Cloud in a Box
Private Clouds appear to be gaining popularity for businesses of all sizes. One reason is that the cost of hardware has continued to decline, and vendors are designing pre-configured cloud systems with all the necessary engineering built in. No longer does the SMB require as much expertise to setup a private cloud as before because it comes already configured with simplified tools for performing functions such as starting up a virtual server or generating a VLan.
Another reason Private Clouds may be attractive to the SMB is that you can have the advantage of a private architecture while outsourcing the maintenance. You have to best of both the public cloud from a management perspective, and a private cloud from a total cost of ownership perspective.
Often the biggest reason an SMB will consider a public cloud first is the initial cost when money is scarce. Public clouds are inexpensive to get into and scale as your needs scale. However, once your company is up to a good size load it may be cheaper to host your own private cloud.
A cloud in a box package may cost around 100K USD. So, for a startup company that is a huge cash outlay. For a more established business, the cost is quickly offset by not requiring increasing fees in the 100s of dollars for renting space on a public cloud.
Most likely you will experience a higher uptime on a private cloud. Simply consider the outages of the public cloud vendors for the last few years and you’ll find their uptime may not meet your needs.
Security may be better managed in house as well. That is not to say you are not at risk. You may simply have fewer access points for hackers to break into your applications.
Does the concept of a Cloud in a Box appliance interest you more than building your own system? Would you consider using cloud techniques if you had your own private cloud? You can share your ideas by dropping an Email to btaylor@sswug.org.
Cheers,
Ben