Read the silver lining: The potential of cloud computing for libraries

Editor's Notes

2. The overriding theme of this presentation is that cloud computing makes new and amazing things possible. Positive bias, Gartner Hype cycle Wfu success, movement has it’s challenges Our discussion this morning is going to focus on three themes http://contest.newyorker.com/CaptionContest.aspx?id=191
3. Define out IT environment in relation to our information needs Think about how CC responds to these needs Consider how CC will impact IT
4. “The really radical ideas are interdisciplinary” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOwcDr-A3to, Steve Jurvetson
5. 20 years we moved from computer as machine to computer as extension of ourselves Information technology about communication, about our identity As extensions of ourselves - IT drives the need for social features, collaboration tools, ubiquitous access Story - Lets think about the evolution of our technology tools over time. When did you get your first computer, when did you get your first email address, how has your use of IT changed over time? Our younger patrons dont have these stories Educause report found that internet use is ubiquitous among college students, 50% using technology in mobile environments, 98% use facebook
6. The first personal computer sought a market and role in the home. It took time to define the killer applications - Word, As IT has become focused on serving personal information needs they have needed to focus on point-of-information-need tools: Killer app in mobility is the network Context-specific information Geo-Location Text-based communication Media creation and publication
7. Our initial library of information consisted of programs with small databases, text files, lists. Our content creation and use has changed in two substantial ways Pushing content - The internet is ‘always-on’, the information metaphor is now a wave instead of a key Content creation involves multi-media, automatic metadata, multiple systems, multiple locations The pace of change in information has been dramatic. Story - the shift in software release cycles “Waterfall” model - get features, define functions, develop, deliver Iterative model - define base functions, incremental improvements Agile and “extreme programming” - Continuous feedback, rapid development, late changing features “The app store” model - Software installs and updates automatically, tighter integration with device/os http://vinteeage.com/page/246/
8. The cost of data storage has dropped precipitously The cost of cloud storage is beginning to do the same. A local hard drive costs $.08/GB (once) while cloud storage is becoming competitive ($.14/GB MO) What does this mean for our information systems? Many online services offer “unlimited” storage The cost of computing resources is not the center of service subscription models New storage models are beginning to take hold - Cloud-based synchronization services, version control services, archiving services http://www.pcworld.com/article/209248/early_ibm_pc_displays.html
9. Skype is what we thought telephones would be - video-based, low cost, conferencing If skype were a telecom it would be the largest in the world Facebook introduced new ways of interacting Largest in US but mirrored with other similar sites worldwide Smartphones commoditized the abstraction from hardware tool to software tool Story - It only took seventeen years to move from usenet groups to facebook groups. Transition is already happening. Myspace use is down to 23% among new college students,
10. We are seeing continued technology growth combined with more rapid adoption paces As a result, our technology platforms are changing more quickly - think about the cell phone refresh rate Software-based information appliances are replacing hardware Continuous improvement is used to maintain marketshare What’s next for the web?
11. Given this environment - what can we generalize about our patrons? Patron profiles - Although internet use drops as age increases, use is growing across all segments and is ubiquitous across younger demographics Everyday, diverse, experience focus, socially enabled Driven by discipline - place, context, platform matter - customize experience Good news - cloud computing makes this easier Content creation is shared Complex services have already been developed Libraries aren’t alone in wanting to appeal to the online user, we just have more noble intentions
12. 1. How will these changes be seen in our IT organizations? less centralized control faster iteration through systems
13. With these shifts in IT in mind - lets ask what it means for IT support We need a new check-list of key features when starting projects We need to find new methods to serve the needs of a growingly information diverse population. We need to consider how to build on the work of other organizations can help us develop and deliver new services It means being prepared for regular change, being more social and collaborative, about not being able to predict I have found that an easy win in CC is the ability to leverage pre-created tools (amazon cloud management systems, notification systems) Mobility, location-based, push updates, ‘free’ service levels, immediate access and just-in-case storage
14. Now that we have an understanding of where our IT world came from - Lets talk about how cloud computing helps us solve some of those new IT needs.
