Episode Summary

iland Cloud Technologist Brian Knudtson is joined by guests Marc Crawford, Will Urban, and Eric Wright for another CloudBytes discussion on flexibility. Everyone agrees flexibility is a good thing, but what should you consider upfront before sticking your head (and data) in the cloud?

Panel

Cloud Conversations

Topic 1

[02:41] Flexibility is more than computer resources, so how important is flexibility around legal agreements, billing (think burst/res/res+burst), services (including support and managed services), and other non-technical aspects of a cloud service?

Topic 2

[08:41] We’ve all heard horror stories of businesses using the “start small and only pay for what you use” approach to the cloud only to be burnt by high bills as they grow uncontrolled. How can customers use the dual-edged sword of flexibility to help protect themselves without hurting themselves?

Topic 3

[15:49] How do cloud providers provide that flexibility and what could be improved?

Cloud Bites

[02:26] “The Cloud is way more flexible than you’ll ever need it to be. The question is, are you actually ready to consume the cloud?” – Eric Wright 

[04:36] “You need to clearly define with your cloud provider what your end goals are and make sure all the services that they provide can meet your needs.” – Marc Crawford

[06:24] “I think going to the cloud is like going to veganism —  it seems like a great idea for the first couple of months until you can’t sleep at night.” – Eric Wright 

[11:08] “Administrators used to think VMware bloat was bad. Cloud bloat is even worse.” – Will Urban 

[17:23] “What we need to be better at in cloud provider land is enabling people to consume patterns of architecture based on what’s there — and be honest up front about what it costs to do so.” – Eric Wright 

[25:37] “The race to bigness isn’t necessarily the race that matters to a customer.” – Eric Wright