Straddling the Cloud
Image by BULLETSAYS via FlickrAs we approach the inevitable look back over another year in the software business, one buzz word that stands out is ‘Cloud Computing“, or ‘The Cloud’. Like it or not, the likes of Nirvanix, Amazon Web Services and Windows Azure are changing the landscape for us all.
As
someone who has historically (read hysterically) stuck to the desktop,
I find that the cloud is intruding ever more on my consciousness. If
you’re already in the web camp, the cloud is probably already on its
way to being your bread and butter.
The more interesting
challenge (from my perspective) is how best to take advantage of cloud
based services from the desktop. How long before I’m adding S3/Nirvanix
backup into Home Document Manager? How long before I provide web based
access to the same data?
Whilst I still believe that for PC’s in
the home and business, rich desktop applications still offer massive
benefits over their web based competitors, if your app can successfully
straddle the cloud gap, there’s no need to have your feet in just 1
camp – you can open up new revenue possibilities with a hybrid solution.
If you have a data centric desktop application, it’s worth checking out some of the SDK’s available for your platform:
Have you integrated and cloud based services in to your desktop application?
I agree that hybrids of fat/rich/desktop apps + ‘cloud’ services
are going to become increasingly important. Not everything is suitable
for running inside a browser.