DRAFT
Story Becomes Software
Cloud Computing 101
Four Scenarios for Media 2020
Media Dojowww.media-dojo.com
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Cloud Computing forMedia People
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Preface
WelcometotheMediaDojoGuidetoCloudComputingforMediaPeople.
TheGuidetranslatescloudcomputingforbusinesslevelmediaandmarketingexecutives.Itsurveyssomeofthefoundationconcepts,technologies,players,andpotentialimpactofcloudcomputingonthemediaandmarketingindustries.
ThinkofthisdocumentlikeatravelguideformediapeopletoacountrycalledtheCloud.Thebasicconceptsandtechnologiescomprisethe"GettingThereandGettingAround"section.Thethreemainservicecategoriescanbethoughtofas"HotelandLodging".WhenIlayouthowIseecloudcomputingaffectingthemediaindustry,that'sthe"EatingandDrinking"section.
Somepeoplewantatravelguidetopreciselyplantheirjourneystepbystep.Theguideistheirbibleforeachandeveryholidaymoment.Othersuseatravelguideforaquickandorganizedintroductiontoaninterestingspotwheretheywanttogo.Theyconsultitbutquicklystartlookingaroundontheirown.
Ihopeyou'llusethisGuideinthelatterfashion.
Circa2010,weareallamateursatimplementingthecloudmodelformediaandmarketing.Anyonewhoclaimstohavenaileditcoldistryingtosellyousomething.Consequently,muchoftheinformationand/orpredictioninthisfirstvolumewillbeobsoletewithinsixmonthstoayear.
Nevertheless,thisisagoodtimetoplantaninitialstakeinthegroundaboutCloudComputing'spotentialimpactonmediaandmarketing.PlayerslikeAmazon,Googleandothershaveproductizedtheirdistributedcomputingknowledgeandassetsintorealisticcommercialoffers.AfloodofdigitalmediabusinessesarelaunchingbasedonthenewITeconomicsofcloudcomputing.Asthisprocessiteratesandscales,themediaindustryisinformassivechange.Smartpeoplehavelittleproblemimaginingsuchthings.
Butsuccessfulpeoplewillbethosewhogetthetimingright.Theyalreadyknowthepointsofleverageintheirorganizations,theirmarketsandtheirindustries.Whattheyneedistounderstandsomeofthecoremovingpartsofanewmodelfortellingastory.
Sowelcomeindeed,targetreader.
JohnduPreGaunttMediaDojoMarch2010
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JohnduPreGauntt 3
Foreward: The Next Lurch
Chancesarethenextkillerbusinessinmediaandmarketingwillbehostedonacomputingcloud.
Thissudden,explosivevaluecreationprobablywon’tadvancethestateofcloudtechnologyonejot.Morelikely,successfulmediainnovatorswillidentifysomepowerfulyetunarticulatedhumandemandforanewtypeofentertainment,learning,communicationandcommunity.Theywillusecloudcomputingtoservethatneed.
Thiswhitepaperexaminescloudcomputingconceptslikevirtualization,multitenancy,metadata,IaaS,PaaS,SaaSandothercloudtermsforabusinesslevelmediaandmarketingaudience.Asamediaormarketingprofessional,youneedthisknowledgetobecomeliterate.Butcloudcomputingtechnologiesandservicesaren’tyournextmediabusiness.Yournextbusinesscomesfromdiscoveringacoredemandjustbeforeitbecomesconscious.Onlywiththatknowledge,cancloudcomputingbecomeatrueinnovationplatformforyouratherthanadigitalfashionstatement.
Allthistalkaboutunarticulatedneedssoundstheoretical,right?
Climbintoyourtimemachineandgobackto1995toaskpeopleabouttheironlinesearchhabits.Youmightfind10peopleataUNIXconferencewhocouldgiveyouadecentanswer.GoodluckfindinganyonewhocaredaboutsearchinthestudiosoradvertisingagenciesinHollywood,LondonorMadisonAvenue.
Fastforwardfiveyearsto2000.Internethypeisdeafening.Themoneyisgushing.Newcompaniesbloomlikealgae.Searchhasbecomeimportant.ButthesearchmarketislargelylockedupbyAltaVista,Lycos,ExciteandespeciallyYahoo!Andbesides,everyoneknowsthatpushtechnologyisthenextbigthing.
Fireupyourtimemachineagainandtravelto2005.Whatarockyrideyoutookthroughstockmarketimplosions,terrorism,war,andthemeteorstrikeofGoogle’sIPO.The1990sareasepiatonedmemory.Butthesearchmarketiswellestablished.Wehaveacurrency.Weknowdigitalisthefuture.Andweknowthatbiddingonkeywordswillgetustothatfuture.
Itmustbetimeforsocialnetworks,mobileInternetandtherealtimewebtoscramblethingsyetagain.Makenomistake.ThefuturehasNEVERbeenasmoothmarchtotheupperrightcornerofthechart.
Futures lurch.
Whenthefuturelurchesinadifferentdirection,mostmarketanalystsandexecutivesassumethatsuccessfulbusinesseswillbebasedonmeetingtoday’sneedsfaster,better,andcheaper.Sure,youcanmakemoneydoingthat.Youmightevengetrich.
Butyouwon’tmakeakilling.
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Todothat,you’vegottoradicallyupsettheprevailingbalanceofproductivityandinvestmentinagivenindustry.Beforeelectricitycameintotheworkplace,19thcenturymanufacturingproductivitylargelytrackedinvestmentinsteampowerandmachinery.Buta20thcenturycapitalistreorganizingworkaroundelectricityandelectricmachinerycouldrealizehugeefficiencygainswithoutmakinganearequalcorrespondinginvestment.
Andoncecustomersunderstoodthattheyreally“needed”electricirons,refrigerators,transportationandpowertools,itdidn’tmatterthatyourwaterwheel,steamengineandbeltswerefullyamortized.Itdidn’tmatterthattherewerestillplentyofapplicationsfortraditionalpowersourcesandmethods.
Tryasyoumight,youcouldnolongermakeakillingbyusingsteamorwaterpower.Competitionhadlurchedinadifferentdirection.
Ibelievecloudcomputingwillradicallyupsetthebalanceofmediaproductivityandinvestmentoverthenextfewyears.TheneworganizationalmodelsandinvestmentprofilesenabledbyOPEXbased,ondemand,asneededaccesstocomputingresourceswillripmostmediaandmarketingproductionoutofthepieceworkorientationthatdominatestoday.Computingcloudswillenablemasscustomizationofmediaontheproductionsideanddirecttoconsumeronthedistributionside.Thebarrierstoentrywillneverbelower.Thebarrierstosuccesswillneverbehigher.
Themostimportantthingswon’tchange,however.Beforedesigningorembarkingonacampaign,marketerswillstillneedtoanswerwhobuys,whytheybuyandhowtheybuy.Nointelligentmediacreatorwilltrytosubstitutetechnologyforacompellingstory,vividcharacters,anduniquetakesonageoldhumandramas.Cloudcomputingwon’tchangethoseimperativesandthankgoodnessforthat.
However,cloudcomputingwillchangetheenvironmentinwhichthemediaandmarketingindustriesapproachthesechallenges.
Whenyou’reinthemidstofalurch,thecrucialtestisn’tengineering.
It’s imagination.
Therefore,myprimedirectiveinthisworkistogivebusinesspeoplesometoolstobetterimaginehowtomakethenextkillinginmediaandmarketingbyusingthecloud.
Goodhunting.
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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
6 Introduction:StoryBecomesSoftware
8 We’reallNerdsNow
11 TheCloudasanInnovationPlatform
13 CompetingonData
15 SilverBuckshotTrumpsSilverBullets
16 CloudComputingTechnicalOverview
16 CloudComputing101
25 MorePowertotheShields!
30 PipesandJoints:InfrastructureasaService(IaaS)
36 PlatformasaService(PaaS)
44 SoftwareasaService(SaaS)
53 FourScenariosaboutMedia2020
54 MediaMarketplaces2020
55 SmartMedia2020
57 JustinTimeMedia2020
58 PushpinMedia2020
61 Conclusion:TossingtheRulebook
62 Acknowledgements
63 WhyCallItaDojo?
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Story Becomes Software
You’reamediaperson.You’regoodattellingstories.That’swhyyougotintothemediabusinessinthefirstplace.Storytellingistheonlyconsistentadvantageyou’lleverhave.
Buthowyoutellstories,howyoupropagatestories,howyoucoevolvestorieswithyouraudience,howyoumonetizestories,well—allofthatisnowupforgrabs.It’supforgrabsbecauseofaflipinthemediaequation.
Youpreviouslyputthemedium—notthemedia—atthecenterofyourbusiness.Themediawaslashedtotheuniqueassetsandconstraintsoftelevision,film,print,music,radioandyes,eventheWorldWideWeb.Thirtyminutesituationcomediesandlatenightvarietyshowsworkmainlywhenthey’reexperiencedthroughtelevision.Abovethefoldplacementsofnewsandadsreflectthephysicalityandlogicofnewsprint.Goodlucktryingtodrawpeopletothelocalcinematoseea20minfilm,nomatterhowgooditis.Webpages,banners,overlays,adbugs,andotherdigitalcoinagehaveevolvedintandemwithpeopleclickingwithacomputermouse.
Butthat’sallchangingfast.We’resorrytoinformyouMarshallMcLuhan,butverysoonthemediumwillnolongerbethemessage.Themessagewillbethestory thatfindsandengagesaudienceswhoexperienceitacrossapaletteofmediumsandcoevolveitwiththestorycreator.Mediumswillbethatwhichareorganizedaroundtheassetsandconstraintsofstories,nottheotherwayaround.
ConsideratransmediafranchiselikeHeroes.Anonexhaustivelistoftheentrypointstothestorybeyondtelevisionincludewebclipsummaries,behindthescenesdocumentaries,mocknewsreports,dualscreenepisodes,pollsandquizzes,consolegames,onlinegames,interactivegraphicnovels,comics,mobilegames,textupdates,triviacontests,fakewebsites,blogs,Facebookpages…thelistgoeson.
Initsidealform,thistypeofstorytellingallowseachmediumtoreachanaudienceonitsownterms.EachentrypointenablesanaudiencetoexperienceaparticulardoorwayintotheworldofHeroes.MarketersusethevariousdoorstoengagewithdifferentdemographicandbehavioralslicesoftheHeroesfanbase.Thepopularityand/oremphasisofthesemediumsmayebbandflow.ButthefranchisehangstogetherbecauseeachHeroesmediaexperienceoriginatesfromandfeedsbacktothemothershipofthestorycanonandmythologydevelopedbyTimKringandtheHeroeswriters.
Kringandhiscollaboratorsdidn’tcreateallthoseentrypointssimplytoshowoffhowmanydifferentmediaformatsareoutthere.Inavisceralsense,thedecisiontotelltheHeroesstoryacrossalltheseplatformsisacknowledgmentthatforanondemandmediaworld,thegameisshiftingawayfrompushingoutcontentforpeopletoconsumeinfavorofcreatingstorybasedworldsforthemtodwellandinteract.
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HeroesandothercontentfranchiseslikeLostrightfullydeservecreditforbreakingtransmediastorytellingintothemainstream.Thatsaid,thesepropertiesemergedfromthetopdownmediumoftelevision.Theycreatedabrandednarrativefortelevisionfirstthenextendedthenarrativeacrossvariousmediaplatforms.
However,thenextevolutionofstorytellingwilldomorethanextendanarrativeacrossmultipleplatforms.Nextgenerationstorytellingwilldirectlybundlefunctionalityanddatawithnarrative.Thestorywill“behave”differently,notjust“display”differently,dependingonthegivenmediumandcontextanaudiencechooses.Effectively,manyofthemechanicsweassociatewithgamingwillbeintegratedintomediacontent.Episodesandotherstoryelementswillactmorelikecomputerobjects,enablinganaudiencetoexperiencethemediaanddosomethingatthesametime.
Moreover,mediawon’tberestrictedonlytothemediumswecurrentlyassociatewithentertainmentandinformation.Mediawillbeintegrateddirectlywithenterprisecomputerapplications,3rdpartydatasourcesandservices,newdevicesandnewformsofsocialinteraction.Peoplewhomasterthisdifferentorientationtostorytellingwillresemblebrandmanagersasmuchastheyresembletraditionalcontentcreators.
Itisextremelylikelythattheirstorybasedworldswillliveonacomputingcloudratherthanacableheadend,afilmreeloraprintrun.Thecloud1itselfwillbethemedium,notsimplybecauseitoffersbettereconomicsforhostingandtransmittingdigitalcontent.Cloudnativemediawillbeabletotransactdirectlywiththeaudienceinrealtimeforalmostanyinteractionthatmakessensefromasocialorbusinesspointofview.
That’swhycloudcomputingmatterstothemediaindustry.
1 Forourpurposes,“thecloud”referstotheecosystemofcloudcomputingratherthanasingleentity.It’ssimilartohowweuse“theInternet”inconversation.Andjustlikeusingacatchalltermtodescribeanetworkofnetworks,therewillbeinstanceswhereusing“thecloud”asatermisinappropriate.
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The Outside World is the Desktop
MediacompanieshavestartedtoseevaluetoincludingtheircontentwiththeFoursquareservice.OneofCanada’sfreedailynewspapers,Metro News,offersrestaurantreviews,citytips,aswellasstoriesthatFoursquareuserscandiscoverastheyencounterphysicalpointsofinterest.FoursquarehascreatedacustombadgeforMetro News,whichtriestogetitsreaderstocheckineachtimetheypickupacopyoftheprintpublication.Metro News planstointroducespecialdealsforFoursquare“mayors”witheachFridayedition.ThecombinedMetro News/Foursquareoffergivesbusinessesauniqueadbuywhichspecificallytargetsrepeatcustomerswhoarelikelytoactasinfluencersonotherpotentialcustomers.OtherFoursquareforaysintocombinedprint/locationoffersincludeadealwithExploreChicagothatmimicstheMetro NewsarrangementaswellasatieupwithZAGAT,whichwillintroducea“foodie”badgetorewardreaderswhocheckinatZAGATreviewedestablishments.
OneareawherenarrativeformmeetsITfunctionandpersonaldatainvolvesmobilelocationbasedservices.CompaniessuchasFoursquare,GowallaandMyTown,plusmobileaugmentedrealityplayerslikeLayar,Mobilizyandacrossairareturningtheoutsidephysicalworldintoaninteractivesocialdesktopformedia.
InthecaseofFoursquare,endusersreceivepointsforbroadcastingthephysicalplacestheyvisitthrough“checkingin”viatheFoursquaremobileapplication.Eachtimeauserchecksintoalocation,theyearnpointsandunlockdigitalcandyintheformofvirtualbadges.UserscancheckinanywhereaswellasaddingnewlocationstotheFoursquaresystem.Asuserscheckin,theirFoursquaresocialcontactscanseewheretheyare.FoursquareuserscanalsosendlocationstatusupdatestoothersocialnetworkssuchasFacebookorTwitter.IftheuserchecksintoagivenspotmorethananyotherFoursquareuser,theycanbecome“mayor”ofthatparticularlocation.
We’re All Nerds NowThreeforcesareconvergingthataredrivingmoreofthemediabusinessintothecloud:gadgets,mobilityandmultitasking.
Thefirstfactoristhesheernumberofnetworkedgadgetsandservicesthathavemediaaccessaspartoftheirvalueproposition.TheCESshowinLasVegasnowgroanswithnetworkedconsumerelectronicsdevicesthatexpecttobefilledwithmediaandservices.Whetherwe’retalkingaboutAmazon’sKindle,Google’sNexus1oranyofthenumerouspermutations,thecurrentconventionalwisdomisthathardwareandOSdeterminewhocontrolsanddrawsexcessiveprofitfromthecustomerrelationship.
iPadcurrentlyownsthenewscyclebecauseitpositionsitselfasagamechangingdeviceformediaconsumption.Wewon’tknowdefinitivelywhetherthatpropositionpansoutuntilafteriPadlaunchesandspendsafewquartersinthemarket.Onethingiscertain,however.Applehasmorphedfrombeingacomputermanufacturertobeingamediaproductsandservicescompany.WhetheriPod,iTunes,iPhone,theAppStore,andnowiPad,thecurrentworldleaderinelectronicproductinnovationhasstakeditsfutureoncreatingecosystemsbasedonthetriangulationofproductdesign,mediaandmobility.
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FoursquareextendeditsdirecttieupswithmediacompaniesinFebruary2010byannouncingadealwithBravo!Television.Inthiscase,Bravo!isofferingbadgesandprizestoviewerswhocheckinatsome500BravotaggedlocationsaroundtheUnitedStates.TheBravo!badgesaretiedtocontentpropertiessuchas Top Chef, The Real Housewives, Top Chef Masters and Shear Genius tonameafew.ThenetworkwillcreateFoursquaretieinstoBravo!advertiserswhichcouldbecouponsorotherincentivesrelatedtothevariousthemedvirtualbadgesandshows.
HBOisadaptingtheBravo!modeltohelplaunchnewshowslikeHow to Make It in America,whichdebutedFebruary14,2010.Accordingtothepromo,“HustleyourwayintotheNYCscenewithHBO’sHow to Make It in America.Unlockoneorallfourofthebadges:Culture,Living,Cocktails,andNightlife.Needsometips?Checkoutthesesites,Blackbook,Eater,FlavorpillandUrbanDaddy.ThentuneintoHBO
onSundaysat10pmtofollowBenandCam,twoenterprisingtwentysomethingsastheyhustletheirwaythroughNewYorkCity,determinedtoachievetheAmericanDream”.AccordingtoAd Age,thegoalofthetieupistousecontentfromtheshowtohelpaudiencememberslivevicariouslythroughthecharactersandtheirlifestyles.2
ThecurrentdancebetweenmediacompaniesandGPSprovidersisaglimpseintoanewveinofstorytellingthatdispenseswiththeideaofapassiveaudience.Innovationofplot,characterandsettingisnowaugmentedwithinnovationfocusedonspecificaudiencebehaviorsthatcanbetiedtothedramaticarcofastory.Butwe’vedonethisbefore.It’scalledlivetheater.However,thetheatersettingisexpandingbeyondwoodenordigitalstructurestobecomethephysicalworlditself.ShakespearewasaheadofhimselfinmorewaysthanonewhenhewroteinAs You Like It,“alltheworldisastageandallthemenandwomenmerelyplayers…”
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ThemobilityfactorarguablyexertsabiggerimpactonthemediaindustrythanAppleitself.CiscoreleaseditslatestVisualNetworkingIndex3inFebruary2010tothecollectivegaspsofmobilenetworkoperators.Accordingtothenetworkinggiant,theamountofglobalmobiledatatrafficin2009increased160%toreach90petabytespermonth,whichisroughlythesameas23millionDVDs.Ciscowentontosaythatmobiledatatrafficworldwideisgrowingnearly2.5timesfasterthanfixedbroadband,withsmartphonesandvarioustypesofaircardsdrivingmorethan90%ofmobiledatatrafficworldwideby2014.Mostimportant,Ciscoexpectsthatby2014(4yearsfromnow),morethan400millionoftheworld’sInternetuserswillaccessitpredominatelyorsolelythroughamobileconnection.
