Cloud computing is a revolutionary technological concept that’s changing how business is done today, and will fundamentally change it in the future. Already most of us are comfortable with the idea of storing personal data in the cloud, with services like Dropbox, iCloud or even Facebook.
But really, we ain’t seen nothing yet.
Conceptually “the cloud” been around since the 1960’s, (ARPANET anyone?) however in reality the first true commercial cloud product was launched in 2002 with Amazon Web Services. For the most part, AWS, and other services like it, have been used to speed up and reduce the costs of already existing processes. All cloud developers have been doing is reinventing the wheel in other words.
Now that they kind of know what they have got their hands on – exciting things are going to start to happen.
Two prominent cloud developers Nathan Toups and Brad Carleton recently released their “Cloud Revolution Manifesto,” which is the basis of their new book, Embracing Disruption – available as a pay-for Kickstarter project.
According to Forbes, the Cloud Revolution Manifesto was inspired by the 2001’s Agile Manifesto, and the SOA Manifesto, released in 2009. These landmark documents postulate that technology development is an evolutionary process that is driven, not by market requirements, but by an unhindered yet common vision and collaboration to make it all work.
Here are some of the key principles and values spelled out in the Cloud Revolution Manifesto:
- “We are the embracers of disruption. We are the pioneers of a new frontier.”
The cloud model is a whole new world where the rules are being made up as they are required. A cloud-based business operates in a different reality than a regular business, with the implications of what that means are only just started to be understood.
- “We embrace: Bold visions of the future backed by real data. Distributed systems with no central authority. Freedom to share information and self express. Strength through a global community of hackers and free thinkers.”
They are talking about a new business model devoid of standard roles or structure. A business that can be built anywhere by anyone and then released and managed without the need of a traditional corporate hierarchy, or even a brick and mortar building.
- “We value: 1) Expression over conformity; 2) Standards over servitude; 3) Distribution over centralization; 4) Reuse over waste; 5) Data over dogma.”
They see technology as a delivery system empowering individuals and teams to achieve unforeseen levels of productivity in business and unimagined improvements to the planet. Seriously.
Just like the previous generation that developed the Internet and a web app based economy, there are no “How To” books on this cloud based industry. That’s because it is currently being invented. These folks are just making it up as they go along.
What they come up with – and the impact it will have on all of us – can only be guessed at. But considering what that last generation did, it should be amazing.
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