What Does the US Election Mean to Cloud Computing?

Excerpted from SYS-CON Media Report by Krishnan Subramanian

The technology blueprint of President-Elect Barack Obama, if implemented as promised, bodes well for the future of cloud computing. His proposals include:

Protecting the openness of the Internet: In other words, supporting net neutrality. This is crucial for innovation in the field of cloud computing and it is also very important for ensuring vendor diversity. In the absence of net neutrality, big vendors can easily crush smaller players and establish monopoly in the cloud computing marketplace including the SaaS marketplace.

Safeguarding our right to privacy: One of the biggest concerns for consumers and businesses when it comes to cloud computing is the issue of privacy. They are worried that their data will not be safe in the hands of cloud vendors, government might use the subpoena power to confiscate users’ data, etc. By safeguarding our right to privacy, Barack Obama’s administration can help remove this concern in the minds of users regarding putting their data on the clouds. Stronger regulations to protect the privacy of users’ data will help develop the trust we need in the cloud computing marketplace.

Opening up government to its citizens and bringing the government to 21st century: In other words, this can also be construed as moving the government to the clouds. By moving important public government data to the cloud, it is possible to provide a more transparent form of government. This also helps in promoting a much wider adoption of cloud computing. If government can trust the cloud and put sensitive data on it, why not consumers, small businesses, and enterprises?

Deploying next generation broadband and extending it to every single American including those who live in rural areas: One of the important requirements for the success of cloud computing is the ubiquitous availability of broadband. If broadband is available everywhere in the country and if the providers are encouraged to offer much higher speeds with superior technologies, it is very easy for users to put their data in the cloud and use the SaaS apps from any part of the country. This will greatly enhance the adoption of cloud computing.

Broadly adopting standards-based health-record systems: This is nothing but a healthcare SaaS system. Companies like Google and Microsoft are already pushing such apps to the users. If the insurance companies and healthcare providers come on board and help put patients’ data on the cloud, the way we do healthcare will change forever. It will help us get better healthcare as our data will always be accessible from anywhere in the country at anytime.

Developing and deploying climate-friendly energy: This will help drive the data-center costs down. A cheaper and climate friendly energy implies lower cost of deployment of cloud computing infrastructure. A lower cost of infrastructure means a much higher savings for the customers of cloud computing technologies. This also means a wider adoption of cloud computing in this country.

As is the case with any politician, we have to wait and see how effectively these policies are implemented.