Cloud computing much ado about nothing

While cloud computing is one of the latest trends in the IT industry, the delivery of computing and storage capacity as a service is not that new. In fact, some of the underlying concepts of cloud computing date back to the 1970s with users accessing mainframes via thin clients or terminal computers.

Many businesses also take a cautious approach when considering cloud computing implementations. And the manufacturing industry is no different. Cloud computing is not something that any company can afford to blindly adopt. The mission-critical nature of manufacturing operations and their systems necessitate a cautious approach and one that is not very open to cloud-based solutions.

However, the private cloud has started making some inroads in the manufacturing environment.

In essence, the private cloud allows corporate networks to fulfill the role of a service provider for internal staff and offer cloud solutions in a more controlled and secure environment.

Manufacturers are wary about a multi-tenant approach, which sees multiple companies use the same cloud services on the same platform. They want a service that is dedicated to them and tailored to suit their unique needs.

Many cloud-based solutions take a more hybrid approach and attempt to be all things to all people, often failing in meeting the niche requirements of sectors like manufacturing.

Mission-critical software like enterprise resource planning (ERP) also requires an absolute certainty that things are running the way they should. Imagine the consequences to a business if the manufacturing systems go down for a few hours due to a problem with the cloud.

When a manufacturer is running ERP on-site, when something goes wrong they can phone technical support and have it resolved there and then without having to rely on the vagaries of cloud providers in different time zones.

For a manufacturer, the key element to any enterprise-class software installation is where the database is sitting. With a private cloud solution, that database could be anywhere in the world with the pipeline to it being the key. A manufacturer will also have the option to be able to move a select number of users to this private cloud while others stay connected to the current on-site access solutions.

Because of these and other concerns, cloud implementation in the manufacturing sector has been limited. Manufacturers do not trust the cloud for mission-critical applications. What is more, when you are a manufacturer, you cannot rely on a solution that takes a vanilla approach. You need something that is tailored to your specific requirements.

Users moving to the private cloud are likely to be using it initially for document management and data storage. There will always be instances where the platform needs to be on-premise. This is especially true with ERP implementations. Manufacturers are wary about who accesses their data when it is in the cloud.

Another question is who owns that data? If a manufacturer relies on vendor X for its cloud requirements and that vendor decides to either move its servers or close its business, then what happens to the data?

For manufacturing, ERP solutions in the cloud are a challenge for the industry and not something that can easily be solved with an out-of-the-box solution. While one needs to monitor developments in the cloud space, it is not yet at the mission-critical or customizable level that manufacturers require.