Monday, December 21, 2009

Users of cloud storage are looking to the platform, and the ISVs leveraging that platform, to do more than just store their data. Simply storing data in the cloud is easy.  Doing something with it, or managing that data, is hard. And doing it securely is even harder. Organizations of all sizes are looking to the provider model to help augment their capabilities in the important area of data management. In reality, users actually do want to just store data and not have to worry about where their information is, how to protect it, or how to retrieve it. They are shifting the burden of protecting and managing their information to cloud storage providers.

ISVs, as they begin to consider which cloud storage platform they should support or integrate with, need to look for capabilities from that platform that allows them to deliver on the customer’s demand. From an ISV’s perspective there are three key criteria to look for when selecting a cloud storage platform.

The first concern should be security and reliability – being comfortable that the chosen cloud storage provider is the right choice when it comes to protecting your customer’s information. Before any data of value is placed on the cloud storage platform, the ISV has to be sure that the customer data they are responsible for moving to the cloud storage platform will be there when it is needed for a recovery. And that no unauthorized personnel will have access to that information.

Those organizations that house your customers’ data must have specific and detailed service level agreements (SLA) that show demonstrable policies to maintain data protection and data security. While many of the cloud storage software/hardware platforms have some form of security built in, poor on-premise security or poor on-premise safety practices could neutralize all of those efforts quickly. For example, can an unauthorized person “piggy-back” their way into what should be secured facility, and if they do will they have access to customer information or will security measures stop them? Often one wall of protection is not enough.

In terms of reliability, the cloud storage platform has to be able to protect itself from hardware failures. The capacity of a successful cloud storage platform will be in the hundreds of petabytes of data. Even with full time storage professionals constantly monitoring the platform, it will need to be self-healing and self-protecting. If a component fails it will need to activate another spare component by itself and re-protect any data that may be exposed. The ISV, and their customers, must be confident that the cloud storage provider understand these challenges.

Iron Mountain, as an example, protects its customers’ data in secure underground facilities with tight, high-level security that includes visual inspection and biometrics authorization. They even have their own fire departments. They also replicate data to another underground bunker.

The second criteria to consider is the functionality of the cloud storage platform when it comes to data management. Customers are looking to cloud storage and the ISVs that support them to reduce some or all of their data management headaches. Simply shifting and centralizing customer headaches to the cloud is not going to solve their overall data management problems. And, if the cloud platform provider did not develop the platform with data management in mind, the problem flows right back to the ISV and their end customers.

Part of the data management criteria is the quality of the API set as we described in our article  “The Importance of a Cloud Storage API“. For the ISV the API set is what enables them to deliver the software that allows the customers to just store data worry-free. The API set should include capabilities like SOAP or RESTful Web services to expose the cloud storage platform’s capabilities to the ISV application which include ingestion, search, retrieval, retention, and destruction capabilities.

The third criteria should be company stability. This is a new space with many participants already in it, and more entering the market every day. Many of those market entrants have feature-rich offerings. However, the ISV should look toward a company that has a history of storing and protecting information. This is probably more important for the ISV than it is for the actual user.

As an example, if a company decides that it’s not going to offer cloud storage services any more, or worse, if the company is forced to shut down, a user will have the difficult but manageable process of moving the data stored at the provider to another provider or return to internal management. The ISV may have written modules to its software to specifically take advantage of some of the capabilities offered by that provider and now is faced with re-writing those capabilities, if they’re even available, to support another provider’s platform.

ISVs should evaluate the cloud storage provider’s track record when it comes to protecting information. For example, Iron Mountain is an organization that has been in business for decades - the business of storing and protecting customer data. For the ISV the choice of a cloud storage provider is often a function of risk mitigation and reputation protection.

There is a fourth criteria - price. The key is to understand all of the aspects of the pricing and usage models as they relate to the cost of cloud storage. Some providers charge what seems to be a low monthly rate but then have extra charges dependent upon usage. They may have a surcharge for excessive uploads and downloads of data or significantly higher fees for higher levels of protection, or for distribution of your content. Some of these fees may be appropriate, some may not. As the ISV, there is an implied endorsement of the cloud storage platform selected. The customer will hold the ISV responsible for odd pricing policies that lead to surprise bills. The ISV must be comfortable with the pricing models of each of the cloud storage providers that they are considering, in order to compare apples to apples.

An ISV’s chosen cloud storage platform is going to contain their customers’ data assets. This is a unique three-way relationship that is significantly more involved than a simple business agreement. This is going to be - or should be - a long lasting partnership. While attractive pricing is a key criteria for selection for the users and ISVs of cloud storage, it is one of several important criteria that should be taken into consideration. ISVs should put greater emphasis on building a partnership with a cloud storage provider based upon the security and reliability of their solution, its functionality and its track record when it comes to providing information management services.

George Crump, Senior Analyst