SharePoint and Azure
November 1, 2008
The Microsoft cloud computing initiative is underway and it is early days. My principal concern with cloud computing is that it sounds so compelling. Imagine. Reduce your information technology staff. Get out of the hardware business to some extent. Let someone else worry about upgrading software and stamping out bugs.
According to Arpan Shah’s Web log here, Microsoft SharePoint Services will be part of the Azure Services Platform. You can get more information from Microsoft here. Many details are fuzzy. In the weeks and months ahead, more information will be forthcoming. I have heard that sample code, downloadable executables, and documentation will be provided. Microsoft does a good job of providing information. The challenge for me is finding it.
Before leaving the subject of the link up between Azure and SharePoint, let me capture for my own use the issues that I have with cloud computing in general. (I am an addled goose and this Web log is primarily for me, a digital notepad if you will.)
First, it is expensive to build, deploy, scale, and upgrade cloud infrastructure. I am not sure I can quantify the costs any more clearly than I have in my monographs and studies. CFOs and beancounters don’t understand the non linearity of the costs. I suppose this knowledge will become more widely available after a few of the new entrants in cloud computing explain why their balance sheets are awash in red ink.
Second, the problems of bottlenecking, unexpected faults, and the time required to chase down and figure out problems few or maybe no one has seen before increase over time. Cloud infrastructures are tough to lock down. Every time I turn around a vendor was pushing a firmware update, a point upgrade, or some other piece of software at the data centers in which I was involved. When one of these “fixes” is problematic, I had trouble. What few understand is that the longer the cloud infrastructure operates the more likely there will be unexpected dependencies. These data centers are not workstations, yet many people view them as giant iPods. Crazy.
Third, the client experience is gated by bandwidth and latency. The hottest cloud infrastructure is worthless if the user is trying to access email or some other information via a sluggish network. How stable are network connections in Kentucky? Not too stable. Connectivity is much better in the major European cities. Tokyo is outstanding. But when I have had to work from cities with now vowels in their name, life gets tough. Joburg was okay. Djuma was not. Xian featured great connectivity. Other places in China weren’t so hot, so I used Internet cafes and faced with dial up modem speeds. My guide assured me that the cafe was a broadband hook up. Yeah, right.
What to these three points have to do with Azure and SharePoint. Not much because so far Azure strikes me as a suggestive demo. Down the road, Microsoft will have to deal with SharePoint’s own performance and stability plus the three points I just mentioned.
That is going to be a big, costly job for the folks at Microsoft. The goose issues a gentle quack of support.
Stephen Arnold, November 1, 2008
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