http://blogs.msdn.com/stevecla01/archive/2008/07/12/mobileme-shows-more-cloud-issues.aspxEarlier this week I wrote about Google’s downtime issues with Google Docs and warned that they and other vendors (including Microsoft) are really going to have to get their acts together to convince Joe User that cloud computing is mature enough for anyoneen-GBCommunityServer 2.1 SP1 (Build: 61025.2)http://blogs.msdn.com/stevecla01/archive/2008/07/12/mobileme-shows-more-cloud-issues.aspx#8725013Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:13:39 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:8725013Michael Markman<p>the .mac experience hasn't been true cloud computing. It's more a backup server in the sky. Most .mac users still work primarily with local apps. Data files are replicated and sync'd to local devices. .mac going down hasn't been disastrous for me, merely inconvenient. I guess my luck and timing has been good. I've never needed web access to a file at a time when it was unavailable.</p> http://blogs.msdn.com/stevecla01/archive/2008/07/12/mobileme-shows-more-cloud-issues.aspx#8731700Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:23:20 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:8731700aristippus<p>As you mention, when you start talking about mission-critical business data, there is some serious thinking to do about what apps are cloud-ready and what apps aren't.</p> <p>I recall a situation a few years ago at one of the big city firms. &nbsp;We got a call from them in an absolute panic, as someone had used our software as part of a larger solution in the FOREX trading system. &nbsp;The guy that had integrated it at the company was long gone, and after a server upgrade, everything just stopped working, since they did not know our app.</p> <p>They were down for a couple of hours while they tracked this back to us, and reckoned they were losing a few hundred K profit per hour. The problem resolution was trivial.</p> <p>I agree this problem could have been solved by better project management and documentation at the client side, but it does show the kind of financial impact that downtime can have.</p> <p>Other good examples would be where there are time-sensitive data reporting regulations, back to the SEC, for example, where delays mean fines and looking bad to the market.</p> <p>I think data volume is likely to be the main bottleneck for a long time to come, where you are shifting very large amounts into, or between systems. &nbsp;If you are doing this in the cloud, then not only do you have the raw size issue, but the additional overhead of the heavy point to point encryption/decryption that would be a requirement for most businesses.</p> <p>Live Mesh has worked well for me up to now, just waiting patiently for the mobile client.</p> <p>Gareth</p>