Heavy hitters betting on cloud computing

“The story of our lifetime”?

In our last security round-up, we concluded that the relentless growth of cyber-attacks might force enterprises into a web-based working model. There were problems with that, we said, but the rising burden on IT managers made it an increasingly attractive option.

Our view was reinforced by BT exec Bruce Schneier, who predicted the imminent demise of the end-user security industry, PWC’s 2008 security breaches survey, our interview with Vinny Gullotto, manager of Microsoft’s malware protection centre, the possibility that the security patch system itself will become a source of vulnerability and finally, on a slightly different plane, Amazon’s report on take-up of Amazon Web Services by highly security-conscious clients as well as SMBs.

IBM and Google

Last week, while eyes were fixed on the Steve Ballmer/Jerry Yang Microhoo soap opera, their rivals Sam Palmisano of IBM and Eric Schmidt of Google announced a plan to build a worldwide network of Linux servers to dominate cloud computing, which they believe will become the default software delivery model for enterprise as well as consumers.

It will be “the story of our lifetime,” enthused Schmidt. “The cloud has higher value in business,” he added. “That’s the secret to our collaboration.” “We’re boring, they’re exciting,” Palmisano oozed. “We’re slow, they’re fast, we’re fat, they’re skinny.” Like Mr and Mrs Jack Spratt, they intend to lick the platter clean.

IBM already processes Google’s accounts payable, Schmidt revealed, and the two companies have been collaborating on cloud computing for some time. Unspoken at the Los Angeles love-in was the self-evident fact that any such scheme must give absolute priority to security.

Yahoo and Microsoft

Yahoo! had something up its sleeve for just such an occasion, and today announced a new security feature in collaboration with McAfee. Yahoo! will shut out sites McAfee identifies as sources of ‘drive-by’ downloads, or other techniques to install malicious code on visitors’ computers, and post a warning next to dodgy links, such as those using visitors’ e-mail addresses to send out spam.

Microsoft had already launched a pre-emptive strike by announcing Live Mesh. MS chief software architect Ray Ozzie announced the corporate paradigm shift in an internal memo, made public last week. “The PC era has given way to an era in which the Web is at the centre of our experiences,” he wrote. “It is our mission in this new era to create compelling, seamless experiences that combine the power of the Internet with the magic of software, across a world of devices.”

Raining on the parade

So, with the biggest box-shifters (Amazon and MS), browsers (Google and Yahoo!) and Big Blue signed up to the revolution, who shall gainsay it? Chip-makers, that’s who.

With billions sunk in the competition to deliver increased performance per watt, and having agreed on a 450mm wafer standard from 2012 to make PCs and portables ever more capable, they are less than enthusiastic about a development that could substantially reduce demand for their product.

Citrix Business Development Director Paul Hahn summed the whole issue up succinctly on Intel’s Emerging Compute Model Forum. “None of these solutions (server-side application virtualization, client-side application virtualization and OS Streaming) are meant to be exclusive,” he wrote. “Each exists to better enable an IT organization to match the delivery paradigm for a particular application with a set of end-user characteristics.”

“The point is that there isn’t any one single right approach,” Hahn concluded. “Rather there are now a range of tools available to IT organizations for application delivery.”

At HEXUS.channel we remain convinced that the principal momentum towards cloud computing will not be the pull of convenience, but the push from ravening hordes of internet maldoers, forcing IT managers to form square around a central bulwark of dedicated security specialists.