TheupshotformediaprovidersfromtheCiscoVNIreportisthatmobilityisbeingbakedintodailylifefornearlyallInternetusersfromthetriadeconomiestoemergingmediamarkets.Moreover,withtheveritablealgaebloomofereaders,netbooks,networkedtoysandotherconsumerelectronicsexpectedtohookintothesemobiledatanetworks,ambientaccesstointeractivemediawillbeexpectedbymostmarketsegments.
Thethirdfactorthatwillacceleratemediaindustryadoptionofcloudcomputingismultitasking,whichreceivedapowerfulvalidationinJanuary2010withreleaseofnewresearchbytheKaiserFoundation4.TheKaisermediasurveyrevealedthateventhoughtoday’s818yearoldsdevoteanaverageof7hours38minutestoentertainmentmediaacrossatypicalday,theirproclivitytomultitask(simultaneouslyusingmorethanonemedium)bumpsthatfigureuptotheequivalentof10hours45minutesworthofmediacrammedintothosechronological7.5hrsofdailyexposure.
PeterHirshberg5fromTheConversationGroupnotedtwomainoutcomesfromtheKaiserfindings.Thefirstisthatthereisnolongersuchathingasbeingofflineforanincreasinglylargesegmentofthepopulation.Screens,mediaandinteractivityfollowkidsandyoungadultsthroughtheirdaysassurelyaselectriclighting.Thesecondoutcomeisthatonlyinaveryfew,specificinstancescanweassumethatanaudiencememberisengagedwithonlyonemedium.Multitaskingandpartialattentionisthebasicrealityfortryingtoengagetheseaudiencesegments.
Giventheexplosionofnetworkedmediadevicesplusamobilepopulationthatregularlymultitasks,theuseandreuseofmediaassetsisnolongerastrategybutisarequirementinorderformediacompaniestostayrelevant.Mediaprovidersandtheirpartnersareracingtokeepupwiththeiraudiencesbyinnovatingthestorytofitwiththeirlifestylechoicessurroundingmedia.Thiscallsfortherapidfireabilitytomixandremixmediaassets,audienceinsights,andapplicationsacrossdevicesandusercontexts.Thecraftbasedtraditionofmediaandmarketingorganizationscreatingtheircontentsui generisisabouttogetamajoroverhaul6.Mashupsofcontentassetswillbecomethenormratherthantheexceptioninaworldofmanydevicespullingonambientmedia.Thecloudhasstartedtobecometheplatformforpreciselythatsortofinnovation.
3 http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns341/ns525/ns537/ns705/ns827/white_paper_c11520862.html
4 http://www.kff.org/entmedia/mh012010pkg.cfm
5 AgreattandempresentationwithTimKringatDLD10inMunich[http://www.dldconference.com/video.php].
6 SufficetosaythatIdon’tseemashingupmediaassetsasagood/bad,right/wrongissue,butsimplyafactoflife.
The use and re-use of media assets is no longer a strategy,
but a requirement for media companies to stay relevant.
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The Cloud as an Innovation PlatformWe’vebeenreusingmediaassetsforalongtimeintheDVDmarket.MediaprovidersrealizedthatDVDsenabledthemtorepurposealotofmaterialfromthecuttingroomfloorintheformofalternateendings,deletedscenes,documentariesandothercollateral.ThecloudoffersmediaproviderstheequivalentofallthoseDVDbonusmaterialswithinanetworkhostedstory.Thedifference,however,betweenbonuscontentonaDVDdiskwithbonuscontentinthecloudisthatthelatterlendsitselftobeingintegratedwithservicesandspecialoffersthatcanbetailoredtotheindividualviewerortheirparticularaudiencesegment.
Thisworksnotsimplybecausethecloudenablesquickintegrationofapplicationsandservices,butalsobecausemanyofthetargetedmediadistributionchannelssuchasFacebookandMySpacearecloudbasedaswell.Thismakesitfarmoresimple,fastandinexpensivetocombineapplicationsanddistributioninonepackage.Moreover,someofthemostvaluablecombinationsareattheB2Blevel.AmediaprovideroroneoftheirmarketingpartnersmightwanttoattachSaleforce.comtoasocialnetworkingwidgetthatiscarryingacontentpayload.IntegratingSalesforce.comwithanotherapplicationtorunonFacebookorMySpacelikelywouldbetimeorcostprohibitiveifyouhadtoimplementthesolutionwithonpremisesoftwareandinfrastructure.
Usingthecloudforintegratingfunctionality,mediaanddistributioninwhatfeelslikeasingleenvironmentenablesmediacreatorstostartlookingatalmostanyenhancementtoastoryworldasanapplication.Takecommunications.Currently,manymediapropertiesonlyofferemail,SMSorregistrationsasareturnpathfortheaudiencetocommunicatedirectlywiththeoriginators.However,itmightbethatforwhateverreason,amediapropertyoroneofitsmarketingpartnerswantstoexchangephonecallswithitsaudience.
TwilioisaSeattlebasedcompanythatusesthecloudtoturnvoiceandSMSintomodularapplicationsthatcanbebakedintomostanywebapplicationbywebdevelopersratherthantelecomspecialists.BeforeTwilio,thedeveloperwouldneedtounderstandtelecomprogramminglanguages,setupastackofPBXsoftwareorbringinanexpensiveconsultantiftheywantedtointeractwithcallersortexters.However,byusingtheAmazoncloud,Twilioputstheequivalentofaphonenetworkintheskythatadevelopercanhookintotheirapps.Theappisthenpaidforbyhowit’sbeingusedbytheaudience.Thismodelallowsamediadevelopertousetheirexistingwebskills,codebase,serversanddatabasesto“justaddvoice”or“justaddtext”towhatevercanenhancethevalueofastory.
Thecloudalsoenablesinnovationbymakingmediaitselftobecomefarmore“clickable”inrealtime.Takeonlinevideo,forexample.ThereareaclutchofcloudorientedplayersouttherelikeOoyala,Veeple,Overlay.TV,aswellasfamiliaronlinevideocompanieslikeBrightcove,thatarefindingpointsinonlinevideostreamsthatlendthemselvestodirectinteractionbytheaudience.PerhapsamemberoftheaudienceiswatchingSwordfishonlineandisattractedtoahatwornbyactressHalleBerry.Theywanttofindoutaboutthehatandwhereto
The cloud also enables innovation by making media itself to become more “clickable” in real-time.
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possiblybuyit.Thehatistaggedorpaintedinthevideostreamtodrawattentionbytheuser,whoclicksonittopullininformationortravelouttoanothersitewheretheycantakeactionorpurchaseit.
Makingonlinevideointeractiveisaseveralstepprocess.First,themediaproviderneedstopopulatethevideostreamwithtargetsforpeopletoclickorskipiftheywant.Thosetargetsneedtobemadediscoverablebytheaudience(perhapsthroughaspecificicon,akeywordboxoranotherinterfacedesign).Thediscoverabletargetsthenneedtobelinkedtowhateverinteractiveexperiencethemediaproviderwishestooffer.Andit’snotalwaysanecommerceexperience.InQ109,Overlay.TVworkedwiththeteenbandTheJonasBrothertooffertoolsthatletonlinefanssingalongandrecordthemselveswiththeband’snewsingle,“Lovebug”.AccordingtotheCEORobLaneofOverlay.TV,54%ofthepeoplewhovisitedJonasbrothers.comduringa30dayperiodcreatedtheirownkaraokevideousingthetoolset.Fanshadtheoptionofsharingtheirvideosacrossvarioussocialsites.
Whetherthevideoprogrammerislinkingouttocommerceorenablingtheaudiencetointegratetheirexpressionwiththecontent,theimportantpointisthatit’sentirelyuptotheuserregardingwhenandhowtheywanttoengagewiththemedia.Justwatchthevideoandwhenyouseesomethingyoulike,youtakeaction.
Flexibilityatthisstageisfundamentalbecauseinteractivevideodoesn’tyetworkasanoutoftheboxsolution.Whatwilltriggeruserengagementinafashionshowisdifferentthanasportseventoracomedyoradramaorevenaninstructionalvideo.Soit’simportantforcontentownerstobesophisticatedaboutenvisioninghowinteractivitycanenrichtheuser’sexperience,andbyextension,leadtobetterchancesatmonetization.Whathappens,thedifferentcallstoaction,andwhatisengagingdependsverymuchonthecontentitselfandhowitisprogrammed.
Thislastpointofanewapproachtoeditorialprogrammingisoftenoverlookedintherushtomakeeverythingclickableand
seewhatsticks.Historically,contentprovidersorganizedtheirstoriesaroundinterruptiveadvertising.A30mintelevisiontimeslotwasdicedintostoryandadpods.Itmaybetruethatacliffhangerorsuddenplotturnadvancedthestory.Butitalsocreatedtheopportunityfortheadvertisertoaddresstheaudience.Themoreinterestingaspectofinteractivevideogoingforwardisthateditorialprogrammingmightshiftsubtlytofocusonplacement,flowanddiscoverabilityoftargetswithinacontentstreamthatcanenticetheaudiencetointeract.
Cloudcomputingoffersstorytellersbothacanvasandfunctionalpaletteofoptionstoallowastorytoengageitsaudienceasdeeporasshallowasbothpartieswant.Therearetimeswhenamemberoftheaudienceisdogtiredfromalongdayandjustwantsasimple,leanbackexperienceofthestorystraightupwithnointeractivechaserthankyouverymuch.Othercontextsmightfindthesameaudience
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membereagertoengageatfardeeperlevelsbecausethey’vedevelopedapassionfordwellingwiththestoryworld.Theymayevenwanttoaddpartoftheirownexpressionandshareit.Thepointofcloudcomputingisthatthemediaprovidernowcanoffersuchoptionsusingasinglechassisratherthanneedingtobuildmultipleversionsofthestory.
However,suchflexibilityonlyworksifthemediaproviderhasdetailedknowledgeoftheaudience.Thisbringsouttheothersideofcloudnativemedia,inwhichthecloudbecomesnotsimplyaninnovationplatformcreatingcontent,itbecomesabusinessplatformforcommercializingthatcontent.
Competing on DataDatadominanceisthenewhighgroundformediacompetition.
Mediaprofessionalssincedayonehavehadaninventoryandsupplychainmanagementproblemsimilartoairlinesandseatpricing.Thevalueoftheassetlikeanadimpressionoraseatchangesrapidly.Theassetvaluechangesaccordingtowhowantsit,changesaccordingtohowit’sbundledwithotheroffers.It’sawhirlofactivityrightuptothepointwhentheplanetakesoffortheadimpressionisserved.Inbothinstances,thevalueofanyunsoldassetplungestozero.
Savvyoperatorsinbothmediaandairtravelhavelongknownwhattheywantedtodotocrackthisproblem:takerawdataintheformofserverlogsorticketpricesearches;enhanceitwithotherdataincludingthatfrom3rdparties;refinethedataintoinformationthroughananalyticspackage;processthatinformationintoinsightaboutopportunitiestomaximizerevenueatthemargin;andthentakeactionbasedonthatinsight.
It’sarelativelystraightforwardprocessthat,technicallyspeaking,requiresashit-loadofdata,storage,processing,andreportingresources.Throughthe90sandwellintothefirstpartofthe2000s,theseproblemswerebasicallyunsolvablewiththecomputingresourcesandcapabilitiesofthetime.Thevolumesofdatathatneededtobeprocessed,theanalyticspeoplewantedtorun,thekindofinsightthatpeoplewantedtoextractfromthedatawasdifficulttoobtaincosteffectively.
NowaslewofdataoptimizationandanalyticscompanieslikeMediaMath,Pubmatic,Peer39,YieldExandothersareapplyingcomputerscienceandnewcapabilitiesofferedbycloudcomputingtoadvancethestateoftheartformediapublishersandmarketers.
Consideranimpressioncominginthatdisplaysasmale2534ontheUSwestcoastlookingatsportscontent.There’sprobablyamarketerwantingtobuysportscontentopportunities,anotherwantstobuyexposuretoyoungmales(nopun),stillotherswanttobuyUSwestcoast.Sothere’sanoptimizationchallengetofigureouthowwouldamediapublishermaximizerevenuegivenasetofXimpressions
Data dominance is the new high ground for media competition.
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thatexpireatYrateinthecontextofZdemandbydifferentmarketers.Bumpthatvolumeuptotensofmillionsofimpressionsservedmonthlyanditbecomesreasonablyclearthatwithoutseriousdataandanalytichorsepower,alotofmoneyandadperformanceisbeingleftonthetable.Moreover,theproliferationofsocialplatformslikeFacebook,newdeviceslikeiPhonesandKindles,plusnewcallstoactionhavemushroomedtheamountofdataneedingtobeanalyzedbymanyordersofmagnitude.
Ifanything,mediaproviderswillbecomedatasourcesandsellersintheirownrightbycombiningtheirimpressiondatawith3rdpartyimpressiondatatodistillevenmoreaccurateprofilesoftheiraudiences.Thisemphasisisn’tdataforitsownsake.Wecanexpectalotoflaundrytobeairedoverthenextfewyearsasthefabled“click”becomesevenmoreofafootballtobekickedaroundbypublishers,mediabuyersandsearchproviders.Formostoftheonlinemediaworld’sexistence,theonlyconsistent,measurablecurrencyhasbeenaclick,ormoreprecisely,thelastclickbeforeanendusergetstoatransactionwithamarketer.Foranumberofmarketingobjectives,especiallyforbranding,clicksareactuallyabadmeasure.
Whatmediaproviderswant,andwhattheymightbeabletogetwithbetterdatamanagementandanalysis,isattributiontracking.Attributionisknowing,“suretheguywentonGoogleandsearchedforaproduct.Buthealsosawtwobanners,played2relatedgames,sawavideobeforehandandconsultedhisfriendsonFacebook.Hewouldn’thaveknownwhattosearchforifhehadn’tdonethat.”
Howdoesamediaprovidergetcreditforthosehigherlevelmarketingactivities?
Hewon’tgetcreditunlesshecanprovehismediahadanimpact.
Andthatrequiresdata.
Media providers will become data sources and sellers
in their own right.
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IntroductionMediaDojoCloudComputingGuidev1.0
Silver Buckshot Trumps Silver BulletsAllthistalkabouttransmediastorytelling,innovationplatformsandcompetingondataprobablysoundslikeyetanotherheapingplatterofconsultantjargonaboutcloudcomputing.Butitalltranslatesintosomethingrathersimpleformediaproviders:ifyou’vemanagedtocatchlightninginabottleintheformofacompellingstory,youcan’tbaseyourbusinessanymorejustonsellingcopiesthatstoryorrestrictingaccesstoit.
Thestoryneedstobecomeaworldinwhichtheaudiencecandwellandparticipate;aworldthatprovidesmultipleavenuesformonetization;andaworldinwhichcompetitiveadvantageinvolveshowfastandhowwellyoucancustomizemediaormarketingatthemargin.Masscustomizationistheenduringrealityformediagoingforward.
Intheonlinevideospacealone,overthenextfewyearswe’relookingat1030Xincreaseinvideocontentbeingservedacrossalldevices,eventhoughtherewillbeonlya23Xincreaseinthenumberofonlinevideoviewers.Sowhatusersaredoingwithyourvideobecomesamoreimportantmetrictotrackthanjustwhoisbeingexposedtoyourvideo.
Thisswitchfromexposuretoactivitygainsfleshoncedynamicpricingofinteractivecontentisintroduced,eitherasadirecttoconsumerordirecttosponsorproposition.Shouldagivencontentstreampriceat$0.02or$0.05?Well,theanswerdependsonthetargetuser,theirspecificcontext,andwhichadinventoryisavailableatthatexactmoment.Mosteveryoneinthemediabusinesswillhaveaccesstothesameadinventory.Butthewinnerswillbethosewhomakecreamoutofthelastmarginal15%ofpossiblerevenue.
Suchalevelofexecutionrequiresamediaorganizationthatcanlearnandtakeactionfastenoughtobeintherightplacewithagoodexperiencerightwhenthebestpeoplewantitmost.Organizingmediaassetsinthecloudcanbeanimportantfirststep.Butit’snotapanacea.Thebiggestchangeformediaorganizationstointernalizeisthatinaworldofunlimitedmediashelfspace,youcannolongerbaseamediabusinessoncarvingoutandisolatingreaders,listeners,viewersorgameplayers.
Instead,tomorrow’sleaderswillusethecloudtoservemediacustomers.
TheyareKing.
IMAGE SOURCE: www.futurelab.net
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There are conditions in America which necessitate the use of such instruments
more than here. Here we have a superabundance of messengers, errand boys
and things of that kind…The absence of servants has compelled America to
adopt communications systems for domestic purposes
– S I R W I L L I A M P R E E C E , C H I E F E N G I N E E R F O R T H E B R I T I S H P O S T O F F I C E 1 8 7 8
Acceptthefactrightnowthatyourtechnicalstaffwillprobablyhatethefollowingdescriptionsofcloudcomputing.Theywilltellyouthatahugeamountofimportantdetailhasbeenleftout.
Guiltyascharged.
Theaimofthefollowingsectionistocombinemetaphorswithsomeformaldescriptiontoallowbusinesslayerpeopletograspthebasicprinciplesandelementsofcloudcomputingthenmoveon.
That’snotalicenseforthebusinesssideofmediaandmarketingshopstoforgetaboutthetechnology.Manyfiredmediaandmarketingexecutives
happilyignoredInternetuntiltheywereleapfroggedbyprotocolsandtechnologiessurroundingIP,TCP,DNS,SMTP,andHTML.Technologymatters.
Youdon’tneedtobeanengineerbutyoushouldatleastbecomeliterateinthebasicmovingpartssothatwhenanengineerpursestheirlipsandsaystoyourgreatnewidea,“That’snottrivial”,yougetadecenthandlewhethers/heshouldbebelieved.
Sothinkofthefollowingsectionas101levelcloudcomputingasopposedtocloudcomputingfordummies.
Cloud Computing 101
Key Concepts:
• Aworkingdefinitionofcloudcomputing
• 3rulesofthumbandoneIronLawforusingcloudcomputingeffectively
• Thebasiccloudtechnologystack
• Typesofdeliverymodelsforcloudcomputing
• Typesofcomputingclouds
Why it’s important:
• Thisistheconceptualbucketforthetechnologystackandthecloudvendorecosystem
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Let’sstartbyimaginingactualclouds.
