Cloud Conflation and Confusion
How often have you found yourself listening to a supplier or colleague and becoming more confused, until it dawns on you that they are using phrases you know, but are defining them differently? Once you realise this, presentations and conversations start to make more sense.
Take the cloud jargon test.
Have a look the examples below, think what each term means in your own mind, then click on it to reveal some of the alternative interpretations we often hear when speaking with both vendors and IT professionals.
Cloud First
Cloud Native
Public Cloud
Click on each term to see how your definition compares
Multi-Cloud
Private Cloud
Hybrid-Cloud
So were there any surprises?
If you're anything like most of the other people we've played this little game with, then you might have been surprised that some of the terms that have an obvious meaning to you but can be interpreted so differently across the IT buyer and seller communities. It's something to bear in mind when formulating and interpreting marketing messages, for example, or designing or trying to interpret market research.
In the section above, we took just six of the cloud related terms commonly heard during industry discussions, but this is just the tip of the iceberg with more and more ambiguous jargon continuously emerging. Against this background it's always useful to go back to first principles, e.g. when asking clarification questions or trying to infer meaning from context or the way in which terms are used
A question of perspective
In the section above, we took just six of the cloud related terms commonly heard during industry discussions, but this is just the tip of the iceberg, with more and more jargon emerging as time goes by.
Nature of Service
OperatingZone(s)
Systems
Architecture
Delivery Model
Nature of Service
When discussing cloud services, it's crucial to identify the type of service in focus. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) essentially involves renting computing power. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) usually refers to reusable functionalities that developers can incorporate into applications or call via APIs. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) often aligns with full business solutions, although it can also be tool-based. Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) allows for running individual functions in the cloud, abstracting much of the underlying infrastructure.
Nature of Service
Call to action section to be desogned
Recognising Alternative Perspectives
All the definitions above offer valid but partial views of cloud computing, each through its own unique lens. To avoid confusion or talking at cross purposes, it's crucial to recognize the perspective from which someone is approaching the topic. Let's pause and examine the common angles people often adopt when discussing cloud, whether they're aware of it or not.