What is the next generation of Cloud Platform?

What is the next generation Cloud Platform? Are we in the next generation of cloud yet?  Let’s find out..  

So let’s talk about, normally how you would go about building an application:

1. You define requirements
2. You select Design strategy
3. You select tools and products
4. You build Infrastructure
5. You start building using selected tools and products
6. You test
7. You Deploy
8. You Maintain

 How cloud is helping if IaaS: 

1. You define requirements
2. You select Design strategy
3. You still select major tools and products
4. You build Infrastructure
5. You start building using selected tools and products
6. You test
7. You Deploy
8. You partially Maintain 

If PaaS:

1. You define requirements
2. You partially select Design strategy
3. You select tools and products
4. You build Infrastructure
5. You start building using selected tools and products
6. You  test
7. You partially Deploy
8. You partially Maintain

If SaaS:

1. You partially define requirements
2. You select Design strategy
3. You select tools and products
4. You build Infrastructure
5. You start Customizing using selected tools and products
6. You minimally test
7. You minimally Deploy
8. You minimally Maintain

So we are reaching there … still you can see there is a gap - you still have to do something. Now lets us compare it with outsourcing for a new start-up. For a new start-up our Mr. CEO has below requirements:

• Office space
• HR
• Finance
• PBX /Telephone
• Conference rooms

He reaches out to ABCStartups who specializes in end to end support for companies. ABCStartup offers all above facility to him on a per employee price basis (all are shared facilities) and he is only paying price for his usage of those services. ABCStartup makes sure they have well coordinated services to offer a holistic and interconnected experience to Mr. CEO. This is an outsourced office for him each department automatically working with each other.

Future Cloud apps are expected to work somewhat in that fashion. 

Our next generation cloud offering should look something like below:

1. You define requirements
2. You select Design strategy
3. You select tools and product
4. You build Infrastructure
5. You start building in using selected tools and processes
6. You test
7. You Deploy
8. You Maintain

Above does not make sense right :) .. lets add one option:

1. You pick

In such an environment– you choose an app and it magically works for you as long as you are in that ecosystem. This is similar to downloading an app on your mobile device as long as it is compatible. Obviously it won’t be that simple but that's how it is expected to work.

Seems it is not a distant future as well and already knocking on our doors. Few Cloud vendors have realized this potential and aggressively working to make it work in their new offerings. You can also call it cloud based ecosystem. Cloud providers offering IaaS, PaaS and SaaS on a common technology set have early advantage in this new space age of Cloud Computing. Additionally companies embracing Cloud 'enterprise wide' are expected to gain phenomenal agility in this new age. 

So don't be surprised if you see acquisitions or mergers of companies consolidating these  capabilities and surprising new partnerships between cut-throat competitors to offer this ..

For obvious reasons this is also a threat to SIs. Few are already reinventing their model to address this pattern. 

Also for now I would like to call it as EaaS (Enterprise as a Service) - unless we come up with a better name for it in future..