Anyone reading technology blogs or trade publications in 2008 has heard of Cloud Computing as the current/next big thing. I wrote a blog entry on cloud computing in August and sent a request out over Twitter today seeking examples of cloud computing being used in government to see if I could pull together any new, useful, information. I referenced this article where Google touted the potential of cloud computing in government back in June to see if there were any fresh examples of government using cloud computing. I'll get back to the examples later.
What is Cloud Computing?
Gartner recently listed Cloud Computing as one of the top 10 technologies to watch.
There is a good definition at Wikipedia, To borrow from that definition, cloud computing is the act of accessing technology-enabled services over the Internet. Cloud computing is a general concept that incorporates software as a service (SaaS), Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, in which the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users.
By this broad definition, virtually all Web 2.0 applications (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace) qualify as cloud computing applications as do SaaS systems like Salesforce.com.
Again, sticking to the broad definition, cloud computing is used widely in government. Government has not yet adopted software as a service applications quite as broadly a the private sector, but there is still very broad use of software as a service particularly for inbound and outbound digital communication. Of course, my favorite example is our company, GovDelivery. 250+ governmental organizations across 25 states and 13 of 15 federal departments send mass email and wireless notices to the public using our platform. We used to focus on functionality and downplay the "in the cloud" nature of our system, but with all the benefits of being centrally hosted (easy collaboration between clients, better functionality, more scale, faster deployment) we now use it as a selling point.
If you want a non-GovDelivery perspective on the benefits of SaaS, here's an article offered via @appirio_kirk on Twitter today describing how DC govt. is now using Google as its corporate email client.
As I noted in my last entry, I don't completely buy the broad definition of cloud computing. I think that SaaS / hosted services that ask you to use an application in pre-determined "wrapping" are very powerful, but true cloud computing is about leveraging application capabilities and storage "in the cloud" without using a prescribed user interface. So, logging into Facebook wouldn't qualify as cloud computing, but using a Facebook application that automatically stored pictures on Facebook when you saved them to your home computer would qualify.
Why does one definition matter over another?
Because, particularly in government, there is broad embrace of SaaS services and platforms such as Facebook, GovDelivery, Comcate (local government CRM), and various Google applications, but government is in only the early stages of tapping into the powerful capabilities offered by these vendors as well as by Amazon and many startups that would enable government to more rapidly deploy custom applications by tapping into storage, processing, and messaging services on an "as needed" basis.
I think I understand why. We launched an "On-Demand Mailer" capability earlier this year. Our beta client, the National Labor Relations Board is using this cloud-based service as its email sending engine for a custom-built application that notifies lawyers of new rulings. NLRB is a highly-sophisticated client with some uniquely talented staff. We have many clients like this, but you have to catch the right people at the right time when they are building applications that need this type of service. In addition, much of the application development in government is done by integrators that have not yet embraced the power of cloud computing (and in some cases may see it as a threat to their current business model).
In other words, our "fully-wrapped" service is much easier to sell. It's easy to understand and the benefits are clear. Successful use of cloud computing within a custom application requires a motivated developer / architect that is actively seeking shortcuts that will allow him or her to deliver a better solution with less time and cost. It's a paradigm shift that can't be encouraged by a vendor quite as easily.
To get you thinking of what's really possible with cloud computing, I want to point out some additional examples that came up on Twitter today.
One is this amazing public data service from Amazon that allows you to tap into Census and Human Genome project data stored on Amazon servers: http://aws.amazon.com/publicdatasets/ (Thanks to @Rchards).
Another example that requires a little more technical understanding to digest is GoGrid which offers storage and more advanced server infrastructure in the cloud. HighTechDad is their technology evangelist and indicates that they do work with government today, but that governments don't always like to admit they are using the cloud (something I think is less true everyday as many governments are trying to demonstrate their ability to use technology to save money these days). HighTechDad also maintains a blog here where he has an absolutely superb explanation of cloud computing that is better organized and better thought through than this entry (though hopefully I've brought in some extra perspective on the government angle).
If you find this useful or have your own examples of governments using cloud computing, I welcome your comments and feedback. From a selfish GovDelivery perspective, I'm also looking for creative ways to better expose this type of service to anyone building applications within government (particularly within those government bodies that are already using our platform in it's "fully-wrapped" state).
