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Could the Cloud Derail a $300 Million Data Center?
1sockchuck writes "The cloud computing debate has come into focus for taxpayers in Washington state, where a proposed $300 million project to build a data center in Olympia for the state's IT operations is coming under scrutiny. Two legislators are urging the state to shift applications to the cloud instead, noting that two of the largest cloud computing providers (Microsoft and Amazon) are based in the state. The critics say the data center project is driven by an interest in local construction and 'fails to seriously explore the larger strategic question facing government technology today.'"
Exactly. Either you build your own data center, or you host your applications in someone else's data center. The cloud is just a term we use to describe the situation when you're running your applications in someone else's data center, on their hardware, on their system configuration, and possibly with their applications. The data center doesn't cease to exist because it's somebody elses. It just means you pay more, because they have to pay for the data center, plus get a profit from running the thing.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Yeah, 'cause the various arms of government have such a great track record when it comes to network security. Remember when the department of the interior was so monumentally hosed that all internet activity was banned? They weren't even allowed to have their public websites online.
Those Washington State computers keep me from having to interact with State employees. wa.gov has been a leader in getting government online. I remember back in '95 when the head data guy, Jim Culp, raised a big stink with the powers-that-be by listing ALL government phone numbers on the gopher and www site, including the Governer's cell-phone. His reasoning was that the people of the State paid for it so they were entitled to the information.
I haven't been to a DMV office in over a decade because I can renew my VOL and my car tabs online. I can pay my property tax, register to vote, look up laws, ask staff questions and perform many other actions, all sitting on my fat citizen ass. All because Washington State has put so much info online. I even setup a S-corp my self just by filling out forms online.
Take a look at ftp.wsdot.wa.gov sometime. They have had this open since '95 so tax payers can dig into where their money is going.
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
Ok, I'm not pretending the 'cloud' is the sole answer or even that there aren't legitimate privacy/security concerns about citizen data; I'm just making the case that: 1. the state's business case dismisses the entire cloud without any real analysis of where it may or may not be appropriate; 2. the $1,200 per sq/foot cost for state data center is probably closer to $2,000 in reality; 3. the $300M is for the data center 'shell' and doesn't include anything to fix old Cobalt databases, buy or build new applications, create an XML or other neutral interface to access trapped data, get our hands on real enterprise applications; 4. even if we want to have a state owned and operated facility, does it make sense to build in Olympia where labor, energy, building, etc. costs are all higher than in Eastern Washington? 5. if we had a fraction of the $300M to buy and build very cool customer oriented applications and services, we'd be the top state in the nation for on line service, but this data center is taking every penny we have for capital infrastructure for technology. Period. 6. as for comments above about audits--I'm all for it. I agree there are legitimate issues (privacy, security, audits, etc.) but come on, at least we should design a 21st Century strategy for a new approach to services instead of automatically assuming the only answer is a state owned and operated facility. I acknowledge that I'm more interested in front end citizen/consumer applications than back end infrastructure....but at least I admit it. I don't have all the answers, of course, just trying to raise some questions before $300M of the public's money is spent. Reuven Carlyle State Representative Washington State House of Representatives--36th District www.reuvencarlyle36.com