Scientifically,youhavecondensedwatervapororotherfineparticles(dust)suspendedintheair.Descriptively,acloudisasoft,billowymassthatfloatsandchangesshapeaccordingtoanynumberofreasons.Wealsouse“cloud”toshroudsomething(mistcloudedthehills).Metaphorically,acloudcanbesomethingthatobscures(cloudedjudgment),orfillsaspacewithdarkness,gloomorsuspicion(walkingunderacloud).
Areyousurprised,then,thatthepenultimatecloudcomputingdefinitionremainselusive?
Fornow,splittheworldintocloudcomputingservicesandcloudcomputingtechnologies.Mostofusarealreadyquiteexperiencedwithcloudcomputingserviceswhetherweknowitornot.Ifyou’veeveraccessedasocialnetwork,YouTube,orasearchenginewithyourPCorInternetcapablemobilephone,you’veengagedwithacloudcomputingserviceinonewayoranother.Here’sasampleofsometypicalcloudcomputingbehaviors:
• Uploadingaphotoorvideotoasocialprofile
• Backingupdocuments,mail,soundorimagefilescontinuouslyandsecurelyviamultipledevices
• Syncingdataacrossmultipledevicesfromaserverorportallivinginthecloud
• Accessingamultiplayergameviaabrowserinterface
Eachofthepreviousexamplesinvolvesconsumptionofdatastorage,processing,applicationsandservicesdeliveredovertheInternet—thefirstcaseofcloudcomputingservices.
Theaimofthissectionistolookatthesecondcase—cloudcomputingtechnologies.Thesearetheassetsthatultimatelyenabletheservice.Asamediaormarketingorganization,youmayormaynotcarrythesetechnologiesasassetsonyourbooks.Itdependsonyourindividualbusiness.Moreimportantisthatyouunderstandandcanroughlyclassifythesetechnologiesinordertodecidewhatyoukeepinhouseandwhatyouprocureasaservicefromacloudcomputingvendor.
For our purposes, cloud computing is on-demand, as-needed access to computer processing, storage and networking resources/services on a pay-as-you-go basis.
For our purposes, cloud computing is on-demand, as-needed access to computer processing, storage and networking resources/services on a pay-as-you-go basis.
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Already,therearemassivesemanticwarsbyacademics,vendors,consultantsandmanyotherstocraftthe“standard”definitionofcloudcomputing.Somefocustheirdefinitiononthetechnologyattributesofcloudcomputing.Othersconcentrateontheeconomicsorthecommercialaspects.Bothapproachesarevalid.
TakealookatthefollowingcrudecomparisonoftraditionalITinfrastructureversuscloudcomputing:
TRADITIONAL IT INFRASTRUCTURE CLOUD COMPUTING
File Server Google Docs
MS Outlook, Apple Mail Gmail, Yahoo!, MSN
SAP/Oracle/Siebel CRM SalesForce.com
MS Office/Lotus Notes Google Apps
Quicken/Oracle Financials Intacct/Netsuite
Off-site data backup Amazon S3
Servers, Racks, Firewall Amazon EC2, GoGrid, Mosso, Joyent
Cloud Computing Architectures, Reese George, O’Reilly Media 2009
Circa2010,you’renotgoingtoseewhichoneoftheseapproachesendsupowningthedefinition.Farmoretrackrecordneedstobeestablishedbycloudvendorsandcloudcustomersoperatingatscale.Untilsuchoperatingdatastartstoprovideunambiguousproofofsuccessorfailure,buysidepeoplearelikelytodobetterwithrulesofthumbaboutcloudcomputingratherthansomeallsingingalldancingdefinition.
Eventhoughwecan’tyetnaildownthetechnicalandbusinessaspectsofcloudcomputinginonedefinition,thecorequestionsthatcloudcomputingcustomersneedtoansweraren’tterriblydifferentfromanyotherbusinessdecision:
• WhatamIbuying?
• WhatamIbeingpromised?
• AmIgettingagooddeal?
IfyoucombineourworkingdefinitionofcloudcomputingabovewiththefollowingthreerulesofthumbandoneIronLaw,theresultisn’tintellectuallypretty.Butit’sactionableinthehereandnowforanalyzingproposalscomingacrossyourdeskordevelopingacloudcomputingstrategyforyourmediashop:
R U L E 1 : Unlessyoucanwhipoutacreditcardorapurchaseorderandbeupandrunningin10minorless,it’snotcloudcomputing.
C O R O L L A R Y: Cloud computing requires little if any human intervention to set up.
R U L E 2 : Unlessyoucanreleasecomputingresourcesaseasyasyouaccessedthem,it’snotcloudcomputing.
C O R O L L A R Y: You are buying a service, not assets. Any cloud computing contract that suggests some kind of ownership of a computing asset should be suspect.
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R U L E 3 : Unlessyou’repayingonlyforwhatyou’reusing,it’snotcloudcomputing.
C O R O L L A R Y: A cloud computing vendor should be able to produce an accounting of your usage and accumulated cost that’s as granular as a phone bill.
T H E I R O N L A W : Attheoutsetofyourvoyageintocloudcomputing,morethanhalfofanythingproposedtoyouprobablydoesNOTapplytotheindividualcircumstancesofyourorganizationorisNOTanimmediatepriority.
TheIronLawwillkeepyououtofthemosttrouble.Don’tforgetthatwe’restillinthemissionarystageofcloudcomputing.Thecloudvendorsandconsultantsarefiredupwiththespiritandeagertoshowyouthemountaintop.Thisdoesn’tmeanthatcloudcomputingisfalseorthatthesepeoplearedishonest.Itsimplymeansthatbelievingpassionatelyinanewmodelisimportantbutnotalwaysthebestwaytodelivereconomicvaluetothecustomer.
Withthatinmind,it’stimetocheckoutwhat’sunderthehood.
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1. http://groups.google.com/group/cloudcomputingusecases?hl=en
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Conceptual Model of Cloud Computing
InJune2009,theU.S.Government’sNationalInstituteofStandardsandTechnology(NIST)publishedaRFPthatprovidedoneofthebetteroverviewsofcloudcomputing.ThefollowingdiagramwasderivedfromtheNISTspecbytheCloudComputingUseCasesGroup 1.Therearealotofboxesandlayers.Don’tworrysomuchaboutthelowerlayers.Asmediaormarketingexecutives,youwillplayatthetoptwolayersofdeliveryanddeployment.Whenyoucontractwithacloudprovider,thosearethetwosectionsthatcontainmostoftheaction.Atthesametime,yourtechnicalstaffneedstounderstandhowthelowerlevelpartsenabletheservice.
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Likeatraditionalmediaplot,wewillstartinthemiddle.AccordingtoNIST,therearefiveessentialcharacteristicsthatdifferentiateacloudbasedcomputingenvironmentfromanetworkedcomputingenvironment:
• Rapid Elasticity: Thecustomerhastheabilitytoscaleresourcesbothupanddownasneeded.
• Measured Service: Performanceistheresponsibilityofthecloudprovider,whohascontrolofbilling,accesscontrol,optimizingresources,capacityplanningandothertasks.
• On-Demand Self-Service: Thecustomercanusethecloudserviceasneededwithoutanyhumaninteractionwiththecloudprovider.
• Ubiquitous Network Access: Thecloudprovider’scapabilitiesareaccessibleoverthenetworkbyanyclientdevicethatcanaccesstheweb.
• Location-Independent Resource Pooling: Physicalandvirtualresourcesareassignedandreassignedaccordingtocustomerdemand.Thelocationofphysicalresourcesunderneaththecloudinfrastructureisnotknownbythecustomer,andcanchangedynamically.
Thinkoftheprecedingattributesmoreasthegoalsorpurposeofacloudcomputingsolutionratherthanwhatthefeaturesetshouldlooklike.Vendorsaregoingtobetwiddlingtheknobsonanyoneofthosegoalstodifferentiatethemselvesfromothervendors.Goodforthem.Whenyou’relookingattheneedsofyourbusiness,you’relikelytoweightoneormoreofthesefivegoalsasmoreimportantthantheothers.
Movingupthestack,therearethreeprimarydeliverymodelsforcloudcomputing:InfrastructureasaService(IaaS),PlatformasaService(PaaS),andSoftwareasaService(SaaS).Bydefinition,onceyougetabovethoselevels,you’rea100%servicecustomeranyway.
Beforeyoulearnaboutindividualelementsmakingupeachcategory,it’simportanttounderstandtheprimaryfocusofeachcategory:
IaaS: the physical hardware environment of computing
PaaS: the operating and developments environments for applications
SaaS: software enabled business processes
Ofcourse,therearecloudoffersthatcutacrosslayerslikeSalesForce.com,whichcanbebothPaaSandSaaS.Thespaceisevolvingrapidlysodon’tthinktheabovedistinctioniscarvedinstone.Still,youcanhaveamoreefficientpreliminaryconversationwithyourinternalstaffandvendor
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CloudComputingTechnicalOverview
Apps
Software as a Service
Platform as a Service
Infrastructure as a Service
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CUSTOMER IMPLICATIONS
+ Applicationlogic,platformandinfrastructureabstracted
+ Significantreductioninefforttodeploy,runandmanage
- Appscanbeconfiguredbutmaynotmeethighlycustomizedrequirements
+ Platform&infrastructureabstracted
+ Customappscanbebuiltanorderofmagnitudemorequicklyandcheaply
- Customappsstillneedtobesupportedandmanaged
+ Physicalinfrastructureabstracted
+ Canbescaledup&downasneeded- Needstobeprovisioned/managed
- Higherlevelsofstackstillneedtobemanaged,maintainedandsupported
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candidatesifyouperformaloosemappingbetweenwhatyouwanttodo(e.g.savinghardwarecosts,fasterinnovation,automatingbusinessprocesses)withthemainlayersofcloudcomputing.
Let’stakeaquicklookattheattributesofeachlayer.Startingfromthebaselayer,NISTdefinesInfrastructureasaService(IaaS)ascustomercontrolof“fundamentalcomputingresources”suchasprocessing,storage,networkingormiddleware.Thecustomercontrolstheoperatingsystem(OS),storage,deployedappsandevennetworkingcomponentslikefirewallsorloadbalancers,butnotthephysicalcloudinfrastructurebelowthem.ThinkofIaaSasyouhavingresponsibilityforalmosteverythingbutthehardware.You’vegotthemostcontrol.Butyou’vealsogotthemostmanagementoverhead.IaaSistherealmofadedicatedcloudproviderlikeAmazonWebServices(AWS),Joyent,andRackspaceCloudamongothers.
Movingupthestack,youhavePlatformasaService(PaaS).PaaSletsthecustomeraccessahostingenvironmentfordevelopingand/ordeployingtheirapplications.Thecustomercontrolshowanappisbuiltand/ordeployedbutdoesn’tcontroltheOS,hardwareornetworkinfrastructure.TheplatformisanapplicationframeworklikeGoogle’sAppEngine.AnotherexamplewouldbeForce.com,throughwhichdevelopersandsomecustomerscancreatetheirownSalesforce.comapplications.ThinkofaPaaSsolutionasbothadevelopmentandoperatingenvironmentforyourapps.
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WhenyoumigratefurtherupthestacktoSoftwareasaService(SaaS),youstartgettingintothemainstreamunderstandingofcloudcomputing.InaSaaSenvironment,thecustomerdoesn’towntheinfrastructureortheapplication.Theyowntheirdataandperhapssomeofthepermittedmodificationsorcustomizationsmadetotheapp.SalesForce.comisanexampleofSaaS.Asacustomer,youuploadyourdataandmanipulateit.Butyoudosoundertherulessetbytheapplication,whichisdesignedtoscaleacrossmanydifferentcustomers.
Finally,NISTdocumentsfourmaindeploymentmodelsforcloudcomputing:
• P U B L I C C L O U D : Thisisacloudserviceavailabletoclientsfroma3rdpartyserviceproviderviatheInternet.Alllegalandcontractuallypermittedusesofthecloudinfrastructurearegovernedbystandardtermsandconditions.AWS,Joyent,Rackspace,MicrsosoftandAzureareexamplesofpubliccloudproviders.
• P R I VAT E C L O U D : acloudserviceexistingbehindanorganizationalandtechnicalfirewall.Accessisrestrictedbyvariouspoliciesandpermittedusesaredefinedbythecloudowner.Typically,theseareenterpriseleveleffortstobringtheeconomicsofcloudcomputingintoasingleorganization.
• C O M M U N I T Y C L O U D : Acloudinfrastructurecontrolledandusedbyagroupoforganizationsthathavesharedinterestsoracommonmission.Themembersofthecommunityshareaccesstothedataandapplicationsinthecloud.Examplesheremightbegovernmentagenciesthatpooltheirinfrastructureresourcestogaineconomiesofscale.
• H Y B R I D C L O U D : Thisiswherepublicandprivatecloudsinteroperate.Userstypicallyoutsourcenonbusinesscriticalinformationandprocessingtothepubliccloud,whilekeepingmissioncriticalservicesanddataundertheircontrol.Anotherinstancemightbeaprivatecloudowneraddingextracapacity(e.g.“cloudbursting”)tohandleaseasonalspikeindemand.
Don’tthinkthatthepreviousmodelisthefinalwordjustbecauseagovernmentagencylikeNISThasorganizedcloudcomputinginthismanner.Checkbacktoyourmid90sgovernmentreportsonthenascentInternetandyouwillunderstandthattheaboveframeworkwillhaveaseverelylimitedshelflife.Still,it’sadecentstartingpoint.Inthatsense,NISThasaccomplisheditsmission.
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Torecapitulate,here’sthebasicbreakdownofcloudcomputing:
• W O R K I N G D E F I N I T I O N : cloudcomputinginvolvesondemand,asneededcomputerprocessing,datastorageandnetworkingresources/servicesonapayasyougobasis.
• E S S E N T I A L C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S : access/releasecomputingresourcesasneeded,payonlyforwhatyouuse,noupfrontcapitalcosttothecustomer
• D E L I V E R Y M O D E L S : InfrastructureasaService(IaaS),PlatformasaService(PaaS),SoftwareasaService(SaaS)
• D E P L O Y M E N T M O D E L S : publiccloud,privatecloud,communitycloud,hybridcloud
• R U L E S O F T H U M B : shouldn’tneedtoownormanageanyhardcomputingasset,billingshouldbealmost100%usagebasedandgranular
I R O N L A W : throwingallofyourbusinessintothecloudisaBADideauntilyou’vedoneamassiveamountofhomework.
Youshouldhavethetoolstoplowthroughthefollowingsections,whichwilldrilldeeperintothecloudcomputingstack.Thefirstsectionwillbeaprimeronvirtualization.Fromthere,wewillexploreeachofthethreemainlayers—IaaS,PaaS,andSaaS.
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More Power to the Shields!
2 Here’sahattiptoAlanWilliamsonforspinningupthateffectivemetaphor.MakesuretosendyourtechnicalmanagementtooneofhisCloudComputingBootCamps.http://www.aw20.co.uk/
What you’ll find here:
• Aprimeronvirtualization
• Typesofvirtualization
• Whyvirtualizationmatterstoyourbusiness
• Themaintradeoffswithvirtualenvironments
Why it’s important:
• Youcan’tunderstandanythingaboutcloudcomputing
withoutknowingaboutvirtualization
It’shappenedonanynumberofStarTrekepisodes.The EnterpriseisbeingpoundedbytheKlingons,theRomulonsorsomeothergalacticnasty.Whilethebridgealarmwails,CaptainKirkorCaptainPicardbarksouttheclassictrekkieline,“MorePowertotheShields!”2
Do you ever wonder if there are parts of the Enterprise that go dark when that happens?
ImagineDr.McCoygettingprimedforsomeR&Rinsidea3Dimmersivesimulation,whenallofasudden—poof!He’sbacktoagreenscreenbecausepowerandcomputingcycleshavebeendivertedtoprotecttheship.GoddamnKlingons....
WhenyouhearpeoplegointoexcruciatingtechnicaldetailaboutvirtualizationandITflexibility,justthinkofMr.Scottdirectingmorepowertotheshields.Thefundamentalvaluepropositionsforthecustomeraresimilar:
1. AproblemoranopportunityneedscomputingresourcesASAP
2. There’snotimetobuildorconfigurenewphysicalassets.We’vegottopullinresourcesasifswitchingonmorelights
3. Butweliveinarationaluniversesothereareperformance/costtradeoffs.
STAR TREK IMAGE: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/08/spock-chess.jpg
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4. Iftheproblem/opportunityispressingenough,we’lloptforperformanceandworryaboutthemoneylater.Butifit’ssomethingthat’snotasimportant,wecanshutitdowntocapthecost.
5. Eitherway,wecanbuildupandteardowncapacityasweneedit.Theinfrastructurerespondstoourcommandwithoutalotofhumanintervention
6. Whenthedanger/opportunitypasses,wecanreturntoourtypicaloperatingstate.
So what happens technically when you virtualize computing resources?
Basically,virtualizationusesasoftwaresimulationtofoolanoperatingsystem(OS)likeWindows,Linuxetc.into“seeing”thesamehardwareinterfacesasitwouldwithareal,physicalmachine.Thesoftwaresimulationisafunctionalsnapshotofphysicalinput/outputports,datastorage,networkorgraphicsaccesscardsthatmakeupaserver,astoragedrive,anetworkrouteroranyotherpieceofcomputerhardwarethatanOSorapplicationusestocarryoutitsjob.
Forexample,insteadofdirectlybindingindividualdiskortapedrivestoindividualphysicalservers,storagevirtualizationcreatesa“virtual”drive.Tohumanprogrammers,applications,servers,administratorsandevenendusers,thevirtualdriveisasingleaddress.However,theactualstoredfilemightexistaspiecesonanynumberofphysicalmachines.
Ascustomerswedon’tneedtocarewherethephysicalstoragelocationofthefilehappenstobe.StoragevirtualizationgivesusageneralP.O.Boxwherewecanthrowthedata.Toapieceofdigitalcontentoranapplicationorahumanprogrammerforthatmatter,thevirtualstorageaddressoffersexactlythesameinterfacesasadedicatedphysicalcomputer.
Thepracticalvalueofvirtualizationisbetterutilizationofhardware.Insteadofindividualmachinesrunningat1015%utilization(notuncommon)becausethey’re“reserved”foraspecificapplicationorbusinessprocess,thecloudprovidercanputpiecesofTom’sjob,piecesofDick’sjobandpiecesofHarry’sjobonthesamemachineorclusterofmachinestobumputilizationupto75%.Themathgetsprettyclearatthatpoint.
Anotherimportantaspectofvirtualizationisthatithelpsyouplanforfailure.Howmanytimeshasthe“server”gonedowninyourshopwiththeresultbeingthatyourstaffenjoysalongerlunchhour?Virtualizationenablesacloudprovidertomirrorthedataorprocessingjobacrossmultiplemachinessothatifanyonepieceofhardwarefails,thejobisstillpreservedwhiletheenduserdoesn’treallyseeasignificantperformancedifference.
