Cloud Computing is the buzzword that is being circulating these days. Different people, vendors and companies define what is Cloud computing differently as it sees it fits to their needs.

Speaking to large Enterprise Customers and looking at each vendor marketing collaterals, all of these are not as different as it sounds. It is definitely different ways to achieve the same thing.

For me; when I think about this, looking at how different the definitions and implementations could be, yet still resembles same thing “Cloud Computing”. The reason is simply illustrated in my analogy of composing a song. Songs are so different in taste, styles and qualities. Also different people defines songs to their taste and depends on how the song fits him/her.

Song requires different things to be a song. Words, instruments, …etc. are the main components that make a song. You make the final song by recording each of these tracks to the best you can and put them all together. End result can be different taste and type depends on the style and quality of each of these tracks and how good was the integration. One important thing, regardless of the different tastes of songs, is the harmony. You can have some noisy not in harmony song, and you can have a very well composed one and things sound totally in harmony.

Now, lets take this analogy and see what is really Cloud Computing?  

During my 15+ years career in IT field, I always saw the same struggle of how to map Business to IT. Business has a very dynamic nature, and IT has always been trying to respond to the Business in reactive way. A lot of consulting firms and IT analysts have been trying to put different components in the IT as “proactive” and “Dynamic” as it could be to respond to the dynamic nature of the business.

So the concept of having Dynamic IT infrastructure has been going for so many years. In my humble opinion a lot of vendors have been trying to develop and mature their products to address this pain point. You will find different frameworks and enterprise architecture, that can be too complicated sometimes, trying structure how to interact and meet the dynamic business requirements. There have been different waves and trials trying to address this in so many individual ways over and over. You can recall waves of consolidation, transformation, and modernization, EAI, to Services Oriented Architecture (SOA). The SOA is where really everyone start to recognize yes that what we want to achieve. Simply put, a methodology to provide things as services. 

The main challenges, in all the attempts to really fully have a very dynamic infrastructure, can be summarized in:

• Stack dependency. Each layer was really not so independent as vendors claimed. A lot of SOA projects failed or did not reach the promised ROI by the vendors because they only focused on addressing Applications in more re-useable format.

• Technology needed to mature. The main thing is really to decouple each layer to address the first challenge here. With the Technology at that time, Virtualization was still not yet there, and had a very tight relationship between OS & HW.

• Integration & Orchestration. After Technology matures in each of the components or layers, now how we can have the needed integration to have the “harmony” we discussed above in our analogy. We needed to build different integration and orchestrate the full IT stack. But wait, it is still challenging because of different interfaces, this gets us to the next point. 

• Standardization and Interoperability.   There is a large fight to try to make specific standards for each layer. You will see the religious fight between Open Source and other Proprietary vendors, each is trying to push its way. I think this fight will stay there for sometime till this layer mature.

All the other claims that how we secure data in the Cloud, regulation, availability, …etc all of these can be addressed with proper Architecture.  Again in my opinion the above challenges were the main show stopper.

Now as the technology is maturing where we can have these layers automated and integrated , it is all up to the need of the end-user on how to consume the tools and build his/her own cloud. Again, the song analogy, you can compose random tracks and call it a song, or you can spend the needed time and architect the proper tracks and compose/integrate a song that gives you the harmony and the needed attributes that you desire.

For the Cloud there are main components (tracks) that well define the architecture of a Cloud. But do we need to use all these? Absolutely not. You will only need to define and select the right tracks for you that build you song (Cloud). Integrate it to compose the harmony in your Cloud (Song).

In the next Blog I will talk more about building each of these layers, and categories of how each model works. Followed by another Blog showing what are the challenges (not technical) that Enterprise will face and how to overcome these within Enterprise for successful Cloud deployment.

 Copyrighted 2012 - Sherif AbdElGawad

I grew up internationally away from home. I have been marked most of my time "foreigner" or strange from the land where I used to be. Since I was a kid, I got to learn how it is to be a stranger on land, and away from what it is called home-country. 

Yesterday I met a couple. One Egyptian and another American. We had an interesting discussion about differences in cultures. It made flash back when I just moved to the US. I used to think, or wanted to believe that I have all the Egyptian roots in me, and that I will always be regardless whatever I will learn and adapt to in the US. I have to admit I was wrong.

It took me the move to Dubai and doing business in Middle East to recognize that I am not 100% Egyptian anymore. As it was hard for me to accept, I found myself OK with this, now. I looked deep inside and I found that it really is OK. I want to believe that I have the best of being American & Egyptian. I have the best of the two cultures.

I got stuck in traffic last night after my meeting with the couple, and was thinking about this topic. It made me think, what is really the Egyptian Character , and how did I base that I am not anymore Egyptian? Maybe I never knew what is the Egyptian character!

It made me think again, looking at what is happening in Egypt now, I find it very interesting and very diversity within the same country, Egypt. This is the only explanation I could make sense of.

When I remember how people can be very friendly and smile at you, and at the same time really cannot stand you. Looking more backward when I was at College and recognize that people may vote for Muslim Brotherhood in the Student Union, but really against them and against being pushed to do specific things the way the brotherhood think is right.

It is very mixed culture where people want to be modern, and they have that deep down kindness and tendency to be religious. Refuses the too religious part, but yet they would just vote for the religious party because maybe this will make them better, or satisfy the guilt that they are not that religious!

A lot of contradictory behaviors within the Egyptian Character, but at the end it is an amazing culture with all its weirdness and differences. 

I think there is no specific character that defines a typical Egyptian, because we are mix of a lot of differences that affected and shaped the Egyptian People. At this time, I think the Egyptian Character is adaptable, that's it  - This is the character definition, Egyptian Characters are different simply :)

Now, I think I took that, and have been shaped with all the different countries and adapted to the point I am myself a mix of a larger exposures of cultures and characters. I hope this made me better me anyway.

It was an interesting year 2011, to say the least .. A lot of challenges and changes that affected me directly both at personal immediate circle and family, work related and professionally as well it was a year full of events that changed a lot of things in this world. 

The great support I had for 2011 is having my beautiful wife next to me, and celebrating our first anniversary. 2011 would have been much more tough on me.

My wife and I decided to take it easy this year, and celebrate New Year without big party. We invited a couple friend, had lovely dinner and watched fireworks around Burj Khalifa in Dubai from our balcony with few drinks, and for sure Shisha :)

I managed to get my web site and blog up and running wit last addition of smart mobile phones support. So far it is a good start for this year, and I do hope that 2012 will be much better than 2011.

I do wish you all a very happy new year for you and your families.

--Sherif

My First Blog