From: "BButterworth
No offense, but if we don't farm our business out to third-parties
over the Internet, then we are resisting change and stuck in a rut?
There have been good comments and questions in this thread. I don't think I've ever suggested farming a company's "business" to 3rd parties. I have suggested however that Internet based services are a credible alternative to in-house IT services. And we may not be prepared to be side-lined by our company's decisions to out-source some of it's IT services to people who may do it better than us. So we spread misinformation about cloud services that we may view as threats to "our business".
By saying "our business", I mean the services that we provide to our employers. But not all RPG programmers view cloud services as a threat. In fact, some view it as an opportunity. Consider the comments of Aaron Bartell, writing for IBM Systems Magazine:
"Last month a dream of mine came true: We now have our own IBM i hosted in the cloud. It might sound silly that this was a dream of mine, but like others in our tight-knit group, I strongly believe IBM i is one of the most excellent choices for multiuser/multitenant platforms. And with processing moving from the client to the server, the IBM i has a chance to gain some market share again. We have our IBM i 7.1 LPAR hosted with Symmetry Corp for less than $500 per month, which includes licenses for four RPG compiler seats. This is a huge burden off our shoulders because previously we were obtaining machines from ...; it was a hassle for me to order a machine, set it up ... keep my Internet running, keep the area cool, maintain VPN, apply PTFs, etc.—all things that my poor little programmer heart never really enjoyed or did well; I just wanted to program."
If you're concerned about your Internet connection going down then plan for a backup. In our area you can get a wireless router for $99 and get an account at Clear by calling their store at the mall. Activate their temporary service in daily increments by just a phone call.
We may be setting up a vendor booth at a conference this summer about 5 miles away from our office. We began coordinating with the conference center for an Internet link. They wanted something like $1,000 for 2 days of service. We contacted Clear. Their rate was something like $15 / day, and their bandwidth was better.
I think I said earlier that we can get Internet service from phone, cable, and satellite service providers. Add to that your cell phone provider. With cell coverage, you can connect your laptop to the Internet from a house boat on Lake Powell.
Of course, our business has not and never will be run over the
Internet.
You don't run HTTP, FTP, SMTP, POP3, TELNET or VPN services over the Internet? You don't provide connections to remote users? You don't communicate with your suppliers and customers over the Internet? You don't use off-site backup or mirroring? If not, you're missing many revenue-generating and cost-saving opportunities.
This is aside from the issue of entrusting data to a third-party,
which can be a concern in the case of trade secrets, HIPAA,
PCI/DSS, etc.
I wouldn't trust Facebook or Google either. They make money by looking and your content and profiling you for advertising, and who knows what. But there are cloud service providers who have your best interest at heart because you are their customers, and you have other options.
The world is becoming increasingly interconnected, but us RPG programmers have been lagging behind; perhaps suffering from mental blocks, complacent and overly confident about our positions.
-Nathan
midrange.com
