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> I'm trying to think of other situations where cloud beats bare metal, but I am coming up short. smaller businesses where economies of scale don't kick in, an

by noodle 15y ago

> I'm trying to think of other situations where cloud beats bare metal, but I am coming up short. smaller businesses where economies of scale don't kick in, and/or smaller businesses that want to hedge their bets on growth.

cytzol 15y ago
Even Dropbox, a cloud company, uses Amazon S3.
crag 15y ago
Except of course when that small business relays to much on the cloud. I know a local gym that decided to "host" their cash register. I told the owner it was a mistake. He basically said I was suck in the past. Until his Comcast went/slowed down. Or a local non-profit who's board came up with a great way to save money - host their phone system in the cloud. A local carrier was happy to sign them to a 3 year contact. Even supplied the 42 phones. Now, they lucky if they can make calls mid day. It's so bad, that if 10 phones are in use, the next call will sound like you calling from a wind tunnel. And forget about calling at peak times. What does the carrier suggest? Upgrading to a T1. Of course that carrier never mentioned this when selling the service in the first place. And personally, with 42 phone plus 50+ computers and other devices I'm suggesting T3 (cost down here about 500 - 600 a month). My point is, our infrastructure (at least in South Florida) isn't there yet. Sure the cloud is a great idea. But if you can't reach it, it's useless. But that doesn't stop the marketing. Or the complaints.
- noodle 15y ago
  those are examples of people making (or being sold on) poor choices and/or not having all information necessary to make an informed choice. the cloud is not for everyone. physical servers aren't for everyone, either. stories like these don't automatically imply that using the cloud is a bad idea for everyone.
  - crag 15y ago
    "informed choice" No, no. It's about price. Most small business buying subscribing to these services aren't tech. In the phone market (as an example), carriers are selling hosted "solutions" for less then $75 a month. Comcast is too. I like Comcast. But you can't run an office with 25 phones and pc's and other devices on Comcast. At least not in Florida. The other problem, is most IT firms down here are pushing they own "hosted solutions". Everything from email to accounting services. For cheap. Now let me be clear some services I think make perfect sense in the cloud. Even with unreliable connectivity. Like email, storage, messaging, But your core business, services you must have to run your business need to remain under your control. Period. And the last thing; many small business don't really understand just how important IT is to their business.
    - noodle 15y ago
      if it was purely about price, then these people would've purchased these options regardless of the shortcomings if they had known about them beforehand. and if this is the case, they went in with eyes wide open and the cloud is right for them.
      - crag 15y ago
        I doubt that. Trust when I tell you this, the carriers (and I'm including Comcast) sales people do not tell the customer the downsides and limitations. If you don't believe me. Try it. Call the business sales units of the carreirs. Now I believe in buyer beware. But that's the problem... most small business are suffering cash flow problems. When something cheaper comes along there is no "buyer beware". They think about lowering their monthly bills. An of course, in the end they get bit in the ass. It's just mind-blogging to me how many business owners are so ignorant about the tech that runs their business.
        noodle 15y ago
        > It's just mind-blogging to me how many business owners are so ignorant about the tech that runs their business. in my mind, this is the very definition of "uninformed choice". you don't have to be uninformed on purpose, you could also be kept in the dark intentionally by salespeople. you're still making a choice based on an incomplete picture.

by noodle 15y ago

cytzol 15y ago

Even Dropbox, a cloud company, uses Amazon S3.

crag 15y ago

Except of course when that small business relays to much on the cloud. I know a local gym that decided to "host" their cash register. I told the owner it was a mistake. He basically said I was suck in the past. Until his Comcast went/slowed down. Or a local non-profit who's board came up with a great way to save money - host their phone system in the cloud. A local carrier was happy to sign them to a 3 year contact. Even supplied the 42 phones. Now, they lucky if they can make calls mid day. It's so bad, that if 10 phones are in use, the next call will sound like you calling from a wind tunnel. And forget about calling at peak times. What does the carrier suggest? Upgrading to a T1. Of course that carrier never mentioned this when selling the service in the first place. And personally, with 42 phone plus 50+ computers and other devices I'm suggesting T3 (cost down here about 500 - 600 a month). My point is, our infrastructure (at least in South Florida) isn't there yet. Sure the cloud is a great idea. But if you can't reach it, it's useless. But that doesn't stop the marketing. Or the complaints.

noodle 15y ago
those are examples of people making (or being sold on) poor choices and/or not having all information necessary to make an informed choice. the cloud is not for everyone. physical servers aren't for everyone, either. stories like these don't automatically imply that using the cloud is a bad idea for everyone.
- crag 15y ago
  "informed choice" No, no. It's about price. Most small business buying subscribing to these services aren't tech. In the phone market (as an example), carriers are selling hosted "solutions" for less then $75 a month. Comcast is too. I like Comcast. But you can't run an office with 25 phones and pc's and other devices on Comcast. At least not in Florida. The other problem, is most IT firms down here are pushing they own "hosted solutions". Everything from email to accounting services. For cheap. Now let me be clear some services I think make perfect sense in the cloud. Even with unreliable connectivity. Like email, storage, messaging, But your core business, services you must have to run your business need to remain under your control. Period. And the last thing; many small business don't really understand just how important IT is to their business.
  - noodle 15y ago
    if it was purely about price, then these people would've purchased these options regardless of the shortcomings if they had known about them beforehand. and if this is the case, they went in with eyes wide open and the cloud is right for them.
    - crag 15y ago
      I doubt that. Trust when I tell you this, the carriers (and I'm including Comcast) sales people do not tell the customer the downsides and limitations. If you don't believe me. Try it. Call the business sales units of the carreirs. Now I believe in buyer beware. But that's the problem... most small business are suffering cash flow problems. When something cheaper comes along there is no "buyer beware". They think about lowering their monthly bills. An of course, in the end they get bit in the ass. It's just mind-blogging to me how many business owners are so ignorant about the tech that runs their business.
      - noodle 15y ago
        > It's just mind-blogging to me how many business owners are so ignorant about the tech that runs their business. in my mind, this is the very definition of "uninformed choice". you don't have to be uninformed on purpose, you could also be kept in the dark intentionally by salespeople. you're still making a choice based on an incomplete picture.