Having described the facets of cloud computing, it sounds like there are only benefits; however, with all new uses of technology, there are some challenges too. While these will continue to be worked on and removed or improved, we need to be aware of them to help decide if a cloud computing solution is right for you.
Picking and deploying Windows Intune means we have to be comfortable with these areas, although clarity will be provided as to what this all means to us as a Windows Intune user at the end of the chapter.
Any cloud service requires by its very nature a connection to the Internet via a network. While this might not sound like a challenge, many businesses can access and process their data today irrespective as to whether a connection to the Internet is present or not. This means that a well-managed Internet connection will become more important to all users of such a service, rather than just managing the corporate network. Mobile workers can be more commonly connected to the Internet rather than their corporate network, so delivering a cloud service can provider simpler access for these users without the hassle of VPN network settings or dedicated hardware.
If today our is data stored on our computer's hard disk and tomorrow it is stored in a cloud service, we have just moved from a service which can work on an airplane or train without an Internet connection to one where we now require ubiquitous Internet access to work.
Cloud service providers have realized this and offer many solutions to this failing. Many providers offer offline support where we can read and update our data when we are disconnected and then synchronize it to the service when we connect again. This functionality is normally delivered by client software that we have to load onto our devices and this software manages the offline data and synchronization. The only downside to this is that we may have to deal with synchronization errors should more than one person update the same information while we are offline.
The second challenge with Internet based services relates to the amount of Internet network usage. For some services, functionality that would result in network usage within our corporate network gets moved to flowing over the Internet. This is likely to increase the bandwidth we require to enable this increased usage.
Added to this requirement is the speed at which we can get the data and services. When the data is local on a hard disk or on a network that we control, access to the data and service can be very quick. The further we move it away from our control and network, the slower access can be, decreasing a user's satisfaction with the service if they have to interact with it.
Again, it is possible that the client software will change the way the service works to remove the issues or limit the bandwidth consumed, but large amounts of data being moved from a local connection to a remote one can still be problematic if ultimately a large amount of data needs to be moved in a small amount of time.
If the cloud computing solution we are using or connecting to requires a connection over the Internet, then it is possible that some sensitive data will flow over the Internet. Most cloud solutions offer ways to secure this traffic. Some industries are governed by a number of legal regulations and this transport over the Internet may have to comply with these regulations, which is something to watch out for.
The same goes for the storage of data, in terms of the physical protection it is given and the actual location. Some services are not based in the same country as us and this may give rise for concern.
For this reason, military, financial, and some government situations are not easily compatible with a public, Internet hosted cloud solution. However, there is frequently a private cloud solution that can meet these requirements.
When using a cloud service, one of the reasons that it is possible for us to receive the service at scale and often with a beneficial price point is because it is a mass-production system. This means that the level of customization possible is frequently lower than a traditional on-premise application or service that we would otherwise use. When a solution is installed on premise, it can be customized heavily, however with a shared cloud solution, customization is often restricted to the configuration options provided in the solution.
