Rod Johnson on Cloud Computing vs. The SOA Hype

Pulling wisdom from Dilbert while evaluating the enterprise architecture landscape, Rod Johnson compares the Service Orienced Architecture insanity of yesteryear to the Cloud Computing craze of today. The final judgement? "I think with respect to SOA, it really was a fad...it was really an artificial, marketing-created, concept."

Of course, Rod wasn't all negative. He did say a few nice things about Service Oriented Architectures "It was something that is very sound at an architectural practice level" says Rod.

But what about the cloud?

But what about the cloud? Is the cloud just another crazy fad to hold CTOs by their ankles and shake as much change out of their pockets as we can, too? Rod says 'no.' Well, to be exact, what he says is:

"In the case of cloud computing however there is more substance behind it. However that substance is obscured by the fact that cloud could mean just about anything to anyone."

The link includes an audio/video of Rod's comments, along with a full transcript of the commentary. Give it a read. And if you're not into reading, give it a listen. Or, you can stimulate a whole bunch of your interactive senses by doing both.

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Yawn......

Every year there is someone who pops up saying that previous technology was an insanity wrt the new bandwagon.

And almost always you can note that criticism begins when the jump is complete and they need to make money with the new hype.

Yawn......

Every year there is someone who pops up saying that previous technology was an insanity wrt the new bandwagon.

And almost always you can note that criticism begins when the jump is complete and they need to make money with the new hype.

 

Can't agree more!

Agreed. I do think the hype around the cloud is still far ahead the reality for most enterprises.

There's been a hurricane of money invested in cloud platforms, led by people much smarter and better looking than me. But even our TSS surveys see a big divide between actual use.

I see an oligopoloy of providers, with VMWare being one of them.

Sadly, it's not just VMWare. Even supposedly independent research organizations like Gartner are trumpeting the cloud as loudly as they can these days. Then again, these are the very same people that were at the forefront of the SOA, etc hype too :-).

The technology industry overall seems to hold the unfortunate belief that overblown marketing is an essential tool to "sell" anything -- even things that do indeed have technical merit. Guess that's where TSS steps in to separate the reality from the hype :-). Fortunately rank-and-file developers in general seem to grasp the concept of the hype cycle. It's the "higher-ups" in the technology organizations that often don't seem to get it...

> Even supposedly independent research organizations like Gartner...

Gartner is nowhere near independent - there's no "supposedly" about it. How do you think they make their money? Even when they do surveys that are not directly paid for, you can be sure they're pitching to those same companies.

Every year there is someone who pops up saying that previous technology was an insanity wrt the new bandwagon.

Particularly when it's a quote from someone who's company has an amount of money invested in aforementioned new technology :-) Anyone got a pinch of salt ...

Every year there is someone who pops up saying that previous technology was an insanity wrt the new bandwagon.

Particularly when it's a quote from someone who's company has an amount of money invested in aforementioned new technology :-) Anyone got a pinch of salt ...

A pinch isn't enough. A truck load of salt is more appropriate. You know, the kind of truck they use to salt the freeways during a snow storm.

I have to say that I tend to agree. The likes of Gartner, Forrester, etc seems to be no better than your run-of-the-mill stock analyst.

I've long felt the need for a "consumer reports" type of pure non-profit for the technology industry that could be "above the influence". In fact, I was attempting to organize one myself a few years ago but it's tough to do with all the things I juggle already.

Maybe someone else can step up? It could certainly make you an honest, decent living and would be hugely beneficial to a lot of people.

Clown computing companies that say cloud is not a fad

is like saying

tobacco companies saying smoking does not cause lung disease.

Clown computing companies that say cloud is not a fad

is like saying

tobacco companies saying smoking does not cause lung disease.

Clown computing.

Don't know if it is a mispelling, but it is great !!!!!

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

you should (TM) "Clown computing"

Because a guy I worked with-- a programmer in his 60s at the time-- said that even 'PCs' (which soon became 'Client/Server') would be stitched in by IBM and Service Bureaus would again rule the Earth.  Let's see if that's right....

Back in the fifties many villages in Germany had a public fridge, where people could store their meat. Nowadays fridges are cheap so everybody has their own fridge in the basement. Nobody bothers to go down to the village center to fetch meat for dinner.

With computer hardware we aren't in the fifties anymore either, server hardware is cheap, so why bother with a cloud supplier and cloud security issues?

Back in the fifties many villages in Germany had a public fridge, where people could store their meat. Nowadays fridges are cheap so everybody has their own fridge in the basement. Nobody bothers to go down to the village center to fetch meat for dinner.

With computer hardware we aren't in the fifties anymore either, server hardware is cheap, so why bother with a cloud supplier and cloud security issues?

 

Because your IT staff is a PITA and cost $$.

The next big trend sounds good. Cloud computing continues to move into the mainstream. - Texas Lending