The practical value of virtualization is better utilization of hardware.
CloudComputingTechnicalOverview
Virtualization is the secret sauce that enables media and marketing shops to start switching from a CAPEX-led IT cost base to an OPEX-led IT cost base.
3 Ifyouwanttodrilldeeperintovirtualizationandcloudbuildingblocks,checkoutPricewaterhouseCoopers’GlobalTechnologyCenterSummer2009issuedevotedtocloudcomputing.http://www.pwc.com/us/en/technologyforecast/summer2009/index.jhtml
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Storageisonlyoneflavorofvirtualizationamongmany.Herearesomeofthemainclassesofvirtualization.Thelistisnot100%completebecauselikeanyimportantconcept,peopleareplastering“virtual”oneverythinginordertocapturemarketingterritory.However,ifyourememberthesebasicclasses,you’reinthe8590%+rangeofwhat’sbeingdone.
• S E R V E R V I R T U A L I Z AT I O N : putstheentireserverenvironment(OS,hardware,connectivity)ontoavirtualmachinesoitcanberunonanycompatiblehardwaretoincreaseutilization.ServervirtualizationcanberuninparalleltowherethesamebaremetalboxisrunningmultipleOSenvironments.
• S T O R A G E V I R T U A L I Z AT I O N : putstogethermultiplephysicaldatastores(e.g.tapes,drives,disks)intoonelogicalpoolthatcanbespreadovermultiplephysicalmachines
• N E T W O R K V I R T U A L I Z AT I O N : createslogicallyseparatedcommunicationchannelswithinandacrossLocalAreaNetworks(LANs)toallowmultipletypesofnetworkchannelsonthesamephysicalinfrastructure
• D E S K T O P V I R T U A L I Z AT I O N : putstheentirePCenvironmentonavirtualmachinesoitcanbeprovisionedtousersfromacommoncentrallystored“image”.
• A P P L I C AT I O N V I R T U A L I Z AT I O N : takesappsandtheirsupportingOSandcreatesalogicalpackageforeachappthatrunsasanindependentlayeronanOSsoappsdon’teffecteachotherortheunderlyingOS3.
Potentially,themostimportantflavorofvirtualizationformediaandmarketingisdevicevirtualization.ThisiswherevirtualizationtechnologiesandtechniquesallowdesignerstoemulateDVRs,settopboxes,radios,TVs,computermonitors,anyofwhichcanbetargetedand/orcustomizedforvarioushardware.ThinkforwardtoCES20112013.It’shighlylikelythatyou’llfindconsumerelectronicsplaysinwhichthehardwareconsistsofanawesomescreen,killerspeakers,universalremotes/gameplayers,anEthernetandWiFibroadbandconnection—butlittlemore.
Theactiontakesplacewhentheconsumerconnectsthehardwaretobroadbandandselectsthecloudhostedservices,content,channels,applicationsandfeaturesthatwillbeconfiguredtothedevice.DoyouwantagamecentricsetupthatalsogetsMTV,CNNandSiriussatelliteradio?Noproblem.Youwanttoturnthat1.5meterwallmountedHDTVintosurroundsoundHulu?Check.Doyouwantabiggerscreeninayearortwo?Excellent,justsaveyourprofile,swapoutthehardwareandstartagain.Ofcourse,businessmodelsforthesescenariosareanentirelydifferentsubject.Thisisjustanexampleofwhatcanbedonetechnically.
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CloudComputingTechnicalOverview
CHART COURTESY OF: Global Information Industry Center University of California San Diego
Your IT environment has gone from living in a detached house with a white picket fence to living in a giant condominium.
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Devicesarewherevirtualizationgetssexyformediaandmarketing.Buttherearemoreprofoundreasonsformediaandmarketingexecutivestostartthinkingaboutallthingsvirtual.VirtualizationisthesecretsaucethatenablesmediaandmarketingshopstostartswitchingfromaCAPEXledITcostbasetoanOPEXledITcostbase.Ontherevenueside,virtualizationallowsyoutoinnovateandtestnewideasfaster,cheaperandbetterthanifyouneededtoreserveapieceofphysicalinfrastructureforeachnewproject.
But,asmentionedearlier,weliveinarationaluniverse.Therearetradeoffs.
Perhapsthemostimportanttradeoffinvolvestheunderstandingthatavirtualoperatingenvironmentis,bydefinition,asharedoperatingenvironment.Attheendoftheday,thatwonderfulcloudintowhichyou’rethrowingallyourmediafilesandbusinessprocessesactuallyconsistsofmassivephysicaldatacenters
operatedbycloudproviders.ThesedatacentersenableyoutoencodeandserveupyourdigitalcontentassetsforeverythingfromiPhonetoXbox.Butalongwithyourjob,thedatacentersarebackingupotherpeople’semail.They’restoringphotoalbumsandstudentrecordsforthelocalmiddleschool.Progressivehospitalsandclinicsareusingthemtomakemirrorimagesoftheirpatientfiles.Thedatacenteriscrunchingmassiveamountsofenterprisesalesreportsorothercorporatedata.
YourITenvironmenthasgonefromlivinginadetachedhousewithawhitepicketfencetolivinginagiantcondominium.Whatyou’resavinginscalability,maintenanceandhassle,comesatthepriceoflearninghowtobeagoodneighbor.
Forexample,youmightwanttodigitizeanentiremovielibraryintoseveraldifferentformatssoitcanplayonmultiplescreens.It’s1030AMonaworkingWednesday.Youspinupalotofvirtualmachinesandquicklystartcursingbecausethe
performancesucks.Sure,thedatacentercanprobablycrunchwhateveryouthrowatit.Butthedata hastogettherethroughthepublicInternetandthatdependsonthespeedofyournetworkconnection.
Ifweacceptthatdatacentersarethecomputingequivalentofelectricpowerplants,whyareweshockedthattheyexhibitmanyofthesameperformanceissues?Heavyelectricityusersmovetheirjobsaroundasbesttheycanduringthesummerwhendemandforairconditioningpullshardonthegrid.Unlessitismissioncritical,whywouldyouscheduleaheavyupload/downloadjobinthemiddleofthebusinessmorningwheneveryoneisawake,videochattingandusingsocial/streamingmedia?
Cloudproviderswouldlovetotellyouthatthey’reinfinitelyscalable,meaningthatyoucangetallyouwantwheneveryouwantatonelowprice.Theethical
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Concentrating only on the financial cost savings of cloud computing without thinking through the new risks qualifies you as dumb money.
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onesdon’tsaythatbecauseit’ssimplyimpossible.Amazonhaslimitstowhatitcandigestatanyonetimewhentherealworldhitsitscloud.Googlehaslimits.
Moreover,datacenterswilleventuallysufferablackoutjustlikepowerplants.Anyonewhodeniesitcanorwillhappenissmokingsomething.Whendatacentersgodown,thetypicalresponsebybloggersand/orothermediaistoclaimthatcloudcomputingisn’treadyforprimetime.Itmakesforquickandloudcopybutthatdoesn’treallyhelpyourbusiness.
Sorememberthefollowing:
A. Virtualizationenablesadatacenterownertocreateandoperateasharedinfrastructure.Asharedinfrastructureresultsinmuchbetterutilizationofhardware,humanmanagementandothercapitalintensivecomputingresources.That’sthebettereconomicsyouwant.
B. Theultimateperformanceofsharedinfrastructurescomesfromhowwellthedatacenterownerforecastsdemandpeaksandvalleystowheretheendcustomerhastheperceptionthatthey’regettingasmuchastheyneedwhentheyneedit.We’restillonthelearningcurvehere.
C. You,thecustomerofthecloudcomputingservice,musttakeresponsibilityformodelingyourbusinessriskandexposuretotemporarysluggishnessofthecloudserviceallthewaytofailureoftheexternaldatacenter.
D. You,thecustomerofthecloudcomputingservice,needtoestablishtheinternalbusinessprocessesandpoliciesthatensureyouremployeesorendusersdonotconsciouslyorinadvertentlyputthebusinessatrisk.
That’sthetruepriceyou’repayinginordertogetthesavingsandflexibilityyou’reafter.Concentratingonlyonthefinancialcostsavingsofcloudcomputingwithoutthinkingthroughthenewrisksqualifiesyouasdumbmoney.
Google,Amazon,Rackspace,MicrosoftoranyothercloudinfrastructureproviderareNOTsellingdatacenters.They’resellingyouacloudcomputingservice.It’slittledifferentfromtheserviceyougetfromyourbank(asharedinfrastructure),oryourairline(anothersharedresource),orUPS/FedEx(ditto).Youtrusttheseorganizationstomanageassetsorexecutebusinessprocessesonyourbehalf.Iftheyfailtomeettheirobligationsperthecontract,yousufferdamage.
Sosuethemlikeanormalcompany.
Butdon’tblamefinance,aeronauticalengineering,oroperationsresearchifyoumisjudgeinterestrates,missyourflightoryourpackagedoesn’tgetthereontime.Likewise,don’tblamevirtualization,virtualmachinesorcloudcomputingifyoudon’tunderstandandmitigateyourrisks.
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CloudComputingTechnicalOverview
Pipes and Joints: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
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What you’ll find here:
• Thethreemainelements
ofIaaS
• Computer
• Storage
• Network
Why it’s important:
• Thisistheplumbingfor
cloudcomputing
Inanutshell,InfrastructureasaService(IaaS)providesavirtualmachinethatfunctionsasaserver.It’sprimaryvalueistomimicphysicalinfrastructure.ThethreemainsubcategoriesareCOMPUTE,whichrelatestotheprocessingaspectofaserver,STORAGEwhichishowfilesarestoredpersistentlyorcontentispreppedfordeliveryviathewebandNETWORKwhichincludesinbound/outboundbandwidthwithinternalcloudcommunication.MostITshopspullthesethreeelementstogetherintooneunitcalledinfrastructure.Butit’spossibletocontractwithacloudvendorinamorealacartemanner.Asalways,itdependsonyourbusiness.
Thefirstthingyou’llnoticewhenyoutrytoaccess compute servicesisthatthemarketingtermsanddefinitionsarealloverthemap.Forexample,Amazon’sbasiccomputeunitinEC2iscalledan“instance”.GoGridcallsthem“cloudservers”.Joyentoffersan“accelerator”.Rackspaceprovidesa“serverinstance”.Regardlessoftheparticularnamegivenbythevendor,you’repayingtoaccesssomekindofcomputer toprocessyourjob.
Youmightbeencodingvideofiles.Youmightbeanalyzingyourmediaoradserverlogsfortrends.Youmightbeofferingagamingservicethatscalesavirtualworldacrossusers.Withinreason,theactualjobshouldn’tmatter
atthecomputelevel.Naturally,asyoumoveupthestack,theparticularsofwhatyouwanttodowillmattermore.However,justthinkthatyou’reaccessingtheITequivalentofhorsepowerwheneversomeoneistalkingtoyouaboutIaaScomputeservices.
Asfarasashoppinglistgoes,youwillconfigureavirtualcomputerthatspecifiestheCPU,OS,memoryanddiskspaceyouneed.Usually,youwillchoosefromasetofprerolledoptionsofferedbythecloudprovider.Callthesebasicconfigurationsan“image”.Animageisablueprintthatallowsyoutospinupasmanyorasfewvirtualmachinesasyouneedtodothejob.Youshouldbeabletoaddapplications(e.g.yoursecurityorothercorporateapp)toyourimagethatyouwantbakedintoeachvirtualmachine.Youshouldbeabletotakesnapshotsofyourcustomizedimagetoreplicatenewvirtualmachinestoyourspecfastandasneeded.ThecloudprovidershouldsupportvariousOSsuchasWindows,LinuxflavorslikeUbuntu/Fedora/CentOS,orOpenSolaristonameafew.YoushouldalsogetanApplicationProgrammingInterface(API)soyoucanpullin3rdpartycloudmanagementtoolslikeRightscaleorElasticServerifyoudon’twanttousethecloudprovider’sinhousemanagementkit.
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SomeoftheprimaryIaaSoffersoutthereareAmazonWebServices(AWS),GoGrid,Joyent,orRackspacecloud.Certainly,thereareotherslikeAppNexus,Flexiscaleetc.Asbuysidepeople,youcanexpecttohaveabundantchoicesforcloudinfrastructurewhenyoustartout.Asyouworkthroughwhatmovingpartsofyourbusinessarebestsuitedforwhichtypeofcloudservice,however,thelistofpossiblevendorswillshortenconsiderably.Sodon’tsweatthefactthatthere’salotofchoiceoutthere.
Billingmodelsforcomputeservicestypicallyrevolvearoundtheconfigurationyouchoose(e.g.CPU,RAM,OS,diskspace),theamountoftimeyouaccessthevirtualmachine,andthedatatransferbandwidthinbound/outbound.Typically,acloudproviderwillgiveyouarangeofvirtualmachineconfigurationsfromwhichtochoose.Thedifferencesamongmachinesareprocessors,RAM,anddiskmemoryforthemostpart.Forexample,AWSchopsitsEC2offerintostandardinstancesandhighCPUinstances.ThedefaultconfigurationforanEC2instanceis1.7GBofRAM,1virtualcoreCPU(e.g.theequivalentof1.01.2GHz2007Opteronor2007Xeonprocessor),160GBofstorage,a32bitplatformandmoderateinput/output(I/O)performance.Allofthiscomesat$0.10perhourintheUSmarketforLinux,$0.125forWindows.GoGrid’sentrylevelvirtualmachineis1IntelXeonequivalent,500MBRAM,and30GMofdiskstoragefor$0.095perhour.
Cloud-based Storage
ThenextimportantcategoryofIaaSinvolvescloudbaseddata storage.Don’tconfusethiswiththediskmemorysuppliedwithyourCOMPUTEservice.Inmany,ifnotmost,casesonceyouterminateavirtualmachine,youkillwhateverdatawasstoredinthatinstanceaswell.Evenmoreimportant,don’tconfusestoringdatafileswithhavingadatabase.Storagemeansexactlythat.You’rerentingbucketsorwhateverthevendortermistostickyourfiles.Conceptually,it’slittledifferentfromoneofthosephysicalstoragefacilitieswhereyourentanumberedstallandreceiveakey.
Therearetwobroadreasonsforcloudbaseddatastorage.Thefirstreasonistheneedforpersistentbackupforlargefiles.Typically,thisinvolvesfrequentWRITEStothedatastoreandlessREADSofthedata.Youmightdothisfordisasterrecovery.Youmightwantasingleversionoftruthofyourdatawhileaslewofinstanceschewoncopiesofit.Asecondmaindriverforcloudbaseddatastorageistokeepyourcontentreadyforwebdeliverytoendusersorotherapplications.ThisinvolvesalotofREADSandmuchfewerWRITEStothedatasource.
Conceptually, cloud storage is little different from one of those physical storage facilities where you rent a numbered stall and receive a key.
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You shouldn’t let a vendor lock you into a particular language to upload/download data. It needs to be an open API to where you can use your own tools.
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It’stimefordatastorageshoppinglist.Firstandforemost,youwanttoabstractawayallthehardlogisticsofstoringdata.Asacustomer,youshouldn’tneedtocareaboutthephysicaladdressingschemesforwherethedataisgoing.Allyouwantisavirtualaddresstostorethedata.Thefilebackupshouldbeautomaticafteryou’vesetupthebackupschedule.Youshouldn’tletavendorlockyouintoaparticularlanguagetoupload/downloaddata.ItneedstobeanopenAPItowhereyoucanuseyourowntools.Furthertothat,youwanttobeabletodefinethelevelofsecuritymodeland/orlevelsofencryption.ToimproveREAD/WRITEperformanceyouprobablywantyourdatatohaveapipetoaContentDeliveryNetwork(CDN)soitcanliveascloseaspossibletowhereitwillbeused.Naturally,youwanttopayonlyforwhatyouuse.Dependingonyourbusiness,youmightwantacloudvendortoolformovingstonkinglargefiles(>20GB),otherwisestandardbandwidthchargesandperformancemightstarttobite.
BigcloudplayersinthedatastorageservicesbusinessincludeAWSS3,Rackspacecloud,andNirvanix.Thesefirmshavetheirownphysicalstorageinfrastructure.Therearealsoalargenumberofstorageserviceproviderswhopiggybackonthebigplayers’infrastructureanddifferentiateviatheirmanagementtoolsandintuitiveuserinterfaces(UIs).CompanieslikeJungleDiskandElephantDiskareinthatcategoryandsellmainlytoconsumerandSMEmarkets.
BillingforstorageservicestypicallyincludesarawperGBrate,plustransferbandwidth,pluscertaindatacommandrequestslikeCOPY,GET,LIST,POST,PUT.ThereareothercommandssuchasDELETEthatareofferedfree.Forexample,RackspaceCloudcharges$0.15/GBpermonthforanunlimitednumberoffilesthatarelessthanorequalto5GBinsizeforanyonefile.TouploadafiletotheRackspacecloud,youpay$0.08perGBinbandwidthcharges.Downloadingdatafromthecloudismoreexpensiveat$0.22perGB.Youpay$0.01forthefirst500PUT,POST,LISTrequestsforsmalldatafiles(<250kb)withcommandrequestsforlargerdatafiles(>250kb)beingfree.AlanWilliamsonhasaniceonlinetoolforplayingwithstoragecostsacrossthethreevendorsat[http://www.aw20.co.uk/tools/storagecosts.cfm].PleasenotethattheactualpricingonthetoolisfromNovember2008.ThemoreimportantthingistoseehowthenumbersstartjumpingaroundonceyoustartinputtingdifferentamountsofdatainGBandwhetheryourusagetrendstouploadingordownloading.
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Networking and the Cloud
ThefinalpieceofIaaSisthenetworkaspectofcloudservices.Networkinginthecloudinvolvesuploadingdataormessagesintothecloudforprocessingorstorage,downloadingdata/messagesfromthecloudtosomekindofclientorenduser,andtransferringdata/messageswithinacloudoracrosscloudsthatarepartofsomeparallelordistributedcomputingprocess.Forourpurposes,justsplitcloudnetworkingintotwomainbuckets:inbound/outboundbandwidth+messagequeues.
Whenyouthinkaboutinbound/outboundbandwidth,thinkcontentdeliverynetwork(CDN).CDNsaresetsofcomputers(sometimescalled“edgenodes”)placedatvariousgeographicorlogicalpartsofanetworktospeedupdataaccessthroughoutthenetwork.WhenaclientusesaCDN,theyareaccessingacopyofthedatanearesttotheminsteadoftryingtohitthesame,centralizedserverwheretheoriginalfilelives.ACDNcanmovewebobjects,downloadableslikemediafiles,softwareanddocuments,applicationsthemselves,mediastreamsaswellasothertypesofnetworkingdatasuchasroutesorDNSqueries.
