Adaptive Computing CEO Making Unconventional, Controversial 2013 Cloud Predictions

By Allison Boccamazzo, TMCnet Web Editor

Let’s clear the air for a second. When it comes to cloud computing, there have been so many predictions, forecasts and analyses for 2013 that things look blurrier than ever. You can’t really blame anyone for wanting to contribute to the cloud hype, as it’s expected to experience exponential growth in the coming years. At the end of the day, if you’re looking for predictions from thought-leading industry experts, no one does the job better than Robert Clyde, CEO at Adaptive Computing (News - Alert), a company that currently manages some of the world’s largest computing installations. Last week, Clyde took some time with Virtual-Strategy Magazine to divulge three cloud computing predictions that are far from the fluff clogging up your Web searches.

“Rather than repeat the obvious, I would like to make three predictions that are perhaps a little more controversial, or at least less obvious,” Clyde states before extending his opinions.

Clyde’s predictions for 2013 include:

• The Continued Growth of Bare-Metal Clouds

“We tend to think that virtualization is a requirement for cloud computing. This is not so,” Clyde says. “Many clouds, especially private clouds, utilize bare-metal hosts in addition to virtualized hosts. Some applications need the enhanced I/O or processing performance that comes from running on physical hardware. If these applications don’t require the benefits of virtualization (migration, multitenancy, etc.), a bare-metal deployment can be best.”

Clyde adds that as organizations continue to determine the best platform for the job, this trend will only further grow. This could in turn spur a growth in cloud management systems with policy-based optimization, such as Adaptive’s Moab Cloud Platform, as such solutions can manage heterogeneous hosts within a single cloud environment, deploying services on physical or virtual hosts as needed.

• The Dissipation of Cloudbursting

“While there is a lot of talk and hype about cloudbursting, I don’t believe it will be significant in 2013,” Clyde explains. “The concept of moving workloads dynamically between private and public clouds sounds desirable, but is not terribly useful in practice.”

This, Clyde reasons, is because while some applications fit very well in public clouds that have very bursty or fast growing workloads, others are unlikely to ever leave the private cloud for security or economic reasons. Additionally, the placement behind applications is also a contributing factor in this equation.

“Applications are likely to be deployed at the outset in either the public cloud or the private cloud, depending on which environment is best for them,” Clyde says. “Since the reasons behind that placement decision usually don’t change over time, dynamic cloudbursting from private to public clouds is rarely useful. While policy-based cloud management platforms can conveniently manage this cloudbursting process, I don’t believe we’ll see much actual cloudbursting in 2013.”

• 2013 Will Represent App Awareness

Clyde concludes his three predictions by saying that in 2013, the industry will (hopefully) finally realize that clouds have to be application aware. “Each application has unique characteristics, and successful cloud deployments will plan for that. In order for a cloud to automate application placement and optimization, it must be aware of the applications’ attributes and constraints,” he explains. “Cloud management systems must have this policy-based application awareness in order to manage the cloud optimally. The rapid growth of cloud in 2013 will force this realization.”

Wherever Clyde lands on the spectrum of predictability, one can most certainly appreciate his raw, combative approach to clearing the air surrounding the future of the oftentimes complicated cloud.

To learn more about all of Adaptive Computing’s cloud management offerings, visit www.adaptivecomputing.com.

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