What's your cloud footprint?

Dear Reader,

How are you? It has not been a very wet monsoon last year in India although the clouds tell a different story in Bangalore (This sentence is now obsolete as the monsoon season and the winter season have passed and it is summer at the time of finishing this post). So do cloud technologies and cloud based applications. There have been numerous announcements, press releases, software stacks, APIs, etc, around cloud based technologies and more are happening every day and very quickly. Personally, I think cloud based applications have a huge potential for the right people albeit with some, but not impossible speed bumps.

When I come across a cloud based application, my first instinct is to weight the pros and cons of using a cloud based service. And to better understand my own "cloud preferences" I set out to find my cloud footprint

If you feel there is a better way to estimate ones cloud footprint. Let me know in the comments section.

Regards,
Jyothin

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What is 'Cloud Footprint'?

Let's first define two terms that I will be using extensively in this blog,
       cloud, in the cloud
       [any data that you cannot physically move yourself but can be accessed (read/write) from a reliable network connection]
       going all cloudy
       [implies a shift to to an all "in the cloud" approach]

Terms analogous to the above are clear, in the clear, going all clear.

Going completely cloudy, implies all your data is in the cloud and a network connection is essential. Going completely clear, implies all your data is physically accessible to you at all times and you do not need a network connection to access it.

By the above definitions,

• Public email services like Gmail, Yahoo mail, Hotmail, etc. constitute data that is in the cloud
• Your office email (not based on a cloud email service) is not in the public cloud but more like in a private cloud
• Your Facebook, G+, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Reddit posts and data are all in the cloud
• Content, such as photos, images, audio, video that is accessible from a public network is all in the cloud
• Your personal storage on laptops, HDD, etc. are all clear
• Your search queries on Google, Bing, etc. are in the cloud
• Home videos on DVD, VHS tapes (if you still have them) are all clear
• Notes you take on paper, documents, copies of documents, etc. are all clear

       cloud footprint
       [is an indication of your inherent preference for cloud based applications]

It became very apparent to me that network access, specifically Internet access, is a key component of accessing data in the cloud. You could download all your Instagram photos onto your Desktop PC or laptop and say that you are not using a network to access the data - but then once you've downloaded the photos, they are clear. Moreover, if your data is updated in real-time, you no longer have the latest up-to-date snapshot of the data and hence it is obsolete.

Cloud does not only include your own data by also includes other people's data that you can read. For example, watching YouTube videos also constitutes cloud data, even if it does not occupy your own storage space. The best way to quantify this aspect of your cloud data is by the amount of data that is transferred between you and any cloud based service that you access. By that means, digital broadcast television/radio is also cloud data because technically it can be replaced by a combination of cloud based content delivery services (reading news on a news website vs. watching the news on the TV) and you pay for both.

Hence,
        cloud footprint = function of (
                                     your in the cloud storage,
                                     data transferred between you and a cloud service,
                                     your own personal storage,
                                     physical effort to access your personal storage
                               )

more precisely,
       cloud footprint = Your cloud storage
                          + Your total data transfer
                           - Your personal storage
                           - Your physical effort to access your personal storage

For simplicity, lets assume the everyone's physical effort in accessing their personal storage is 0. Also, note that a 0 footprint value could either mean equal preference for both cloud and non-cloud OR no preference at all!

With that in mind, my own cloud footprint parameters are shown in the sections below.

My Cloud Storage

My Network Footprint

My Personal Storage

My Cloud Footprint

And therefore my cloud footprint,

Therefore, it looks like my inherent preference for cloud based technologies is negative. This makes me an ideal candidate for services to target and increase my cloud footprint. Targeting me alone is not going to lead to any significant increase in the overall usage of cloud services. So, please leave me alone.

However, I wasn't too surprised by my negative footprint as I'm intentionally not quick to upload content quickly. For one, I'm not a social media junkie and tend to limit myself to only important posts on social media sites. I have rarely post or comment on website like reddit, Instagram, etc. and have limited usage of WhatApp and other chat apps.

My initial reaction to calculating my cloud footprint is that a large % of the population probably has a negative cloud footprint.

Non Quantifiable Factors

The debate of whether a cloud based service has more advantages than disadvantages is incomplete without attempting to understand non-quantifiable benefits of using a cloud service. I've listed below some non-quantifiable factors that I think are important using a new cloud service.

Obviously, the importance of the above non-quantifiable factors vary individual to individual. IMO, omni-access is a factor that I personally prefer having in addition to omni-connectedness. I'd also like to have the option to Full-Delete my data whenever I want to but that's quite impossible when your data is in the cloud, but as easy as `$> rm -rf *` on data in my personal devices.

Data security is pretty much taken as default when using a cloud service. Or rather data security is a hidden cost when using a cloud service. Most cloud services guarantee a certain level of data security and assured data access at any time. On the other hand securing your private data is an added effort with additional costs to be borne by an individual. Below a summary of my data security costs.

What are the Costs?

Another way to decide on whether you prefer using a cloud service is to look at the costs associated with your current cloud footprint. Tabulated below is my approximate costs as estimated for my cloud footprint. If you want to take a look at the details of the estimates below or feel something is amiss, drop me a separate note in the comments section.

Clearly, as of my current cloud footprint, its costing me more to use cloud based services than using my personal storage! And it is only going to cost me more to use new cloud based services.

Completely Cloudy vs. Complete Clear or In-between?

If the convenience of omni-access, omni-share, omni-connectedness are your priorities then going all cloudy is the way to go.

Is there an ideal 'cloud' to 'clear' mix? One can't say for sure and it depends a lot on one's personal preferences and more importantly on one's behavioral patterns to consuming NEW data.

With new technologies all based in the cloud one would expect the overall cloud footprint to increase over time. With high capacity consumer memory devices getting cheaper, there isn't anything stopping consumer electronics from increasing memory capacities to store content thereby reducing the dependence on cloud based services.

Again, one can't really say.

Enterprises, on the other hand, have very compelling reasons to use cloud based services. A cloud service is pretty much an operating expense and less capital intensive than setting up the infrastructure to build an enterprise owned private cloud and provide all their employees a means to access it. There will also be other enterprise level factors to consider when estimating a enterprise's cloud footprint.

Whatever the course, life is not going to come to a standstill going completely cloudy or going completely clear but you will still need an umbrella when it rains.