ThelogicforusingCDNstodelivercloudcomputingisprettystraightforward.Itmaywellbetruethatthesupplysideforcloudcomputingiscentralizingintobehemothsizeddatacenters.However,thecustomersoftheseservicesarewidelydistributed.Moreover,theideaofcustomerorenduserneedstobeexpandedbeyondJohnQ.Publictryingtopulldownawebpage.Farmoreimportantaresituationsinwhichtheenduserofaservercallisn’tahumanbeingatall,butisanotherapplicationorservicedeliveredviathecloud.ManySoftwareasaService(SaaS)likeSalesForce.comwouldn’tbeviablewithoutbeinghookeddirectlyinaCDN.
OnthebillingsideofCDNs,youtypicallypayaperGBratethatchangesaccordingtopeakandoffpeaktimes.ThinkofitsimilartoaUSmobilephonevoiceplan.Thereisapriceperminutethatdiscountsdependingonwhatkindof“bucket”yousignupforandforhowlong.InthecaseofaglobalCDN,thesmallestdatabucketofdatayoucancontractformaybeseveralterabytes.Typically,aCDNcontractsmoreattheB2Blevelwithanotherserviceproviderthat’sbakingintheCDNcostwiththeirservicetoyou.However,ifyou’rebigenough,youcancutyourowndeal.
It’sanaturalfitforcloudcomputingservicestohookupwithCDNs.Oneofthefirstdealsoutofthegatecameinlate2008whenRackspaceannouncedadealwithLimelightNetworks.Limelightoperatesalargeopticalnetworkwiththousandsofinterconnectionand/orpeeringarrangementswithothernetworks.ThedealisthatRackspacestorageandprocessingservicesareconnectedtoLimelight’sCDNtoampuptheirperformance.AnothercloudorientedCDNeffortisAmazonCloudFront.
It doesn’t matter if you’re getting a great deal on storage or processing if your customer feels the services is slooww.
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CloudFrontintegrateswithotherAWSofferslikeS3toofferlowlatency,highthroughputdatatransfer.ArequestforadataobjectstoredinS3isroutedtothenearestedgelocation.InCloudFront,S3objectsareorganizedinto“distributions”,whichspecifythelocationoftheoriginalversionofthedata.AdistributiongetsauniqueCloudFront.netdomainname(e.g.ReallyCoolStuff.cloudfront.net)thatreferencestheobjectsthroughoutthenetworkofedgelocations.Whentheobjectisrequestedusingadistributiondomainname,theobjectisautomaticallyroutedtothenearestedgelocationforfasterdelivery.
The800lbgorillaintheCDNworld,Akamai,isalsogoingaftercloudcomputingwithavengeance,albeitattheB2Blevel.TargetingSaaSproviders,AkamaiispositioningitsCDNasameansofkeepingperformancehighandlatencylowforSaaSbasedapplications.CDNsaremassivelycapitalandexpertiseintensive.Akamaiclaimsnearly50,000edgenodesinitsnetwork.Ifyourmediademandslowlatencylikevideoorgaming,theCDNchoiceloomslarge.Itdoesn’tmatterifyou’regettingagreatdealonstorageorprocessingifyourcustomerfeelstheserviceisslooww.
Thelastcategoryofcloudnetworkinginvolvesqueues.Messagequeuesarewhatenablecommunicationsamongdistributedcomputingsystems.JustlikethebelovedBritishtermforstandinginaline,queuesmanagetheflowofmessagesthatpasscontrol/content/instructionsacrossapplicationsthatmightbelivingonmultiplemachinesordifferentpartsofacloud.AmazonSimpleQueueService(AmazonSQS)isanexample.DevelopersuseSQStomovedatabetweendistributedcomponentsoftheirapplicationsthatperformdifferenttasks,withoutlosingmessagesorrequiringeachcomponenttobealwaysavailable.Thereasonyouwanttobeabletodothisissoyoucanchopajoblikevideoencodingtorunacrossmultiplecommodity(read“stupid”)machines,whethervirtualornot.Asidefromefficiencygains,parallelprocessingandgoodqueuingenablesanindividualmachinetofailwithoutkillingyourjob.LikeCDNs,youbuyabucketofmessagerequestswithAmazonSQS($0.01/10,000requests).
You’re renting a computer
Torecapitulate,IaaSmarriescomputerprocessing,datastorageandnetworkingtogiveyoutheequivalentofaserverviaavirtualmachine.Togetthatcompletevirtualmachine,you’llpayarateforrawprocessing,You’llpayasecondrateforinbound/outboundbandwidth.Thatchargemightbebakedintoyourprocessingrateoritmaybeseparate.You’llpayaratetostoreyourdata,whichmayormaynotincludeinbound/outboundbandwidth.Ifyoudoalotofparallelordistributedprocessing,you’llpay
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anotherrateforaqueuingservice.Youcanbuytheseservicesalacarteorbundledintoonelineitem.
Buttakealookatthingsyou’renotdirectlypayingforanymore.Thecapitalcostofaserverisstraightforward.Eventhoughit’stheeasiesttosee,it’sactuallyoneofthesmallercategoriesofcostsavings.PotentiallylargerareIThumanresourcecosts,electricpower,realestate,insurance,softwarelicensing,andmaintenancetonameafew.Thepotentialgamechangersforyourmediashop,however,areTIME,HASSLEandUTILIZATION.
Thinkbacktothelasttimeyouorderedaphysicalserver.Itdoesn’tmatterifit’sinyourbasementorinsomehostingprovider’srack.It’syours.Howlongdidittakefromtheprecisemomentyousignedoffonthebudgettotheprecisemomentthatservercrunchedyourfirstjob?Howmanymeetingsdidittaketogetthatserverincludedasalineitem?Howmanytimeshasyourstaffneededtotakethatserverofflineformaintenanceorresetitafteracrash?And,whatisthecurrentutilizationofthatserver?
Ifyouanswered“alot”,“alot”,“alittle”,you’reprobablyagoodcandidatetobeacloudcomputingcustomer.If,ontheotherhand,yourcompanyrunsitsservershard24/7tocrunchdata,perhapsyourchoicewhethertoadoptIaaSisn’tasclearcut.
IaaS marries computer processing, data storage and networking to give you the equivalent of a server.
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It’snota100%hardandfastrule,buthere’sadecentruleofthumbfordifferentiatingIaaSandPaaS:
IaaSismachine-centric.
PaaSisapplication-centric.
Ifyouthinkaboutanautomobile,thenroughlyspeakingIaaScomprisestheengine,thechassis,thetransmission,wheelsandthebody.PaaSgetsintothesteeringwheel,thegearshift,accelerator/brakepedals,andtheinstrumentation.IaaSisaboutcreatingandaccessingITresources.PaaSisaboutdevelopinganddeployingITapplications.
ThedifferencebetweenPaaSandIaaSismoreaboutgoalsthanmethods.BothIaaSandPaaSincludecompute,dataandnetworkingelements.However,IaaSisanoperationsenvironmentwherethevalueofcompute,dataandnetworkingconcentratesonincreasingtheproductivityofinfrastructure.PaaS,ontheotherhand,isanenvironmentwherethevalueofcompute,dataandnetworkingfocusesoncreatingandincreasingtheproductivityofapplications.
Forourpurposes,PaaSsolutionsareapplicationdevelopmentandoperationsenvironmentsthatarehostedinthecloud.UsingPaaS,developerscanbuildapplicationswithoutinstallinganyspecializedtoolslocallytoamachine.Additionally,developerscanusePaaStodeploytheirapplications
withoutspecializedsystemsadministrationskills.AtnotimeshouldaPaaScustomerworryaboutserviceavailability,loadbalancing,scaling,OSmaintenance,securityandahostofsimilarinfrastructureconcerns.
IMAGESOURCE: www.nytimes.com
What you’ll find here:
• ThedifferencebetweenPaaSandIaaS
• ToplevelPaaSelements
• PaaSexamples
Why it’s important:
• PaaSisyourdevelopmentenvironmentforinnovation
Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
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UsingPaaSmayresultfrommuchfasterdevelopmentofcustomapplicationsthatabusinessneedstodifferentiatefromacompetitor.Anotherflavorofinnovationistheintegrationofexistingapplicationsinanovelmanner.PaaScanbeespeciallyimportantforstitchingtogethervariousinhouseapplications,externaldatasourcesandSaaSapplicationsintoauniquecloudbasedconfiguration.
Todate,therearefourprimarydeploymentmodelsforPaaSsolutions:
• Social Application PaaS:thisistherealmofFacebookandotherweb2.0companiesthatprovideAPIssothat3rdpartiescanwritenewapplicationsthataddvaluetotheuserexperience.Theplatformisnotsimplyadevelopmentenvironmentbutisalsowherethedeveloperfindstheiruseraudience.
• Raw Computing PaaS: thisiswheredevelopersuploadtheirtraditionalsoftwaredevelopmentstacktoanIaaSsolutionlikeAmazonWebServices.Thisistherealmforthehardcoresoftwaredeveloper.
• Web Application PaaS:ThisiswhereabigplayerlikeGoogleprovidesAPIsthatletsdeveloperspullserviceelementslikemaps,calendars,spreadsheetsandotherservicestobakeintothedevelopingapp.Innovationisusuallytheresultofsomeuniquemashupcombinationasopposedtogenuinelynewtechnologyorprogrammingtechnique.
• Business Application PaaS: ThisiswhereplatformslikeForce.comprovidetheapplicationinfrastructurethatisspecificallyfocusedontransactionalbusinessappssuchasdatabase,ecommerce,integration,workflowanduserinterfacelevels.
Generally speaking, PaaS offers three main elements:
1. AnIntegratedDevelopmentEnvironment(IDE)
2. Adatabase
3. Aruntimeenvironment
AsaPaaScustomer,youcontrolthosethreeelements.Butyoudon’tcontrolthehardwareorthenetworkinfrastructureonwhichyourapplicationsarerunning.Let’slookateachmainelementthatmakeupPaaS.
Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
AnIDEisasoftwareworkshopforgeeks.Likeyourgrandfather’swoodshop,anIDEcontainsaworkspaceandatoolset.Insteadofplanes,sawsand
An IDE is a software workshop for geeks.
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drills,IDEshavesourcecodeeditors,compilers,buildautomationtools,anddebuggers.ThepurposeofbothawoodshopandanIDEaresimilar.Bothaimtotransformrawmaterialsintoafinishedproduct.
Assumeyouknowwhatyouwantanapplicationtodo(e.g.analyzeserverlogactivitytoletyoupriceyourdisplayadsbetter).Yourapplicationdeveloperwillneedtowriteandeditsourcecode,catchsyntaxerrors(badsoftwaregrammar),automaterepeatedtasks,compilecode(translateitintomachinereadableformat),buildconnectionstodatabases,anddebuglogicalproblems(grammaticallycorrectgibberish).
MostIDEsareconfiguredtosupportaspecificprogrammingenvironmentlikeWindowsorJAVA.TheIDEprovidesafeaturesetthattriestomatchtheprogrammingmodelsthatmakeuptheenvironment.You’vegottoolsforcreating,debugging,mounting,andintegratinganapplicationwithagivencomputingenvironment.TherearesomemultilingualIDEssuchasEclipse,whichisanopensourceIDEthatcanbeusedforJAVAbutalsoforC,C++,Perl,Python,PHPetc.OtherIDEssuchasMicrosoftVisualStudiofocusondevelopingapplicationsforallflavorsofWindows.
Likewoodormetalworkingshops,IDEsrunthegamutforofferingtoolsandsophistication.ThemainpointforacustomerofaPaaSoffertorememberisthatIDEsaretheworkspacefordevelopingapplications.
Database
IfIDEsaretheworkspaceforapplications,thendatabasessupplytherawmaterials.Don’tconfusedatastorageofferslikeAmazonS3orNirvanixwithadatabase.Datastorageisthefilecabinet.ThecabinetsaysyoucanstuffXnumberofGBhereforYprice.Ontheotherhand,adatabaseisthelogicalfilingsystem(e.g.alphabetic,bydate,bycustomervalue)fororganizingwhatyou’vestored.Hence,oneofthemostimportantlinksinany“platform”isbetweentheIDEandthedatabase.DoaLOTofhomeworktounderstandhowyourdataisorganizedbythePaaSdatabase.Thisiswhereasignificantamountofvendorlockintakesplaceinthecloud.
Databasetechnologiesandtechniquescanbemindnumbingonceyougetunderthehood.Forourpurposes,however,it’smoreimportanttorememberthatallthatblackmagicandrocketsciencefocusesonstructuringdatasoyouoryourapplicationcanrequestdataoraskitquestions.Whetheryou’verolledupthe3rdgradeparentmailinglistinExceloryou’regeneratingseveralterabytesofdataeachdaylikeaMySpaceoraFacebook,thefundamentalprinciplesdon’tchange.
Do a LOT of homework to understand how your data is organized by the PaaS database.
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Thecurrencyforstructuringdataconsistsofdataobjects,theirattributesandtheirrelationships.Forexample,imaginethatyou’vegotaHRrecruitingapp.Assumefornowthatyou’vegotanicewebbrowseruserinterfaceforyourpeople.Behindthescenesinthedatabase,you’vecreateddataobjectsfortheHRapplikePOSITIONandCANDIDATE.Butcurrentlythey’reemptyshells.Soyoucreateattributesthatliveinsidethem.Fornow,assumethatwedocumentthoseattributesusingcolumnslikeaspreadsheet.CANDIDATEbecomesanobjectthathascolumnsforname,address,email,universitydegreeetc.POSITIONmighthavecolumnsfordepartment,title,location,compensationetc.
Underthosecolumns,thedatabasewillcreaterowscontainingthespecificsubfieldsrelatedtoJimSmithortheunfilledpositionofVPofSales.Afteryou’vecreateddataobjectsanddeclaredtheirattributesthroughsubfields,it’stimetomakerelationships.Thoserelationshipscanexistwithinadataobject(e.g.locationisflexiblefortheSalesdepartmentbutfixedfortheOperationsdepartment)oracrossobjects(e.g.Operationsdoesn’tconsidercandidateswithlessthanamastersdegree).
Dataobjects,attributesandrelationshipsarethesetupforadatabase.Theaction,however,happensatthelevelofarequestoraquery.Youoranapplicationcandreamupextraordinarilycomplexquestions.Buttypically,thetwoquerytypesthathitadatabaseboildownto“GivemeeverythingrelatedtoX”or“GivemeonlythatdatathathasYattributeorisrelatedtoZ”.Thefirstinstance(“givemeeverything…”)canbecalledaninformationretrievalquery,whichiswhatyoudowhenyoufireupasearchengine.Thesecondflavor(“givemeonly…”)isoftencalledadatabasequery.Thereareallsortsofquerylanguagestohelpyouinterrogatedatabases.
Thepurposeforallthis,however,doesn’treallyshift.Youneedtoansweraquestionsothatyoucanmakeadecision.
Nowsubstitutetheanthropomorphicuseof“You”intheprecedingexampleswithanIDEorsoftwareapplicationthatneedstoqueryadatabasetopulltheinformationitneedstomakeitsnextprocessingdecision.Veryquickly,itshouldbeapparentwhydatabasedecisionscanhaveaprofoundimpactonyourbusinessinthecloud.
Runtime environment
Whenyoupullthetriggeronagun,itfires.Allthevarioussubprocesses(e.g.hammerbeingreleased,strikingthecap,sparkignitingthepowder,afocusedexplosiondrivingthebulletoutofthebarrel)cometogetherinoneBANG!WhenyousparkatapplicationwiththeRUNcommand(howeverdelivered),you’vepulledthetriggersotospeak.
Everyday computer end-users employ runtime environments and libraries whether they know it or not.
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Runtimeenvironmentsdotwothingsforanapplication.First,theyholdtheprecannedlibrariesandsubroutinesbuiltintoa“runtimelibrary”.Aruntimelibraryenablesalmostanyapplicationtosendinstructionstothecomputer’sprocessor,grabRAMmemoryandothersystemresources.Basically,theyenabletheapplicationtodoitsstuff.
Everydaycomputerendusersemployruntimeenvironmentsandlibrarieswhethertheyknowitornot.WhenyouwatchaFLASHmovieontheweb,anembeddedFLASHplayercreatesaseparateruntimeenvironmentfortheFLASHfiletoexecuteonthepage.ThemostcommonruntimeenvironmentistheJAVARuntimeEnvironment(JRE)thatenablestheappletsandfullapplicationstorunonanymachinewithaninstalledJRE.
Atthesametime,runtimeenvironmentsareveryimportantforapplicationdevelopers.NotallerrorsarecaughtbysourcecodeeditorsorthecompilersthatmakeupanIDE.Inmanycases,theerrorswon’thappenuntilyoutrytoruntheapplication.Aruntimeenvironmentenablesthedevelopertotrackinstructionsbeingprocessedbytheapplicationanddebugruntimeerrors.Ifanapplicationmelts,theruntimesoftwareoftenkeepsgeneratingtelemetrythatcanprovideinformationaboutwhytheprogramcrashed.Thatdiagnosticinformationisn’trestrictedtojustinternalerrorswithinanapplication.It’smoreoftenthecasethatapplicationsneedtoexchangedataorcommandswitheachother.Adevelopmentteamneedstoseehowthesecomponentsinteractwitheachotherrealtimeandatscaletocatchproblems.Additionally,thediagnosticdatageneratedbyaruntimeenvironmentcanbeusedtoincreaseanapplication’sperformance.
Youdon’twanttobedoingthatintheproductionenvironmentofIaaSwiththemeterticking.
Tosumup,aPaaSsolutionisthefundamentalplatformthroughwhichacreativeideabecomesanexecutableapplication.Yourdevelopersneedtohaveaworkspaceandtools(IDE)tocreateapplications.Theapplicationsneedrawmaterials(database).Andyouneedtofindouthowtheapplicationsbehavewhenyoureleasethemintothewild(runtimeenvironment).
PaaS Examples
F O R C E . C O M : ThecanonicalexampleofPaaSistheForce.complatformfromSalesForce.com.TheForce.complatformconsistsofastackofdatabase,integration,logicanduserinterface(UI)capabilities.TheForce.comcustomerbringstheirapplicationrequirements,designanddatatothetable.TheyuseForce.com’sIDE,database,integration,workflowandUItoolsandservicestobakeanapplication,testitinaruntimeenviron
A PaaS solution is the fundamental platform through which a creative idea becomes an executable application.
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IMAGE SOURCE: salesforce.com
ment,andthendeployitontheSalesForce.cominfrastructure.Effectively,SalesForce.comhasintegratedIaaSresourcesandcapabilitiesundertheForce.comPaaSoffer.WhetherthoseIaaSresourcesarewhollyownedbySalesForce.comoraccessedfromanotherIaaSproviderisn’trelevanttotheForce.comuser.
