Cloud computing closed and open: Traditional giants vs. start-ups

Introduction: Foreign media in Tuesday published an article said that the cloud computing market is facing a closed model and open model, the former with Oracle and HP and other traditional technology giants, the latter's advocates are the box as the representative of the emerging cloud storage companies.

The following is a summary of the article content:

Oracle is facing a challenge from cloud storage startups like box.

While cloud computing promises to offer many free choices, companies may face fewer choices and more restrictions than ever before. This will be the next major battleground in the tech market.

In this confrontation, the side is Oracle and HP and other traditional technology giants, they have a wide range of product lines, and enterprises to establish a deep cooperative relationship. The other is emerging start-ups, whose products and services are mostly cloud-oriented and may have more innovative elements.

At a recent annual customer show, Oracle CEO Ellison Larry Ellison The Oracle's "Engineering system" cloud computing model. The combination of hardware and software will provide higher performance and security, Ellison said. Oracle also says customers who buy Oracle's full suite of solutions will also get faster service response speeds. If you buy a competitor's product, you cannot enjoy the same service.

Similarly, HP will soon launch commercial printers to support the cloud scanning and storage of information. Users can also analyze these data, but only if they use HP's cloud computing system.

On the other hand, Box launched a new service in Tuesday that allows users of several professional cloud software companies to share data. In particular, sales management software developers SugarCRM users can use the Enterprise communications software developers Jive Software software to share data, so that internal and external synergy. Other partners include concur, Cornerstone OnDemand, DocuSign, Eloqua, FuzeBox, NetSuite and Zendesk.

If Oracle and HP offer vertical integration, box sells horizontal consolidation, offering more choices to users. "Ellison's proposition is to buy only Oracle products, and we disapprove of this single model," said Box CEO Allen Levi Aaron Levie. ”

"Single Mode" is a traditional business model, if you buy products from a single vendor, you can get better services, more features. However, this is a "locked" mode, if the future to leave a single vendor, the time, energy and data will bring higher costs. Apple itunes, for example, is hard to integrate with other online music systems.

Companies also complain about this "lock-in" pattern, because once locked, the cost becomes higher. But at the same time, companies like this model, because the complexity is greatly reduced.

In this "single model", it is difficult for other companies to intervene, and of course it is hard to innovate. But some enterprise-oriented cloud companies have found a way out, and they offer cloud services that are easy to buy and can be used by anyone. Amazon Web Services, for example, can be sold to all engineers in an enterprise without the approval of the Enterprise CIO (CIO). The same is true of the Yammer services of social networking companies, Yammer has been acquired by Microsoft for outstanding performance.

For vertical and horizontal integration, whichever is the winner, the likely result is that much of the early experiments will give way to alliances and unified models. "People will see competition between vertical integration and horizontal integration," Levy said. ”

It is hard to say which model is better, and the risk of Levi's lateral integration lies in the different design styles and feelings of these independent cloud service offerings. Even if they work well, it is tiring for employees to face different web designs all day. (Li Ming)

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)