Every year the Gartner Research Group releases their emerging technology Hype Cycle and its very interesting to observe how different technologies are making their way across the hype cycle – and my particular interest is in watching the progress of Cloud Computing.

In previous blog posts, we observed Cloud Computing moving on toward the Trough of Disillusionment , and I’ve also pointed out the importance of looking beyond the hype peak.

In 2010, we saw that “THE CLOUD” was divided into three entries – Cloud Computing, Cloud/Web Platforms and Private Cloud Computing – when compared to the Hype Cycle released the year before. Below is the Hype Cycle for 2010. You can see that both Cloud Computing and Cloud/Web Platforms have made it over the hype peak and are heading toward the Trough of Disillusionment. And Private Cloud Computing is making its way up to the hype peak.

At the end of July 2011, Gartner released the 2011 Hype Cycle and what changed this year was that they devoted an entire Hype Cycle just on “THE CLOUD”. Here it is:

When comparing the 2011 and 2010 Hype Cycle curves, Cloud Computing has not moved but Cloud/Web Platforms has moved down the curve and is close to the bottom of the Trough of Disillusionment. Private Cloud Computing has also reached the peak of the hype cycle in 2011.

With devoting an entire Hype Cycle curve just to “THE CLOUD”, you can see that the entire enterprise has splintered into many segments which is fascinating. The whole “CLOUD” enterprise is now splintered into a huge number of different cloud specialties/technologies/business models. So as a business thinks about adopting “THE CLOUD” or executing a Cloud strategy, there are so many more options on what segment to bet on that its mind-numbing. And given that many of these segments are 2-5 years or 5-10 years from maturity – all businesses will need to really think about their strategy and figure out where and when to bet. The next 5 years are going to be very interesting as “THE CLOUD” matures.

Here at DiscountASP.NET, although we are focused on advanced shared Windows hosting today, we are also looking at the Cloud landscape and thinking about our own Cloud strategy. Since “THE CLOUD” is still  largely undefined (ask 10 people and you’ll get 10 different definitions)and splintering as observed with the new 2011 Cloud Hype Cycle, we have remained more cautious than jumping into the fray. And we have stayed away from adding more confusion to the market by doing the same thing we’ve been doing but calling it Cloud. So as we observe the changing landscape, we will be making our strategic “Cloud” bets, and of course, we will keep you all informed.

Takehi Eto
VP Marketing and Business Development

HostingCon was interesting this year, as a lot of people, pundits and prognosticators who may have previously dismissed The Cloud as nothing more than hyperbole and the crafty re-packaging old services were now enthusiastically singing its praises. Everyone is singing a different tune, however, as there is still very little agreement on exactly what The Cloud is.

But there were some cloud epiphanies to be had.  For instance, while I was having lunch one day after listening to my third or fourth cloud talk, I came across some kids who were perhaps unwittingly demonstrating The Cloud with their lunch: a three pound OMG! burger.

Why is the OMG! like The Cloud? Because it’s something that we’re all familiar with on a scale that few of us could actually consume. Eureka! The Cloud explained in one sentence.

Yeah, very funny. Now what is the cloud? Really.

“What is The Cloud?” is the million dollar question with a million different answers. Every cloud talk, and all three of the HostingCon keynote speeches, attempted to define The Cloud, and perhaps unsurprisingly, they all had a different definition. And to complicate things even further, what consumers think of as The Cloud and what professionals in the industry think of as The Cloud can be very different things. The Cloud from many industry standpoints typically consists of a grab-bag of upwardly or downwardly adjustable resources delivered instantly, or based on need. But at one cloud panel we were informed that research into the public’s view of the cloud seems to indicate that people believe The Cloud is multiple data storage locations, multiple data backups and infinite amounts of available resources. Among other things.

That disconnect between what we think and what our customers believe is potentially the biggest problem that we all face. Much of what was discussed at HostingCon were ideas around how hosts can sell their services in a way that aligns with the consumer’s ideas, perspectives and demands. “Hey, your customers have been hearing about The Cloud and now they want The Cloud. So what are you waiting for? Sell them The Cloud!” If you don’t, the intimation was, you’re going to be left in the dust. Or in the mist, so to speak. I didn’t hear anyone suggesting exactly how to go about that, what with the different perceptions and all, but that doesn’t stop a lot of people from trying.

And as it turns out, sometimes just trying is enough. All the discussion about The Cloud over the past few years has everyone thinking and plotting and scrambling to come up with new services and techniques, and at the end of the day, and whatever you call the results, that’s a good thing for everyone. How many of those new services and techniques prove to be valuable to our users is something that will ultimately be decided by those users. As providers we can throw 100 different “clouds” against the wall, but which ones stick is ultimately up to the people who pay our bills.

So where does DiscountASP.NET fit into all of this? Well, we have some definite ideas about how we would define and provide cloud services, and it’s something we are actively developing. What we want to avoid though is rushing out a cloud solution that is just an OMG! burger topped with delicious, melted buzzwords.

As a modern philosopher and vagabond once said, “the future is unwritten,” and to me, that is one of the greatest things about doing what we do.

HostingCon is a convention/trade show that brings together people from all over the world who are either in the web hosting business or vendors to the business. In conjunction with the trade show are dozens of talks and panels spread out over three days, grouped under various categories; Marketing/Sales, Emerging Trends, Technology and Operations and Business Development. This year there were more than 50 talks in those categories, as well as three keynote speeches and a handful of unscheduled or impromptu gatherings.

It’s a lot to digest in 72 hours.

Four of us from DiscountASP.NET attended, and between us we couldn’t cover everything. But we covered most of it, and hearing what others are saying is valuable. It gives us insight into where our upcoming projects are going to fit into the landscape and what the competition is going to be up to.

And while this is a very competitive business, it is very interesting to sit down with some of those competitors over meals or drinks or in the convention center between talks and get a feel for who they are. Because business is business, but we’re all people after all, and I have to say that 99% of the people I meet in the hosting industry are friendly and open and just generally cool. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the technology attracts creative and inventive types. I’m quite sure that people like Ben Franklin, Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison would have been all over gatherings like HostingCon or TED if they were alive today.

I can imagine that they would get themselves lost in the exhibit hall and have to be forcibly 86ed like drunks, long after last call. The exhibit hall was more than 130 booths demonstrating and touting virtually everything related to the hosting business; domain registrars, hardware and software vendors, server management, network management, tech support providers, control panel providers, cloud, cloud, cloud and more cloud (I’m surprised it didn’t rain in there – more on that in upcoming articles), magazines, lawyers, labs, Lycanthropy – you name it, it was represented at HostingCon.

Oh, and yes, you may have heard that there were one or two parties every evening. Indeed there were. Microsoft, OpenSRS, cPanel and others sponsored some great get-togethers, where you could observe Captains of Industry and hundreds of otherwise rational people in all of their, um, relaxed glory. But seriously, the parties are another great opportunity to get to know other people in the industry who you may never have the chance to speak with face to face under any other circumstances. So my (virtual) hat is off to all the companies that ponied up the dough for those soirees.

If it sounds a bit like Disneyland for nerds and geeks, well, that’s exactly what it was.

We’ll be posting some articles that deal with specific ideas and trends that we observed at HostingCon starting today and continuing on through the week.