TheinfrastructurelayersupportingForce.comisthesameinfrastructurethatdeliversSalesForce.com’smainCRMapplication.It’sacombinationofdatacentersandsecuritytechnologiesinthreegeographicallyseparatedatacenters.TheSalesForce.comdatacentersusenearrealtimereplicationtomirrorthedataateachlocation.
SecuredatacentersarealmosttablestakestogetintothePaaSgame.Theyarerequiredbutaddlittledifferentiationfromoneprovidertoanother,especiallyasmoredatacenterscomeonline.MoreimportantforPaaSishowavendororganizestheirdatabaseasaserviceoffer.Especiallyforbusinessapplications,databasesandtoolsprovidemuchofthedevelopmentfirepower.TheForce.comdatabaseusesobjectstostoreinstances(records)ofdata.Thedatabasehasseveralsimilaritiestoanddifferencesfromtraditionalrelationaldatabases.ThinkofadataobjectanditsfieldsinForce.comassimilartoarelationaltablewithitscolumns.However,unlikerelationaldatabasetablesthatseparatedataobjectswithseparatestorage,Force.commaintainsthestructureofadataobjectasmetadata(e.g.dataaboutdata).ThereareafewhugedatastoragetablesinForce.comthatholdthedatauntilit’srequiredatexecution.Atruntime,Force.comthenrendersthevirtualobjectrecordsbyanalyzingtheirmetadata.
OtherForce.comservicesincludeintegration,whichhelpsbusinessestieintheirlegacy,largelynoncloudbasedapplicationssuchasERP.Integrationloomslargeasanenterpriseconcernasdoestheneedtomodelacompany’suniquebusinessprocessesandrequirements.Force.comoffersamappingandworkflowenginetoenableLogicasaServiceforthoseneeds.TheForce.comstackfinisheswithalayertoenablequickcreationofcustomeruserinterfacesaswellastheabilitytobuyratherthanbuildForce.comapplicationsthroughtheaptlynamed,AppExchange.
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Spanningalltheselayersaredevelopertoolsthatprovidefullaccesstothedata,logic,integrationandUIcapabilitiesofForce.com.Thedeterminingfactorseemstobetheinternalsophisticationofthecustomer’sneedsanddevelopmentassetsmorethananythingelse.
Fromapricingpointofview,Force.comchargesaccordingtothenumberofdeployedapplicationsandtheiruserbase.Otherfactorssuchasstorageandthennumberofdataobjectsincreaseinproportion.Thereisafreeversionthatenablesacustomertodevelopanddeployoneapplicationto100users.ThenextlevelupiscalledForce.comEnterprise.Itenables10applicationsperuser,upto200dataobjects,accesstoCRMservicesfromSalesForce.com,andmorethan100users.Thecostis$50perseatpermonth.Finally,thereisForce.comUnlimitedwhichcosts$75perseatpermonthforunlimitedappsperuser,2,000dataobjects,directtechnicalsupportfromSalesForce.comandincreasedstorage.
Force.comcanbeconsideredoneofthemostnativePaaSoffersinthesensethatitwasincubatedinacloudnativecompanyinthefirstplace.HowlongthatdistinctionandoperationalexperienceadvantagepersistsremainstobeseenasotherlargeITinfrastructureandservicesshopsgetintoofferingPaaS.
G O O G L E A P P E N G I N E : AnotherPaaSofferingisGoogleAppEngine.UnlikeAmazonWebServiceswhichofferstheenduseranalacartemenuofprocessing(EC2),datastorage(S3),andcontentdistribution(CloudFront),Googlehasoptedforamenufixée.
GoogleAppEnginewasfirstreleasedinbetainApril2008.It’sbasicallyaplatformfordevelopingandhostingwebapplicationsinGoogle’smanageddatacenters.Inthatsense,themuchabused“endtoend”marketingphrasecanreasonablyapplytotheGoogleoffer.Thefeeschargedtoadeveloperrevolvearoundstorage,bandwidth,andCPUcyclesrequiredbyanapplication.
Currently,GoogleAppEngineonlysupportsdevelopmentintheJAVAandPythonprogrammingenvironments.Googlehassaiditintendstosupportmoreprogramminglanguagesinthefuture.It’salsotruethattheAppEngineenvironmentitselfhasbeenwrittentobelanguageindependent.Buttherealityinlate2009isthatunlessyou’reaccustomedtodevelopinginJAVAorPython,you’relargelyoutofluck.
Inreturnforatradeoffondevelopmentenvironments,you’regainingtheinfrastructureandmanagementskillstoscaleyourwebapplicationtohandlemillionsofusers.AppEngineoffersthewebappdeveloperfull
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PaaS is integral to a company’s capacity to innovate rapidly.
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supportforallcommonwebtechnologies,persistentdatastoragewithstandarddatabasetoolsforqueries,sorting,andtransaction.OtherAppEnginefeaturesincludeautomaticscalingandloadbalancingandarobustsetofAPIstohookintootherGoogleserviceslikeMaps,Checkout,Gmailetc.
Ofcourse,yourtechnicalstaffcanriflethroughallthedifferenttradeoffsandadvantagesinherentintheAppEngineenvironmentattheleveloftheindividualapp.Atthestrategiclevelofyourbusiness,thequestionisabitmoreabstract—butimportant.Fundamentally,thebiggestadvantagetousingAppEngineisthatyoucanfocusalmostexclusivelyonthespecificproblemoropportunityyourapplicationorserviceistryingtoaddress.Allthe“muck”(JeffBezos’termfortheneedtomanagehardwareandoperations)isliftedoffyourbooks.Assumingyouhavegooddevelopers,youwillbeveryfastoutofthegateandwillbeabletoscaleyouroffersmoothandquick.
That’snottrivial.
Ontheotherhand,you’remarriedtoGooglewhetheryouadmititornot,likeitornot.Themoreyoudevelop,themoreyou’relockedin.Don’tworrysomuchaboutthefactyouneedtodevelopinJAVAorPython.MorecriticalisthatyouneedtoformatallyourdatatoGoogle’swayofdoingthings.Youwon’tbeusingaquasistandardrelationaldatabaselikeSQLbutwilluseGoogle’sflavorknownasBigTable.
Again,there’snothinginherentlynefariousaboutthiskindofarrangement.Googleisofferinghandsdownoneofthebiggestandmostsuccessfulcomputinginfrastructuresinhumanhistory.Theydefinitelyknowathingortwoaboutkeepdistributedcomputingservicesupandhumming.Theybuilttheinfrastructure.Theywritetherulesonhowit’sused.That’scapitalism.
O T H E R PA A S S O L U T I O N S : PaaSoffershavebeguntoblossomwithavengeance.Forexample,Heroku,isoneofthepopularPaaSflavorsfortheRubyonRailscommunityofwebappdesigners.Microsofthasspentmostof2009preparingforitsNovemberlaunchoftheAzureWebServicesplatform.AzureoffersaWindowsbasedcloudenvironmentforrunningappsandstoringdataonserversinMicrosoftdatacenters.AzureprovidescloudbaseddataservicesthroughitsSQLAzurecomponentwhileitenablesdistributedinfrastructuretocloudbasedandlocalappsthroughits.NETsystem.UntilMicrosofttakesAzureoutofbetaandsetsitloose,itwillbedifficulttoevaluatewhetherAzureisagoodbetforamediashop.
Regardlessofthevariousfeature/functionsofeachvendor’sPaaSoffer,thevaluepropositionofPaaScan’tbeneatlyboileddowntodirectcostsavingsandsimplicity.PaaSismoreintegraltoacompany’scapacitytoinnovaterapidly.Thosedecisions,bydefinition,tendtocrossorganizationalandtechnicalboundaries.Thekeyquestionscomebacktowhatmakesyourfirmspecialinthefirstplace.
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INFRASTRUCTURE
MULTIPLE ORGANIZATIONS
DATABASE
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SoftwareasaService(SaaS)isadeploymentmodelinwhichaserviceproviderlicensesyouanapplicationtouseondemandandpayonlyforwhatyouuse.Here’saquickanddirtymetaphor:
You’vedecidedtojoinaclub.Youareissuedyourowntableattherestaurantwhichyoucandecorateasyouseefit.Ifyou’resoinclined,youcanbringpersonalpropertytothetablesuchasanicebucketfromhome.Theclubissuesyouamembershipcard.ThecarddocumentsyourIDplusadescriptionofservicesyoucanexpectgivenyourlevelofmembership(e.g.hourly,daily,monthly,lifetime).Thecardalsotellstheclubstaffwheretofindyourpersonaltable,howitshouldbeset,andwheretofindyourtaggedbottleofScotch.Alltheinformationthatmakesthismembershipcome“alive”happenswhenyoushowthecardatthefrontdooroftheclub.Itshouldn’tbeyourconcernasamemberwhathappenstoyourtableorpersonalpropertywhenyou’renotattheclub.Youjustexpecteverythingtobeavailableinstantlywhenyouwantit.Afterall,membershiphasitsprivileges.
InaSaaSenvironment,alltheinfrastructure,licensing,applicationmaintenance,upgrades,deliveryandsofortharetheresponsibilityoftheserviceprovider.AsaSaaScustomer,youpayausageorsubscriptionfeethatgoesupordownbasedonyourcustomizations,scaleanduseofthecoreapplication.Theserviceproviderownstheapp.Youownthedatageneratedbyusingtheapp.
SaaSisthecloudcomputinglayerthathasreceivedthemostattentionofthegeneralpress.WhetherindustrynewsreferstoGoogle’sGmailorDocs,SalesForce.com,HotmailorotherWeb2.0implementations,mostpeoplegetSaaSasacloudcomputingconcepteventhoughthat’snotthesamethingasbeingabletouseSaaSsuccessfully.
How SaaS works
VirtualizingphysicalinfrastructureandapplicationenvironmentsisthesecretsauceforIaaSandPaaS.
MultitenancyisthesecretsauceofSaaS.
MultitenancymeansthateachSaaScustomerpullsfromasinglecoreversionofasoftwareapplication.IfyourecallfromtheIaaSsection,virtualizationusesamasterblueprintthatspecifieshardwarespecsandotherinfrastructureresourcescalledan“image”,fromwhichanynumberofidenticalrunninginstances(e.g.individualvirtualmachines)canberolled.
What you’ll find here:
• SaaSdefinition
• HowSaaSworks(multi
tenancyandmetadata)
• SaaSexamples
• Tradeoffs
Why it’s important:
• You’retrustinganendtoend
businessprocesstoSaaS
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
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S H A R E D DATA BASE
APPLICATION
TENANT�SPECIFIC METADATA
COMMON METADATA
DATA
WEB BROWSER
RUNTIME ENGINE
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TakethatIaaSimageconceptandsubstituteacoreapplication.Insteadofamasterimage,theSaaSproviderusesamasterversionofanapplication.WhenaSaaSproviderspinsupaninstanceoftheappfromthatmasterversion,they’respinningupacustomerspecificinstance,whichimportsthepreferredlookandfeel,thecustomerdataaswellasanyadditionalcustomerservices(e.g.addonsecuritymodelsandcode).
Don’tthinkwithSaaSthateverythingrunsoffoneserver.Inreality,you’retalkingabouthugedatacenterswiththousandsofservershummingalongtokeeptheSaaSofferoperatingandscalingaccordingtodemand.TheSaaSprovidernodoubtoperatesseveralgeographicallyseparatedatacentersthatmirrorboththecoreapplicationandindividualtenantdata.
MultitenancyenablestheSaaSprovidertooffercompellingeconomicsinbothspeedandcostforbroadapplicationslikecustomerrelationshipmanagement(CRM).MostSaaSusersciterapiddeploymentasamajorbenefit.SaaSalsoenablescustomerstodeployintidyincrements,committoshorttermratherthanlongtermagreementsattheoutset,androlloutnewfunctionseasily.SaaScustomerscanaddnewusersorremovethemwithoutworryingwhetherthat501stnewuserrequiresanupgradetoa1,000seatversionofasoftwareapplication.MultitenancyenablesSaaSproviderstostandardizeonawebbrowserlikeuserinterface(UI).Thishitsuseradoptionandtrainingissuesheadon.
MultitenancyarosefromtheashesoftheApplicationServiceProvider(ASP)marketfromthe90s.ASPsalsodeliveredsoftwareapplicationsremotelyfromadatacenter.Thecustomerownedthesoftwarelicensewithalltheinherentmaintenance,modificationandupgradeheadaches.TheASPmanagedoperations,guaranteeduptime(not!)andtookamonthlyfee.AmajorproblemwithASPsisbecausetheydidn’townsoftwareIP,itwasoftenthecasetheyneededtocreateaseparateoperatingenvironment(includingseparatehardwareinsomecases)foreachcustomer.
SaaScompanieslikeSalesForce.comemergedattheendoftheASPera.TheydevelopedtheirowncoresoftwareIP(CRMsoftwareinthecaseofSalesForce).Thenextstepwastoenableittobedeliveredasasubscriptionbasedserviceasopposedtobeingsoldasalicensedproduct.
ThecoreSalesForce.comapplicationrunsonthesameoperatingsystem,onthesamehardware,withthesamedatastoragemodel.ThisenabledSalesForcetobringtheperunitcostofitscoreapplicationfarbelowtraditionalonpremiseCRMoffers.ItalsoallowedSalesForcetoofferamorerobustservicelevelagreement(SLA)thanmanyothersbecausetheSaaSmodelallowedSalesForcetostandardizeonitsinfrastructureinsteadofneedingtomanagemultipleoperatingenvironmentsaswasthecasewithASPs.
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Atthispoint,sharpeyedreadersmightstartaskinghowasinglemasterapplicationallowseachtenanttocustomizetheirenvironmentandexperience.Howdotenantscreatecustomextensionstostandarddataobjectsorevencreatenewdataobjects?HowdoestheSaaSprovidersecuretenantspecificdatainashareddatabasesoonetenantcan’tseeanothertenant’sdata?HowdoestheSaaSproviderpatchorupgradethecoreenginewithoutmeltingtenantspecificcustomizations?
Mostmultitenantarchitecturesmeetthesechallengesbygeneratingtheindividualtenantapplicationonlyatruntime.Insteadofstoringaseparatetenantapplication,database,andprofile,aSaaSsystemtypicallyusesmetadatatoseparatetheapplicationservicesfromthecustomerspecificdatafromthecustomerlookandfeel.Whenthecustomerwantstoaccesstheirenvironment,themetadatadescriptionsgivethecoreSaaSenginetheinstructionstospinupacustomizedinstanceforthatparticularcustomersession.
Metadataisdataaboutdata.Justthinkofitasthedescriptiveclothesyouputonnakeddatatotellasystemwhatthedatais,whatitcando,withwhom(personorapp)itcancommunicate,whooftenneedsitandsoforth.Forourpurposes,metadatainaSaaSenvironmentislikethebarcodedbaggagetagstheyputonyourluggageattheairport.TheSaaSoperatortakesyourmetadataclaimtagtomoveyourspecificbundleoffunctionanddatafromAtoBonasharedinfrastructure,notloseordamageit,getitthereontime,handlespecialitemsetc.
OnceyousuccessfullylogintoaSaaSapplication,avirtualvaletrollsyourspecificcustomerinstancefromthemetadata.Forexample,ifadeveloperbuildsacustomappanddefinesacustomtablefordata,thecoreSaaSappdoesn’tcreateauniquetableinadatabaseorcompileanyspecificruntimecode.Instead,theplatformstoresmetadatathatdescribesallthesechanges.Whenit’stimetorun,onlythendoestheplatform’sruntimeenginerollallthe“virtual”componentsitneedstocreateacustomeroperatingenvironment.
AccessingaserviceenvironmentratherthanbuyingasetoffeaturesandfunctionsisanimportantdeparturebySaaSfrom“regular”software.Historically,softwarehasbeensoldbasedonfeatures,functionsandversions;themorethebetter.Thatgavethevendortheabilitytorepeatedlysellyouthesamethingthroughdifferentversions,upgrades,enhancements,maintenance,consultingetc.Moreover,alltheinternaldecisionsandexternalnegotiationstendedtorevolvearoundhowthesoftwarefunctionedratherthanyourbusinessprocessneeds.Thisisn’ttocastsoftwarevendorsinadisparaginglightbutsimplytopointoutthattheburdenofadaptingmoreoftenthannotlaywiththecustomerratherthantheapplication.
Metadata is data about data. Just think of it as the descriptive clothes you put on naked data to tell a system what the data is, what it can do, with whom (person or app) it can communicate.
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A D A P TA B I L I T Y: Howeasilycanyoumodifytheapplication?Thiscanbeassimpleasaddingfieldsorbuildingdashboards,orasadvancedasaccessingaprogrammingplatform.
R E L I A B I L I T Y: Howmuchcanyoudependonthesystemtofunctionwell?Thisboilsdowntofourthings:Performance,availability,scalabilityandsecurity.
TA S K P R O D U C T I V I T Y: Howeffectivelycanyourusersaccomplishtheirgoals?Howmanycasesperminuteorentriesperdaycanworkersdo,andhowmanyerrorsdotheymake?
P R I C E : Howmuchwillitcost—really?BecauseSaaSofferingsaresovariedinpricing,it’shardtocomparethem.Abettermodelistocreateseveralbenchmarksubscribers(a10,100,and1,000personorganization)andcompareupfrontandongoingcostsforthem.
B A C K - E N D I N T E G R AT I O N : Canyouplugitintootherthings?AnyenterpriseSaaSofferingwillhavetoworkwithothersystems,foreverythingfromauthenticationtodatasharing.
L O N G E V I T Y: HowlongwilltheSaaScompanybearound,andwhat’syourexitstrategy?WithISVs,youcouldaskforsoftwareinescrow.WhenaSaaSproviderclosesdown,yourentireITsystemscanvanishwiththeflickofan“off”switch.Thisisn’tacademicdebate.CustomersofCoghead’sSaaSofferdiscoveredinFebruary2009thattheservicesandlicenseagreementhadbeenterminated,effectiveimmediately.ExistingcustomerneededtosignnewT&Ctoaccesstheirdataandappsonanunsupported“asis”basisfor60dayswitheverythinggoingdarkattheendofApril2009.*Stuff*happensintherealworld.
E C O S Y S T E M : Howmanythirdpartydevelopersandintegratorssurroundaparticularplatformwithpluginsandaddons,andhowactivearethey?Avibrantecosystemmeansamoreextensible,flexiblesolution.
Thesequestionsformagoodstep2inyourmediashopafterthegrand“whatisourcloudstrategy?”memehasbeenhammeredout.However,therubbermeetstheroadonceyoustartactuallynegotiatingwithaSaaSvendor.Assumingthatthebusinesscasemakessense,therealvaluecomesfromhowyoutranslatethingsintoaservicelevelagreement(SLA).
