hit Amazon and any other primarily US based company.

    It's a trick situation because on-line data is effectively stateless. Who owns the data, who has rights to it? The companies who put the data where it is or the companies who store the data?

    Should data storage be considered to have the sanctity of the priests confessional box?

    Well this makes a mockery of the EU Data Protection laws.

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

  • There are two aspects of software which make it unique in the world of Economics.

    Immortality and essentially Free Duplication.

    Immortality usually leads to higher prices - eg gold diamonds etc

    100% Accurate free reproduction means no supply limits and which leads to zero cost.

    If software does what is required and will continue to do that from now until eternity - what is the point in re-design.

    Its not as if accounting theory has changed much in the last 500 years.

    When open source reaches the required level of stability and usability I think the market will naturally migrate.

  • I'm not convinced by Dalkeith's arguments here. Everything is in a constant state of change, even if only slowly in some circles.

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

  • Yes there is change and I can see that continuing for hardware.

    I still believe long term though software development may be far less prone to constant development with consolidation around standards - languages and platforms.

  • I see your point of view. I even held a similar one back when I was a C++ developer. I knew the standard inside out. I knew where MS had deviated from and where it had yet to implement the standard. I knew about the slow coming changes to the standard...

    ...then came .NET and there have been plenty of other new things since too.

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

  • Dalkeith (4/29/2014)


    There are two aspects of software which make it unique in the world of Economics.

    Immortality and essentially Free Duplication.

    Immortality usually leads to higher prices - eg gold diamonds etc

    100% Accurate free reproduction means no supply limits and which leads to zero cost.

    If software does what is required and will continue to do that from now until eternity - what is the point in re-design.

    Its not as if accounting theory has changed much in the last 500 years.

    When open source reaches the required level of stability and usability I think the market will naturally migrate.

    Data may be immortal; assuming it's not sitting on a single hard disk with no backup. Post something to the internet and it will live forever.

    However, I'm interested in where this idea, that "software is immortal", came from. The way I see it, software isn't immortal or universal like gold or diamonds. It's more like currency printed on really cheap paper that's only has worth in proprietary markets and gradually fades over time until it becomes useless after ten years.

    "Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho

  • Surely software at the end of the day is digital information so in principle it could be immortal if it can still run.

    Software only becomes valueless if it can't run.

    Old software often runs even better on new hardware than when it was first used.

  • Dalkeith (4/29/2014)


    Surely software at the end of the day is digital information so in principle it could be immortal if it can still run.

    More in principle than in practice, I would say.

    Gaz

    -- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!

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