We had terrific attendance at our recent webinar, but we need to continue reaching out to agencies that might want to take the leap to embracing the power of the cloud when building custom applications.
Happy New Year!
What is Cloud Computing?
Gartner recently listed Cloud Computing as one of the top 10 technologies to watch.
There is a good definition at Wikipedia, To borrow from that definition, cloud computing is the act of accessing technology-enabled services over the Internet. Cloud computing is a general concept that incorporates software as a service (SaaS), Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, in which the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users.
By this broad definition, virtually all Web 2.0 applications (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace) qualify as cloud computing applications as do SaaS systems like Salesforce.com.
Again, sticking to the broad definition, cloud computing is used widely in government. Government has not yet adopted software as a service applications quite as broadly a the private sector, but there is still very broad use of software as a service particularly for inbound and outbound digital communication. Of course, my favorite example is our company, GovDelivery. 250+ governmental organizations across 25 states and 13 of 15 federal departments send mass email and wireless notices to the public using our platform. We used to focus on functionality and downplay the "in the cloud" nature of our system, but with all the benefits of being centrally hosted (easy collaboration between clients, better functionality, more scale, faster deployment) we now use it as a selling point.
If you want a non-GovDelivery perspective on the benefits of SaaS, here's an article offered via @appirio_kirk on Twitter today describing how DC govt. is now using Google as its corporate email client.
As I noted in my last entry, I don't completely buy the broad definition of cloud computing. I think that SaaS / hosted services that ask you to use an application in pre-determined "wrapping" are very powerful, but true cloud computing is about leveraging application capabilities and storage "in the cloud" without using a prescribed user interface. So, logging into Facebook wouldn't qualify as cloud computing, but using a Facebook application that automatically stored pictures on Facebook when you saved them to your home computer would qualify.
Why does one definition matter over another?
Because, particularly in government, there is broad embrace of SaaS services and platforms such as Facebook, GovDelivery, Comcate (local government CRM), and various Google applications, but government is in only the early stages of tapping into the powerful capabilities offered by these vendors as well as by Amazon and many startups that would enable government to more rapidly deploy custom applications by tapping into storage, processing, and messaging services on an "as needed" basis.
I think I understand why. We launched an "On-Demand Mailer" capability earlier this year. Our beta client, the National Labor Relations Board is using this cloud-based service as its email sending engine for a custom-built application that notifies lawyers of new rulings. NLRB is a highly-sophisticated client with some uniquely talented staff. We have many clients like this, but you have to catch the right people at the right time when they are building applications that need this type of service. In addition, much of the application development in government is done by integrators that have not yet embraced the power of cloud computing (and in some cases may see it as a threat to their current business model).
In other words, our "fully-wrapped" service is much easier to sell. It's easy to understand and the benefits are clear. Successful use of cloud computing within a custom application requires a motivated developer / architect that is actively seeking shortcuts that will allow him or her to deliver a better solution with less time and cost. It's a paradigm shift that can't be encouraged by a vendor quite as easily.
To get you thinking of what's really possible with cloud computing, I want to point out some additional examples that came up on Twitter today.
One is this amazing public data service from Amazon that allows you to tap into Census and Human Genome project data stored on Amazon servers: http://aws.amazon.com/publicdatasets/ (Thanks to @Rchards).
Another example that requires a little more technical understanding to digest is GoGrid which offers storage and more advanced server infrastructure in the cloud. HighTechDad is their technology evangelist and indicates that they do work with government today, but that governments don't always like to admit they are using the cloud (something I think is less true everyday as many governments are trying to demonstrate their ability to use technology to save money these days). HighTechDad also maintains a blog here where he has an absolutely superb explanation of cloud computing that is better organized and better thought through than this entry (though hopefully I've brought in some extra perspective on the government angle).
If you find this useful or have your own examples of governments using cloud computing, I welcome your comments and feedback. From a selfish GovDelivery perspective, I'm also looking for creative ways to better expose this type of service to anyone building applications within government (particularly within those government bodies that are already using our platform in it's "fully-wrapped" state).
We had terrific attendance at our recent webinar, but we need to continue reaching out to agencies that might want to take the leap to embracing the power of the cloud when building custom applications.
Happy New Year!