It’snotexactlyareversedsituationwithSaaS.TherearecorefunctionsofaSaaSappjustlikeanyregularsoftwareapp.Buthowyoutiethecostbenefittoyourbusinesswillbedifferent.SigningupandpayingforaSaaSappshouldprobablybeattheendoftheprocessratherthanitsstart.IfyouasacustomeraretogetfullvalueoutofSaaS—nottomentionavoidunnecessaryrisks—hereareafewareassuggestedbyGigaOmcontributorAlistairCroll4youmightconsiderbeforehand:
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YoucanbeascynicalaboutSLAsasyouwant.Comeupwithabetterwaytomakeanagreementactionableandtoothsomeandyouwillbeahero.Intheinterim,thereareseveralareastothinkaboutwhenyou’renegotiatingaSLA:
What’sunderthehood:You’rebasicallygivingupalotofthingsthatusedtobeunderthecontrolofyourinhouseITdepartment(thankfully!).Butinreturnyouneedtogetassuranceswithteethaboutoperationalfunctionslike:
• Availability(howfastdoestheappsparkup)
• Reliability(a99.9%uptimeguaranteemeansyoucanbedown8hrs+eachyearandstillbeinagreement)
• Performance(howmanysimultaneoususerscanitsupport)
• Maintenance
• Backup
• DisasterandRecovery
ThispartoftheSLAisprobablygoingtobethemoststandardaspect.Basically,thevendorisgivingapromiseabouttheattributesandperformanceoftheinfrastructurethatenablestheapplication.
O P E R AT I N G R I S K : ThispartofatypicalSLAstartsgettingawayfromthegeneralinfrastructuretomorespecificsabouthowcustomerslikeyouwilluseit.Expecttofindalotoflanguageaboutriskssurroundingyourdataandhowit’ssecured.WhenaSaaSvendortalkssecuritytoyou,it’saboutkeepingtheexternalbadguysout.Rightfully,youcanexpectverylittleprotectionfromaSaaSvendorifyouhaveacorruptinsider.ReputableSaaSvendorssubmittoexternalsecurityaudits.YoucanbetthatasSaaSgainstractionyourbusinessliabilityinsurerwillstartgivingyouboxestotickoffonformsregardinghowyourSaaSvendorhandlesdata.
B U S I N E S S R I S K : ThisseparatesthetouristsfromthehardcoreintheSaaSworld.Youcan’tnailthesepartsofaSLAwithasmanyformalmeasuresandbenchmarksasyoucanwiththepreviousareas.Thatsaid,ascertainSaaSvendorslikeSalesForceorIntacct(accountingservices)gainexperienceandtrackrecord,you’llstartseeinglanguagethataddressestechnicalsupportquality,expectedROI,orevenbusinessvaluereceived.Youcanbetthatthiswillbetheareaofmostnegotiationifyou’rebigenoughtodoacustomdealwithaSaaSprovider.
Reputable SaaS vendors submit to external security audits.
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C A R R O T S A N D S T I C K S : NothingworksforeitherpartyunlesstheSaaSprovidermustlegallypayforfailureandtheSaaScustomeriswillingtopayextraforkillerperformancethatdeliversclearvalue.Ifthevendorisn’tonthehookforperformance,theywon’tperformperiod.Likewise,ifyouasacustomerexpect100%uptimeandreliability,youneedtopayforit.
TherearenumerousmethodsforoperationalizingtheabovepointsinaSLA,whicharebeyondthescopeofthispaper.Justknowthatasacustomer,youwanttofindSaaSvendorswhoareastransparentaspossible.IftheyareafraidofpublicdisclosureoftheirperformanceagainstapublishedSLA,there’snodoubtaverygoodreasonlurkingsomewhere.
Aswitheverythingtodowithcloudcomputing,caveatemptor!
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Media Specific SaaS Examples
Ooyala
800 W. El Camino Real Suite 350
Mountain View, CA 94040
http://www.ooyala.com
S U M M A R Y: OoyalameanscradleinTelugu,aSouthIndialanguage.Foundedinearly2007,ooyalaprovidesendtoendservicesandtechnologyforpoweringonlinevideoforanumberofdifferent
screens.Stripoutthejargonandooyala’sservicemodellookslikeUPS/FedExforonlinevideo.Itsmainproduct(“Backlot”)enablescontentownerstotranscode,manage,deliver,analyzeandmonetizetheirvideoassets.
Anothergrowthareaforooyalaisinteractivevideoinwhichelementsofvideostreamssuchasacharacter’shataremadeclickableinordertolinkouttoecommerce,search,mapsandotherservices.HeadquarteredinMountainView,CAwithsalesofficesinNewYorkCityandLondon,ooyalawasstartedbyGooglealumnifromboththeAdSenseandwebsearcharea.
P R O B L E M : Videoisdifficulttomonetizeexceptbythecrudestmethods—transactions,subscriptionsoradvertisingforeyeballs.Ooyala’saimistoincreasethescopeformonetizingvideobymanagingtheentireecosystemonbehalfofthevideocontentownerrangingfromvideoingestiontodistributiontoadservingtoanalytics.
A P P R O A C H : Sincelaunch,ooyalahasfocusedonbreadandbutterissuesofmanagingvideoassetsusingthecloudandtherebydrivealotofthecostoutofthesystem.Withthattrendwellestablished,thenextstageistomakevideomoreinteractiveandengaginginordertoopenmorechancesformonetization.Thefoundersrealizedtheyhadagoodbitofcomputervisionexpertiseinthecompany.Theideaistousecomputervisiontechniquestomarkorpaintobjectsinsideavideostream(e.g.characterclothes,cars,otherprops)tomakethemclickableandthenlinkthatclicktosomekindofinformationorservice.
C U S T O M E R B A S E : OoyalaworkswithbrandsandvideocontentprovidersincludingArmani,AOL/Bebo,Joost,TVGuide,NationalGeographicJapan,NTT,ElectronicArts,GlamMedia,Slide,Televisa,WennerMedia.
O W N E R S H I P : privatelyownedwithinvestmentfromSierraVentures.$10mraised.
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U N I Q U E P O I N T: TruetoitsGoogleDNA,ooyalaisbettingthatvideoisbestmonetizedthroughmicrotransactionsthatcanbeautomatedandquicklyscaled.Thecloudbasedinfrastructurereducestheoverallcostofmanaging,distributingandadservingforvideo.Bymakingvideoclickableandabletolinkouttoservice,ooyalaopensupnewavenuesforvacuumingdigitalpenniesandnickels.
C L O U D A N G L E : Ooyala’smanagementhavebeencloudfluentsincedayone,havingcomefromoneofthemostcloudintensivecompaniesintheworld.AmazonS3=GoogleGSS,AmazonEC2=GoogleBorg.Butooyalaisn’tbangingtheclouddrumloudly.Thecloudinfrastructureissimplyabetterwaytogainscalequicktooffermoreeffectivemonetizationofvideoassetsandadvertising.Soundsfamiliar,yes?
Playfish
125 Kensington High Street
London W8 5SF
http://www.playfish.com
S U M M A R Y: Playfishisoneoftheworld’slargestandfastestgrowingsocialgamescompanies.Thecompany’sgamestargetfriendswhowanttoplaytogetheroversocialandmobileplatformssuchasFacebook,MySpace,Google,Bebo,iPhoneandAndroid.Eachofthecompany’sninegametitleshasbeenatop10hitonFacebook.PetSocietyis
themostpopulargame,playedbyover11millionpeopleeachmonth.PlayfishhasofficesinLondon,SanFrancisco,BeijingandTromso,Norway.
T H E P R O B L E M : Thegamesindustryisinthemidstofawelldocumentedproblemwithitsbusinessmodel.ThecostofproducingatoptierconsoleorPCgameisgoingupwhiletheaddressablemarketofpeoplewillingtoshellout$50apopshrinksjustasfast.Socialgamesattempttojumpoutofthisproblembymakinggameplaypartofabiggersocialbehaviorthat’smonetizeddifferently.
T H E A P P R O A C H : Playfishfocusesthegamingvaluepropositionawayfromsellingcopiesofagametitleandinsteadfocusesonthesocialinteractionamongfriendsviaagame.ThecompanylookstoFacebookandothersocialnetworksastheplatformforitsgamesratherthanthegamingconsoleorPCmakers.ThePlayfishbusinessmodelisbasedoningamemicrotransactions(e.g.buyingaccessoriesforcharacters)aswellasingameadvertising.
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C U S T O M E R B A S E : SincelaunchinOctober2007,Playfishhasdistributedover100milliongamesviatheInternetandsocialnetworks.It’smonthlyactiveuserbaseisaround40millionpeople.DailyaccesstoPlayfishgamesisabout9millionusers.Thegeographicspreadisglobal.Theportfolioconsistsof9games,manyofwhicharebasedaroundsomekindofchallengeforagroupoffriendsorpeers.
O W N E R S H I P : AcquiredbyElectronicArts(EA)inNovember2009for$300millionplusperformanceincentives.
U N I Q U E P O I N T: Playfishisattemptinganewbusinessmodelforgaminginwhichthegameisaserviceratherthanaproduct.ThecompanyassumesitsuserswillaccessPlayfishgamesinasimilarmannerastheyaccessanyothercloudbasedservicesuchasGmail.Additionally,PlayfishgamesoftenkeepthesamesessioneveniftheusertogglesbetweenaPCandamobileclienttoaccess
theservice.Indeed,mobiletakesaprominentposition.PlayfishlaunchediPhoneandiPodtouchversionsofitsmostpopulargame,“WhohastheBiggestBrain”attheSouthbySouthwestFestivalinMarch2009.
C L O U D A N G L E : Playfishisbased100%inthecloud.Thecompany’sstaffoperatesonlaptops.PlayfishusesthefullsuiteofAmazonservices(S3,EC2)andisoneofthelargestusersofAWSCloudFront,whichitusestopushlargeFlashfilesaroundthefixedandmobileInternetforplayerstoaccess.
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It’s like trying to predict back in 1910 the impact of the automobile on
society – the highway system, gasoline refineries, motels instead of hotels,
new dating patterns, increased social mobility, commuting to work, the
importance of the rubber industry, smog, drive-thru restaurants, mechanized
warfare, and on and on. The net will bring more than quantitative changes,
it will bring “qualitative” changes. Things that were impossible will now
become inevitable. – L A R R Y L A N D W E H R , 1 9 9 3
Thissectionoffersfourscenariosaboutmediain2020.ThesescenariosareNOTpredictions.Theyaren’tforecasts.
Instead,scenariosarestoriesbasedonsomeplausibletechnicalandorganizationalchangesgoingon2010.Theyprovideacommoncontextandlexiconforgroupsrepresentingdifferentdisciplinesanddutiestoimaginethefutureinastructuredfashion.
Whenyoureadthesescenarios,keepinmindthreemainpointsthatwillaffectyourorganization:
A. How attainable is a scenario?
B. What is the positive or negative impact of a scenario if it happens?
C. How persistent or exclusive would a scenario be to the entity that controls it in 2020?
Don’tthinkthatthesefourscenarioscoverallthegroundformediaandcloudcomputingin2020.Don’tthinkthattheyareindirectcompetitionwitheachother.
Justusethemascrudeaxesforchoppingthroughtheriverofnewsandinformationcrossingyourdeskeveryday.Regardlessofhowaccuratetheymayormaynotbe,theactualfuturewillundoubtedlyholdmanymoresurprises.
Four Scenarios About Media 2020
MEDIA MARKETPLACE SMART MEDIA
JUST-IN-TIME MEDIA PUSHPIN MEDIA
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SCENARIO A:
Media Marketplaces 2020 M A I N T H E M E : Mostprofessionalmediaandmarketingcontenthasbeensubsumedintothelargerworldofelectroniccommerce.Productsandservicesnowcomewithdirectlyembeddedmediaorofferdigitaltokensforconsumerstoexchangeforthemediaoftheirchoice.
M A R K E T S : Therearenolongerseparatemediamarketsforreaders,viewers,listenersorgameplayers.Thereareonlycustomerswhoaccessmediaaspartofalargerpurchase.Theybuygoodsandservicesthatshipwithembeddedmediaandmarketingortokenstoexchangeformediaaccess.Ifyoubuyamicrowaveovenataretailer,itcomes
withoneyear’saccesstothefoodchannelalongwitharecipedatabase.Theovencansendashoppinglisttoyourprinterormobilephone.ItevenadjustsitssettingsforthatperfectBeefWellington.Thetraditional
advertisingmarket,inwhichcommercialmessagesplayedinapodaspartofascheduledprogram,iseffectivelydead.Titlesandartistshavetrumpednetworksandchannels.In2020thereareanynumberofbrandedproductsandservicesthatregularlyserveanaudienceof23millionwithsponsoredcontentandmessages.Brandshavegonedirectandhaven’tlookedback.Thetwinforcesofusergeneratedmediaplusdirecttoconsumermarketingbybrandshaveslashedtherelativebargainingpowerofproducersanddistributorsofcontent.CableTVandIPTVoperatorshaveexitedthecontentbusinesstoconcentrateonconnectivityand3rdpartybillingservices.Revenuesplitswithbrandsandretailershavecushionedtheblowforpipeownerswhohadtocutwelloverhalfoftheir2010levelworkforces.
I N D U S T R Y S T R U C T U R E : Newbreedsofmediaaggregatorsandcustomizersworkwithcontentoriginatorsandbrandsinplaceoftraditionalbroadcastnetworks.Theintermediarieshavefocusedtheirenergiesontwomainobjects:worldclasssupplychainmanagementformediapluscreatingaflawlesscustomerexperience.Customerknowledgeonthefrontendcombinedwithorchestrationofmediaassetsonthebackendhavehelpedtheplayersworkwithbrandstogodirecttoconsumer.Brandpowerhasaccruedtothe“serviceintegrator”ratherthanthesystemsintegrator.Thebandwidthproviders,likesearchengineowners,knewalotabouttheircustomers’behavior.Buttheycouldn’tconvertthatinsightintonewmonetizableproducts.LikeXeroxPARC,whichgavetheworldsomanypioneeringPCinnovations,Googleandothersearchenginesconsistentlydroppedtheballatthegoallineofconsumermediaandservicescommercialization.
T E C H N O L O G Y: Thecloudisthedigitalassemblylinethatenablesmasscustomizationofmediaandmarketingtoworkintandemwithmasscustomizationofproductsandservices.Customerspickandchooseamongmediatitlesandhowtheywanttoexperiencethembasedontheirproductorservicepurchases.ThenewbreedsofcontentintermediariesoperatetheequivalentofSoftwareasaService(SaaS)formedia.Thereisashared,multitenantbaseversionofcontentandcodeforagivenmediaproperty.Wrappedaroundthatcoreresourcearevariousservicelayersthatallowcustomizationfordifferentdevices,viewingangles,tieinswithothermediaormarketingexperiences,andabilitybyconsumerstorolltheirownversionsofthecontentforsharingwithfriends.Metadatarelatedtobusinessrulesandchargingformulasarehousedwithinthebasecodetoensurethatrevenuesplitsarepaidupanddownthevaluechain.ThecloudalsohousestheintegratedCRMandBusinessIntelligence(BI)applicationsthatsiftthroughmountainsofpurchasebehaviortodrawinferencesthatnotonlyfeedintoproductdesignbutalsoplot design.
Most professional media and marketing content has been subsumed into the larger world of electronic commerce.
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R E G U L AT I O N : Becausethemediaintermediarieshavewiselyoptedtofocusprimarilyonentertainmentcontentasopposedtonewsoreducationalcontent,regulatorshaveusedalighthand.Atonepoint,therewasamovementtocreatetheequivalentofagovernmentrunescrowserviceforconsumerusageandpreferencedata.However,thehowlsofprotestfrombothprivacyadvocatesandbigbusinesslobbiesbeatitback.Fornow,regulatorsaretakinga“waitandsee”approach.Theyhaven’ttippedtheirhandregardingwhatkindofsecurityorotherbreacheswillinviteinterventionandasof2020,themediaintermediarieshaven’tyethadthekindofblowupthatwouldwarrantit.Still,thesearestillearlydays.
SCENARIO B:
Smart Media 2020* M A I N T H E M E : Mediaprovidersandmarketershavedispensedwiththepretensethattheycantargetmassmediainafragmentedworld.Networksandchannelshavelargelydisappeared.Mediaandmarketingmessagesaretaggedwithinformationandfunctiontobecometheequivalentof“smartbombs”thatseekouttherightaudienceregardlessofchannelordevice.
M A R K E T S : Performancefinallywonoverexposureasthemetricthatcountsmostformediaandmarketing.NoseriousexecutiveinthemediaormarketingindustriescaresanymoreaboutCPMs.Technologyhasprettymucheliminatedwindowingasamediarevenuestrategy.Everyreleaseis,bydefinition,aglobalreleaseforallplatformsanddevices.Insteadofplacingmediaormarketingmessagesoneitherpayperclicknetworks(PPC)orspecificpublishersites,contentoriginatorssimplyreleasetheirmediaoradsonthecloud.Themediaistaggedwithmetadatasuppliedbytheoriginatororadvertiseralongwithfunctionality.Oncethemediaisletloose,fansorotheraudiencetypescansimplycutandpastethecontenttotheirpreferredmediadevice,theirsocialnetworkingpage,theirownsite,oranyothermeansofexperiencingandsharingthecontentwiththeirpeers.Themediaispairedwithsponsoredadsattheoutset.However,ifthepairingdoesn’tperform,newadsarewrappedwiththemedia.Theadscontainmetadatasuppliedbythemarketerthatdocumentswhothemarketerwantstoreach,whatkindofenvironmentstheywanttobein(ornotbeinsuchasracistorporndestinations).Mostimportant,thesmartmediaanditsmarketingpayloadspecifyhowmuchtheyarewillingtopaya“destination”(e.g.asocialtastemaker,alocalmediasource,adeliownerwithamultimediakioskatthecornerof57thStreetandBroadway).Themediatracksitsprogressasitwindsthroughallthevariousdistributionchoicesand“phoneshome”informationaboutwhohaspulleditdowntoitsoriginator,howmanyinteractionsithasgeneratedandhowmuchjuiceisleftintheaccount.Themarketingpayloadpropagatesuntilitrunsoutofmoney,then….poof!However,ifthemediaisgettingtraction,themarketercanrefillthetankforanotherride.
Media and marketing messages are tagged with information and function to become the equivalent of “smart bombs” that seek out the right audience regardless of channel or device.
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I N D U S T R Y S T R U C T U R E : Theopportunitiesforfraudarelegionwithsmartmedia.UntilVerisign’ssuccessorZergocrackedthesecuritychallengetoallowmediatocirculatefreelywithmoneyattached,noonetooktheideaofsmartmediaseriously.Afterthesecuritychallengewasresolvedin2016,afuriousracedevelopedtobecomeatastemaker/curatorforvariousmediaverticalsliketravel&leisure,food,wine,autosandsoforth.Asidefromsecurityanddistribution,anothermajorindustryeffortinvolvedmediaconfigurationandmatchingwithmarketing.Inthisarea,searchengineplayerslikeGooglereorientedmanyoftheiralgorithmsawayfromwebsitelinksbywebmastersandincreasinglytowardtryingtofindtastemakersonsocialnetworksandotherdestinations.
