3 ms·

They do that do minimize the risk. They just minimize the risk for some of their employees to be wrong. Who will blame a CTO who has chosen the cloud or SAP eve

They do that do minimize the risk. They just minimize the risk for some of their employees to be wrong. Who will blame a CTO who has chosen the cloud or SAP even if it's expensive?

mmt 8y ago
Possibly the CFO, CEO, or board, if it's so expensive that the company goes under. Typically, this is only an issue at startups, where "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" doesn't apply, especially if one extends "fired" to include losing a job due to the company ceasing to exist. Currently, there seems to be a general exception to expense-blame when it comes to cloud, at least partly provided by VCs (who sit on boards).
- mabynogy 8y ago
  I remember a campaign few years ago telling startupers to use a cloud provider because hosting is a commodity and they won't earn money with it. People like Elon Musk don't do that. When he needs a factory, he hires architects and builds the factory himself.
  - mmt 8y ago
    > I remember a campaign few years ago telling startupers to use a cloud provider because hosting is a commodity and they won't earn money with it. That was the gist. IIRC, the essence of the argument was that, because running hardware in a colo isn't the startup's core competency, it's best to outsource it. The push to outsource (especially by VCs and other outsiders and/or "business" interests) is hardly new, nor is it new to do so while ignoring potential future costs or even ignoring how closely intertwined to the core competency something actually is (witness the tech offshoring fad in the US). What's particularly interesting to me is that cloud outsourcing not only has such huge potential future costs but can start costing right away. Hardware has up-front purchase costs, but those can often be smoothed out with a lease, if cash flow is that much of a concern.

3 ms·

They do that do minimize the risk. They just minimize the risk for some of their employees to be wrong. Who will blame a CTO who has chosen the cloud or SAP eve

by mabynogy 8y ago

They do that do minimize the risk. They just minimize the risk for some of their employees to be wrong. Who will blame a CTO who has chosen the cloud or SAP even if it's expensive?

mmt 8y ago
Possibly the CFO, CEO, or board, if it's so expensive that the company goes under. Typically, this is only an issue at startups, where "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" doesn't apply, especially if one extends "fired" to include losing a job due to the company ceasing to exist. Currently, there seems to be a general exception to expense-blame when it comes to cloud, at least partly provided by VCs (who sit on boards).
- mabynogy 8y ago
  I remember a campaign few years ago telling startupers to use a cloud provider because hosting is a commodity and they won't earn money with it. People like Elon Musk don't do that. When he needs a factory, he hires architects and builds the factory himself.
  - mmt 8y ago
    > I remember a campaign few years ago telling startupers to use a cloud provider because hosting is a commodity and they won't earn money with it. That was the gist. IIRC, the essence of the argument was that, because running hardware in a colo isn't the startup's core competency, it's best to outsource it. The push to outsource (especially by VCs and other outsiders and/or "business" interests) is hardly new, nor is it new to do so while ignoring potential future costs or even ignoring how closely intertwined to the core competency something actually is (witness the tech offshoring fad in the US). What's particularly interesting to me is that cloud outsourcing not only has such huge potential future costs but can start costing right away. Hardware has up-front purchase costs, but those can often be smoothed out with a lease, if cash flow is that much of a concern.