Bright or Black,Here Comes the Cloud

Does cloud computing cause a dilemma for application developers? Does it present problems that devs would not face in building software for earth-bound applications?

Developers face common problems regardless of where their program's data is stored. However, the cloud environment presents a set of drawbacks that cloud application developers sometimes ignore to the detriment of users, according to Javier Soltero, CEO of Hyperic. His company provides monitoring and management software for all types of Web applications, whether cloud-hosted or on-premise.
"While the cloud is very exciting and extremely beneficial and super helpful in helping productivity, one of the things not getting attention is that things can still happen regardless of where you are storing your data," as sid by Soltero
Cloud computing, according to Soltero, imposes two dilemmas for developers. The first is that cloud app developers become responsible for all three phases of the application: building, deploying and managing. The second dilemma is rooted in service level agreements (SLAs) that developers must consider to avoid becoming trapped between a rock (the SLA the developer provides to customers) and a hard place (the SLA that the cloud provides to the developer).

What is the Actual Problem?
The problem predates cloud technology, according to Soltero, but it is an evolving conundrum.

"The idea that you are relying on services provided by a giant data center provider, whether it's Google or Amazon or some other large supplier, doesn't implicitly remove the need for some level of operation by the person providing the service," he argued.
The problem, as he sees it, is that developers like the cloud since it lets them bypass operations or control agents and serve their environment needs quickly. In contrast, the cloud lets developers build and launch applications themselves without waiting for hardware to be purchased, racked and stacked. The red flag is that few developers have an operations background, leaving application users to go it alone.
"The simplest mundane application to some critical business application is at risk if some IT team hasn't responded properly," Soltero explained.