T E C H N O L O G Y: Totheenduser,smartmedialookslikeacompleteproduct.Actually,allthatcirculatesismetadata.Thecorecontentandmarketingpayloadisn’tconfigureduntiltheenduserselectsandcustomizesit.Then,the“real”mediaexperienceisconfiguredinthecloudanddeliveredasifpartofasinglesession.Inthecloud,contentoriginatorscomposetheequivalentofachassisuponwhichaclutchofdifferentplotandcharactervariationscanbewrapped.Insteadofarestrictednumberofmarketingmessagesbundledwiththesmartmedia,cloudinfrastructureshousetemplateswithawidevarietyofpermutationsonthecolorscheme,presentation,calltoactionandotherrealtimemodificationstoagivencommercialoffer.Oncethebasicmediadesignisuploadedtothecloud,semiintelligentagentsoffertheoriginatorapaletteofstoryoptionssuchaslanguagelocalization,producttieins,evenchangesincharactersthatcanbeexposedtodifferentaudiencesdependingontherulestheoriginatorprefers.Fullyintegratedwithdevicelibrariesforoptimalplaybackonthevastmajorityofmediaclients,thecloudbasedmediacontainshooksintoCRMandBIapplicationsthataremadeavailabletocontentoriginatorsandmarketersunderaSaaSmodel.
R E G U L AT I O N : Attheoutset,regulatorsweresnarledwithtaxationandculturalcontentissues.EspeciallyinEuropewithitshistoryofpublicfundingforcreativearts,thetaxandcultureissueloomedlarge.Regulatorssplitthedifferencewithindustrybyenactingasingleexcisetax,albeitlow,toapplytoallmediaandmarketingmessages.Theexcisetaxispaidaspartoftheuploadfeeforplacingthecontentinthecloudinthefirstplace.Inreturn,theuploaddateanddataistimestampedbyauthoritiestoproveownershipofthecontent.
*Thisscenariowasinspiredbya2004postonJohnBattelle’sblogentitled“SellSideAdvertising”:http://battellemedia.com/archives/000844.php
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SCENARIO C:
Just-in-Time Media 2020 M A I N T H E M E : Theactioninmediahasmovedtohowfastaprovidercancustomizemediaandadsatthemargin.Scaleinmediahasbecomeamassiveoptimizationgamewhereplayerscompetetoorchestratemassiveecosystemstodeliveranindividualizedyetparticipatoryexperience.
M A R K E T S : Mediaendusersnowexpecttocustomizetheirentertainmentexperiencesbeforetheyorderthem.Doyouwanttoseeamixedmartialartsboutfromthepointofviewofthecornerman?Noproblem,pleasemarkthatbox
whenyouorderUFC5000.Forsports,concerts,literarygatherings,andotherevents,consumerscancustomizetheirmediaexperiencebeyondthestandardsurroundsoundandindividualcameraangles,toincludeoverlaysandremixesoftheirownimagesandcontent
withthatoftheperformance.Now,youcanwatchandparticipatesimultaneously.AremasteringofPeterJackson’s2003LordoftheRingsMovie“TheReturnoftheKing”provedtobeamajor2014hitthroughitsuseofvirtualrealitytechnologytoallowhometheaterfanstoparticipateintheBattleofPelenorrFields.ByconnectingtheirnextgenerationWiidevicetothemovie,consumerscouldimmersethemselvesintheactionasanaxwieldingdwarfofaslenderbutdeadlyelf,watchingandcompetingwithotherfansinrealtimeasthemovieplayed.StudiosandmarketersreturnedtotheirvaultstoturnmoremoviesintoMMORPGexperiencessimilartohowtheyembracedthedigitalcolorationcrazeoftheearly2000sfortheirclassicblackandwhiteproperties.Marketershaveprovedadeptatconfiguringpersonalizedadsandmicrotransactionsforparticipatorydigitaltheater.Weapons,clothing,andmanyotheraccoutrementsforcompletingone’simmersioninamediaexperiencearedrawnfromasimilarcoreimplementationthatisrapidlycustomizedtotheindividualatthatmoment.Netflixhaspioneeredarecommendationenginethatdoesn’tsimplyadviseaconsumeraboutanewfilmbutsuggestsdigitalartifacts,servicesandsocialconnectionsthatcanenhancetheexperience.
I N D U S T R Y S T R U C T U R E : ThecloudhasbecomethefactorysystemforJITmediaandmarketingexperiences.MediacreatorsandmarketershaveborrowedorganizingprinciplesfrommanufacturingdisciplineslikeLEANandTotalQualityManagement(TQM)towrestmassmediaandadvertisingproductionanddistributionfromitscraftbasedroots.Hugecloudbasedintermediariesprovidemuchoftheproductionanddistributionfirepowerpreviouslyassociatedwithstudiosandmediaholdingcompanies.ThesedigitalmediaequivalentsofOEMcontractmanufacturersareresponsibleforexecutingthedesignvisionofmediaandmarketingproviders,whoprovideadigitalblueprintofamediaexperience.Theactuallevelofcustomizationisn’tasgreatasmostconsumersareledtobelieve.Visualangles,immersivereality,insertionintoplots,differentcolorschemesandlanguagelocalizationhavebecomenearlystandardoffersformediacreators.Asthecloudinfrastructureprovidersgainmoreexperiencewithcustomizations,theyaresharingandsometimesresellingthatinformationbacktocontentcreatorstofeedintotheirmediadesign.Notsurprisingly,thecloudecosystemisascomplicatedasthemediaandmarketingecosystem.Numerous“middlelayer”playershavesprunguptocoordinatethecreativevisionoftheoriginator,thecustomizationdemandbytheconsumer,andthenecessarytechnicalanddistributionrequirementstopullthingsoff.
The action in media has moved to how fast a provider can customize media and ads at the margin.
IMAGES SOURCE: www.futurelab.net
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T E C H N O L O G Y: JITMediawouldnotexistwithextensivecloudcomputing.Variabilityindemandontheconsumersideismorethanmatchedbyanentirelynewswathofanalyticsdemandedbymediaandmarketingclients.It’snolongergoodenoughtoknowwhowaswatchingbuthowtheyparticipatedinthestory.Alongwiththeformidablecloudinfrastructureforservingupcustomexperienceisanequallyimpressivecloudinfrastructureforcustomizingconsumerelectronicequipment.SincetheConsumerElectronicsShow(CES)of2014,newelectronicscometoconsumersmoreorlessnakedintermsoffeaturesandfunctions.Hardwareconsistsoflargescreens,robustspeakers,universalremotesand/orspecializedgameandparticipationdevices,plusabroadbandconnection.Therealactiontakesplacewhenconsumerconfigurestheperformanceandfeaturesoftheirdeviceinthecloudafterpurchase.Thenthesystemcomesalive.
R E G U L AT I O N : PrivacyhasbecomeakeydriverandinhibitortoJITMedia.Withoutarichcustomerprofile,theabilitytocustomizeinrealtimebecomesexponentiallymoredifficulty.Moreover,someoftherichestprofilingoccurswhenconsumersaggregatetheirexperienceswiththesamemedia.ThesegroupprofileshaveemergedasoneofthemostcontentiousownershipquestionstocrosstheJITmediaecosystempreciselybecausetheyareprobablythemostvaluablesortofinformationforbothmediacreatorsandmarketers.Regulatorsarestilldigestingthepossibleimplications.
SCENARIO D:
Pushpin Media 2020 M A I N T H E M E : Augmentedrealityhasfinallywonovervirtualrealitytocreateanewmediamarket.Insteadoftryingtosubstituteavirtualworldforthe“real”world,mediaprovidersandmarketershavediscoveredthatapinchofmediaintherightphysicalplacehasopenedahugeentertainmentandadvertisingopportunity.
M A R K E T S : Innovatorshoppedoverthepreviouslyunbridgeabledividebetweenthevirtualandrealworldsbydeclaringvictoryandmovingon.Ratherthanusingcomputerstoperfecttheillusionofaphysicalworldexperience,mediaprovidersaremakingthe“real”worldalittlemorefunandentertainingwithcomputergeneratedmediaandstories.Insteadofaconsumerphysicallygoingtoathemeparktoexperienceanentertainmentfantasy,theentertainmentfantasycomestothecustomerassuperimposedmediaonarealphysicallocation.ClassicalmusicfanscanwalkthestreetsofLiverpoolastheBeatleslivedit,withlocationspecificmusicandinformationtieddirectlytotheirhandhelddevices.Concerthallshaveupendedtheirtraditionalbanonrecordingbyofferingticketholderstheopportunitytowirelesslyconnecttheirmobilemediadevicestothevenue’snetworktocaptureandcreatetheirownuniquemediaexperiencetoenjoyathomeafterward.Everynewfilmshotnowembedslocationdatainitsbonusmaterialssothatfanscanexperimentwithnewplotanglesorroleplayexerciseswhentheyvisittheactuallocation.Lookingthroughlensorlayersontheirmobilehandsetsandembeddedmultimediaimplants,mediafanshaveredefined“outofhomeentertainment”.Themostthreatenedecosystemplayersareamusementparks,themedentertainmentattractionsandlargescalearcades.AttendanceatDisneyParksandResortshastakenanosediveashaveotherlocationbasedentertainmentproviders.Microtransactionsbased
Media providers and marketers have discovered that a pinch of media in the right place has opened a huge opportunity.
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onelectroniccouponshaveprovidedtheprimarybusinessmodelforlocationbasedmedia.Thesecouponsnotonlyunlocklocalcommerceopportunities.Theyalsofeedbackintoleanbackmediaexperiencesthatwillbemadeavailableoutsideofthephysicallocationoncethefanleaves.
I N D U S T R Y S T R U C T U R E : Inaworldofunlimiteddigitalshelfspace,venueownershavediscoveredthattheyhaveoneoftheonlyremainingscarceresources.Revenuesharedealsbetweenmediaprovidersandprivatelocationsarethenorm.Inthecaseofpublicvenueslikeparksandstreets,thestructureismorecomplicated.TheYellowPagesindustryhasreinventeditself.Nolongersellingspaceinbigyellowbooks,thenewlocalmarketingcompanyputstogetherapaletteofmedia,marketingandoffersbasedaroundphysicallocations.Transportationcompaniessuchastaxifleetsandbuscompanieshavefoundtheultimatesignageopportunitywithmarketingdisplaysthatchangeaccordingtofiltersthatarebroadcastbyconsumersandtheirgroups.Mediaproviders,inturn,havediscoveredthattyingmediaexperiencestoactuallocationsprovides“rollyourown”audienceresearch.Ratherthangatheringfocusgroupsintheatres,savvymediaproducersreleasebetacopiesatselectphysicallocationsworldwidetohaveadynamicgaugeofaudiencesentiment.Technicalserviceproviderscontrollingthesewideareamediaexperiencesarereapingeconomiesofscaleplusaudienceinsightthattheyshareorsometimessellbacktomediacreatorsandmarketers.Mostoftheseplayersgrewoutofthemobilecommunicationsprovidersofthe2000s.
T E C H N O L O G Y: Themostimportantapplicationisn’tmediaoradserving.It’sthealgorithmsandapplicationsthatmatchaudiencefilters,preferencesandprivacysettingstowhatgetsservedtotheirARdevices.WorldcitiessuchasParishavestreetswhichhaveinspiredmultiplefilms,songsandbooks.Thetaskistobothscaleandcustomizeindividualmediaexperienceswithouthavingfanscrowdouteachotheronthephysicalspace.Cloudbasedmobileserviceplayersprovidemostofthetechnicalfirepowertomediacreatorsandmarketers.
R E G U L AT I O N : Ofallthemediaandmarketinginnovations,pushpinmediahasreceivedthemostattentionfromregulators.Privacyandsafetyconcernswereraisedtoafeverpitchaftersixmusictouristsweremoweddownbyadisturbedindividualwhohadhackedintotheirpreferencesandknewwheretheywouldbeataprecisemoment.Regulatorsdon’thavenearthepowertocontrolprivatevenues.However,it’saforegoneconclusionthatexistinglawsandproceduresforgrantingliveperformancepermitstopublicspacesarebeingextendedtobecomesimulatedperformancepermits.
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Conclusion
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Tossing the RulebookIf you’re losing at a game that you can’t afford to lose,
change the rules — D A N G E E R
Today’sincumbentmediaandmarketingorganizationsarelosing.
They’relayingofftalent,spinningoutdivisions,shuttingdowntitles,andsomehavereferredtotheircustomersandpartnersasthieves.Scratchatraditionalmediaormarketingexecutiveandyou’llprobablyfindsomeonewhoseattentionisconsumedbythreats,someofwhichareveryreal.
However,mediaandmarketing’srealenemyisn’tfilesharingorfreecontent,governmentregulationorGoogleforthatmatter.Theultimatethreatfacingthecurrentmediaandmarketingindustryiscomplexity.Aninabilitytohandlecomplexityiskillingmanyoftoday’sleadingmediaandmarketingorganizations.
Ifyougotoamediaconferencenow,you’llseeacongalineofexpertstalkingaboutthefragmentationofmedia.Likeanybuzzword,“fragmentation”conjuresanimageofbeingaserious,scientificinsightwhenitactuallydoesn’tmeanadamnthing.Mediacontenthasnotfragmented.Mediaaudienceshavemovedon.They’vestoppedadaptingtheirattentionaroundsomeoneelse’sprogrammingscheduleandbusinessmodel.
Moreover,consumersarewayaheadofthemediaindustryinhandlingthedemandsideofcomplexity.Doyourememberallthosebreathlesspredictionsduringthe90saboutintelligentagentsscouringthewebforpersonalizedcontentandservices?Well,wenowhaveahuge,robustsetofintelligentagentsthataregettingverygoodatrecommendations.
They’reus.
We’vebecomeourownintelligentagentsthroughsocialnetworking.There’snowenoughdensityinFacebookandothersocialworldstomakecomplexadaptivedemandformediaareality.
Doesn’titfollow,then,thatthecurrentmediaindustrymustdevelopcomplexadaptivesupply?
Ifyouforgeteverytopiccoveredinthisworkaboutcloudcomputing,it’sokaysolongasyourememberthatthecloudisthebest,singleplatformforexchangingandevolvingmediawithmultipleaudienceswhoareusingmultipledevicesinmultiplecontextsundermultiplebusinessmodels.
Butevenwiththatawesomecapability,nothinghappensunlessyouhaveagrippingstorytotell.
Keepholdofthat.
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Acknowledgements
Thefollowinggroupofpeoplehavelenttheirtimeandinsightspeakingtomeabouttheintersectionofmedia,cloudcomputingandpolicyoverthepastyear.ThroughinterviewsfortheMediaDojoblogsite,participationinindustrypanels,myKnightFoundationfellowship,telephoneconversationsandemailexchanges,theyallhavehelpedmetrytonavigatetherabbithole.Naturally,opinions,allmistakes,faultylogicandsaltylanguagearemyresponsibilityalone.
Igivemysincereandheartfeltthanks.
SantiagoBecerra,CEOofRoambi
PeggydeBona,ActingDirectoroftheKnightCenterforSpecializedJournalism,UniversityofMaryland
SimoneBrunozzi,WebServicesEvangelistforEurope,AmazonWebServices
SriniDharmaji,CEOofGoldspotMedia
AlanDavidson,DirectorofPublicPolicyandGovernmentAffairs,Google
SebastiendeHalleux,cofounderandCOO,Playfish
AndrewHeyward,SeniorAdvisor,MarketspaceLLC
JayantKadambi,cofounderandPresident,YuMe
A.J.Kinter,DirectorofEastCoastSales,Tumri
SeanKnapp,cofounderandCTO,Ooyala
TariqKrim,founderandCEOofJolicloud
JeffLawson,CEOofTwilio
JohnLilly,CEOofMozilla
DarcyLorincz,CEOofOriginDigital
DaleMcCrory,ProductDirector,ExactTarget
BrockMeeks,DirectorofCommunications,CenterforDemocracyandTechnology
RyanNichols,VicePresidentofProductDevelopment,Appirio
BethNoveck,DeputyChiefTechnologyOfficer,WhiteHouseOfficeofScienceandTechnologyPolicy
ScottO’Neal,DeputyAssistantDirectorCyberDivision,FBI
TomShields,CEOofYieldEx
JayStanley,PublicEducationDirector,ACLUTechnologyandLibertyProgram
DougWhatley,CEOofBreakawayGames
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
MediaDojoCloudComputingGuide[DRAFT] 63
MediaDojoCloudComputingGuidev1.0
Why Call It a Dojo?
Adojoiswherepeoplegotolearn,totakerisks,tomakemistakes,tokeepshowingupandadvancealittlemoreeachtime.I’vebeengoingtothedojofor27yearsnow,throughthreeJapanesemartialarts.Eacharthasuniquemovement,technique,power,speed,accuracyandtactics.
However,thetargetforallthesemartialartsisastateofmindthatsomeJapanesecallBanpenFugyo,(“10,000ChangesNoSurprises”).BanpenFugyoistheabilitytoadaptswiftlyanddecisivelytochaos—boththegoodandthebadkind.
UntilNovember2008,Iwasaprofessionalfortunetellerforsomeoftheworld’stopmediaandcorporatebrands.Iconcentratedontheintersectionoftechnology,mediaandeconomics—makingforecastsaroundareaswhereadvancedtechnologiesmixedwiththemediaandmarketingcraft.
Iquitmyjobfortworeasons.First,Ibelievethatmediaandmarketingarepoisedtoflipfrombeingforecastdriventobeingdemanddrivenindustries.Second,Ibelievethatcloudcomputingwillbetheinstitutionthroughwhichthisdramaticenvironmentalshifthappens.Chaosisvirtuallyguaranteed.
Youcan’tpredicthowchaoswillcreateextraordinarilyquickvalueordestruction.Youcan’tpredictitsexacttiming.
Butyoucanpreparebyopeningyoureyesandyourmind.Throughpublishedresearchalongwithinvitationonlyvirtualandphysicalmeetings,MediaDojoaimstobeacommunitybasedtraininghallforanewbreedofmediaandmarketinginnovatorswhomakeconstantchangeafamiliarfriend.
Contact: John du Pre Gauntt,
Mobile: +1-206-618-8131
www.media-dojo.com
Media Dojo
CONCEPT / RESEARCH / WRITING
John du Pre Gauntt
MediaDojo
Mobile:+12066188131
john.gauntt@mediadojo.com
DESIGN / PRODUCTION
Laura Urban Perry
LauraUrbanPerryDesign
+12063238966
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
PublishedbyMediaDojo|March2010|www.mediadojo.com