There is still confusion about cloud. There, I said it.  After reviewing white papers and marketing collaterals I noticed there is some confusion between hybrid cloud and converged cloud. This material was written by industry watchers and marketers. These are people who work with Cloud every day. Some people inter-changeably use converged cloud and hybrid cloud as if they have the same meaning.  Some do not know what converged cloud means.  So, I wrote down what I think the differences are between these two offerings:

A provocatively titled blog post on CIO.com caught my eye: “CIOs' Cloud Strategy Must Include Public Cloud Services.” In particular, this comment by the author resonated with me: "...

One of the great benefits of industry standards is that when you purchase something, you don't have to worry about whether it's going to work with what you already have. Take the VHS standard as an example. You knew that if your VCR blew up, you could buy a new one and all your VHS tapes would still be able to play in your new machine. Think about other items in your household—you can buy a new mattress from any manufacturer and it would still fit in your bedframe; a new memory card would still work in your camera; and a new wireless access point would still support your wireless devices.

Have you seen George Clooney's new movie “Ides of March” yet? It uses the Ohio presidential primary as a backdrop for political infighting and power plays. The movie got me thinking about infighting in general and how it happens in all areas of life―in business, in religion, inside schools. Infighting damages morale, delays progress and destroys internal processes.

Shadow IT is one example of infighting in business.

Who says cloud computing is only for geeks? Much has been said about cloud computing and how it will save money and make IT department more efficient.  The truth is, the benefits of cloud computing go beyond dollars and cents.  It is not only providing commercial benefits, it is also helping to save lives. 

Fake drugs.

My two kids love taking photos. Between them, they've amassed quite a huge collection that we need a reliable cloud computing service to store them all. I figured I'd spend a couple of hours one Sunday afternoon selecting a suitable service that's safe, secure and scalable.

Boy, that task was harder than I thought.

After spending a good hour on Google searching for the type of cloud service I wanted, I then spent a couple more hours evaluating each provider's pricing and terms and conditions.