PLM Cloud and Gartner Flip Flop

Cloud conversation is taking a sharp turn. Private cloud vs. public cloud. This is actually can be a very interesting and quite a big game changer for PLM companies. In one of my previous blogs, I was talking about cloud trends and different cloud options -dedicated, private, public. It was quite common to consider enterprises will push towards “private cloud” as the first option on their “cloud highway”. Private cloud keeps IT “business as usual” status quo and, at the same time, leveraging cloud technology. Major IT analytical companies behaved in a very supportive way with regards to this option. Navigate your browser to the following article in Info World – Gartner endorse private clouds…

However, I figured out that Gartner just made a flip flop. Read another InfoWord article that was published about a week ago – Gartner flip-flop: try private cloud first by David Linthicum. The article contains few links on Gartner reports. If you have a time over the weekend or later this week – have a read and make your conclusion. I found the following passage interesting:

Adding virtualization to your data center does not make it a private cloud, so server huggers needs to move beyond that approach. This [Gartner opinion] is refreshing to hear, considering that my consulting life has revolved around explaining the differences between virtualization and cloud computing lately. To be clear, adding virtualization does not make it a cloud. Clouds, including private clouds, don’t require virtualization, but they do need self-provisioning, use-based accounting, multitenancy, and APIs, among other cloud attributes.

The next passage of David’s article emphasizes even more one of the core elements of data re-branding in so-called “private clouds”:

The trouble is that hardware and software vendors have gone gaga over the concept of private clouds, using it as a new argument for you to purchase more IT gear. There’s a been a ton of confusion around just what a private cloud is and does, as they push the same old stuff rebranded as “cloud.” I find that most enterprise technology consumers don’t know what a private cloud really is, but instead latch on to the idea they can continue to hug servers. We love our servers.

I found it specially interesting in the context of on-going conversation about how the future of PLM cloud will look like. In another post “Cloud, Head’s-down drafters and Technological analogies” I’ve been talking about a potential confusion around PLM cloud software and how to  differentiate multiple ways to implement PLM on the cloud – new multitenant cloud systems and existing PLM systems cloud re-branding.

What is my conclusion? Companies will decide how to adopt the cloud. The interesting thing, I discovered this week – it won’t be a linear process. IT is trying to establish a running pathway to get existing software on the cloud in a very gradual way. It includes planning, validation, etc… However, urgent business pains and short opportunity will provide an advantage for cloud providers to offer their services to companies at the time they needed with the right speed and cost. It will be interesting to see all flip-flop that will happen to IT on this way. Just my thoughts..

Best, Oleg