Cloud computing is the new green IT

Renai LeMay
Wednesday, 03 March 2010 12:14

IT Industry - Development

OPINION: If I hear the word 'cloud computing' mentioned one more time in the next month I am going to petition Kevin Rudd to create an ombudsman to deal with the matter.

(Hell, it worked for those poor souls concerned that rogue postings on Facebook are going to destroy the fabric of Australian society)

Just like green IT some 18 months ago, Australian IT services companies and vendors are currently obsessed with cloud computing. And just like green IT, they are explaining it poorly with phrases of marketing guff that often mean nothing.

A prime example of this problem was the speech delivered by local Fujitsu chief Rod Vawdrey (pictured) at the MediaConnect conference on the Gold Coast on Sunday (disclosure: MediaConnect paid for accommodation and flights for journalists).

The executive announced a new product that Fujitsu calls 'Infrastructure as a Service', but didn't initially provide any real details on it actually was. Take a look for yourself '” you can read Fujitsu's press release here.

After a brief speech, Vawdrey was hammered by journalists (including yours truly) who wanted to know exactly what Fujitsu was announcing. What applications would run in the cloud? How was the strategy different from what Fujitsu was already doing? What partners and software was involved?