DRAFT

Story Becomes Software

Cloud Computing 101

Four Scenarios for Media 2020

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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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18 JohnduPreGauntt

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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JohnduPreGauntt 19

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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20 JohnduPreGauntt

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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JohnduPreGauntt 21

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

MediaDojoCloudComputingGuidev1.0

CUSTOMER IMPLICATIONS

+ Applicationlogic,platformandinfrastructureabstracted

+ Significantreductioninefforttodeploy,runandmanage

- Appscanbeconfiguredbutmaynotmeethighlycustomizedrequirements

+ Platform&infrastructureabstracted

+ Customappscanbebuiltanorderofmagnitudemorequicklyandcheaply

- Customappsstillneedtobesupportedandmanaged

+ Physicalinfrastructureabstracted

+ Canbescaledup&downasneeded- Needstobeprovisioned/managed

- Higherlevelsofstackstillneedtobemanaged,maintainedandsupported

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22 JohnduPreGauntt

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.

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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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34 JohnduPreGauntt

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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4. http://gigaom.com/2009/02/25/7­questions­to­evaluate­saas/

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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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62 JohnduPreGauntt

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

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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

john.gauntt@media-dojo.com

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

laura@lauraurbanperry.com

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

PublishedbyMediaDojo|March2010|www.media­dojo.com