15. Cloud computing solutions have become everyday things for many of our users Typical features Cloud-based data storage, some off-line access Tight integration within a product suite (gdocs, contacts, email, calendar) Tend to be free Tend to be browser based Story - information literacy class investigation of cloud-application websites. The big downsides: cost $ Required software install Did not integrate with other services they already used Online versus client-based services 79% of users tracked used Google Docs on a daily basis as compared to just over 50% for Microsoft office tools Educause - 3/4 of students use some CC tool Diving into these numbers some, you see that Gmail is the leader in access but that certain applications such as excel are much more highly used than cloud-based products Interesting factor is the ‘time spent’ - shows more time is still spent in outlook/excel for these users. http://blog.rescuetime.com/2010/06/17/google-is-eating-microsofts-lunch-one-tasty-bite-at-a-time/) Some fun numbers about internet use: 79% of americans have used the internet, 98% of college students in 2008, Pew Internet Trust found that 69% of them had used a cloud-based service. 56% of them used a cloud-based email account.34% stored photos online, 29% used online productivity tools (gdocs, adobe photoshop express) http://www.pewinternet.org/Press-Releases/2008/Cloud-computing-takes-hold-as-69-of-all-internet-users-have-either-stored-data-online-or.aspx
16. In addition to common productivity tools CC offers platforms for innovative services Multi-site, multi-media Anali Perry - Az state Univ short videos for instruction or news purposes ZSR library ‘toolkit’ videos Short videos hosted on YouTube, Vimeo, etc.  Use simple Embed tags to include in local sites Brings library into content creation, a little equipment positions library to support broad new area By capitalizing on cloud services libraries can support new range of complex information activities By being aware of license, rights, and access issues libraries use core values
17. We can ask ‘so-what’, CC is just another form of computing The assertion is - CC makes computing support more pervasive Chris Tonjes - DCPL Pervasive use - website, CMS, central desktop, digtial image archive Goal is to involve everyone in the library Training, service, support are sustainable - supporting special localized apps is not
18. Knowing this about our patrons - lets turn to defining the cloud Defining the cloud Metered, Replicable, Service-focused, Subscription, scalable When we talk about CC we mean everything from GMail to TB of network disk space, we mean real-time, network based For most of us CC is equivalent to services offered on the Internet Gartner defines the cloud as service-based, scalable and elastic, shared, metered by use and uses the interneet (Garner 2009)
19. Lets look at definitions more specifically: Three related concepts for Internet enabled services Cloud computing - “the act of storing, accessing, and sharing data, applications, and computing power in cyberspace” NIST & Gartner definition more granular Web Service - “software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network” -  RSS feed,  iCal invite API - A specification for a web-service Our large CC service providers use all of these - Gmail, YouTube, Amazon What we find: CC has grown literally to “web-scale”, it means just about everything CC is at the peak of the gartner hype-cycle. In other words - prepare to be disappointed.
20. Lets look at how CC can be classified. There are some granular definitions - take a read (and pause for 10 seconds) Important concept is subscription and scalability - CC is very similar to virtualization - the difference lies in how you define it Granular definitions National institute of standards and technology (3 facets) Characteristics - on demand, networked, resource pooling, elastic, measured service Service models - Software, Platform, Infrastructure Deployment models - Public, Private, Hybird, Community Gartner - different, characteristic focused metered, scalable, shared, etc
21. Types service - delivered as an ‘end-user’ application - serialssolutions platform - space for hosting custom services - application hosting - duracloud Infrastructure - open capacity - servers, disks - amazon
22. Examples of CC for our patrons Productivity, publishing, file storage, social networking, data/infrastructutre Talk through slides quickly We mentioned google earlier - they are not alone in providing CC based patron services Its ok to look at these services loosely and adopt when neccesary
23. How do these categories work for libraries? Here is one example - how WFU approached these services Service catalog - WFU case study - decided that subscription computing was more attractive than ownership models Over course of 4 years moved everything - really focused for last 18 months some elements had steep learing curve -talking more about that at LITA Lynch pin - needed all new servers - looked at cost vs cloud its more important to consider these services systematically
24. 1. We should not think that Library IT is not ready for CC There are unanswered questions open source, open data SAAS,IAAS approaches balancing local, community, vendor expertise
25. One of the main issues in cc is that it is needlessly complex - the sessions today are doing a great job of exploring how CC is being used in different ways
26. So how can we begin using the cloud to address current needs? 1. Just getting started? 2. Tried a few things before?
27. 1. Try SAAS type products - four main areas
28. 1. Experiment with hosted library systems. Omeka - just released, tiered service level Ask yourself - ‘could this replace our digital asset management system’ A key challenge, losing momentum on open source - this provides a good hybrid solution A second approach is pre-configured servers
29. Looking for something really fun? Run a server! 1. Pre-configured application servers - ZSR just getting started 2. Amazon is free for experimentation 3. Also rackspace, microsoft. . .
30. Managing complexity Expertise is an issue - the more you take on CC, the closer you come to an IT department Server cost models and sizing Sizing and managing servers One-Server-per-service model vs. mega-server model? Disk space Cost and upgrades Amazon cost calculator - costs tend to fluctuate and grow Can I do this with my current IT?
31. Now that we have an understanding of where our IT world and how CC helps address it came from - Lets talk about how cloud computing can transform IT We are going to do this by looking at potential good and bad outcomes of the cloud and speculating on what this means The impact of the cloud The tower and the cloud: Higher education in the age of cloud computing Richard Katz First - it makes things simpler (google, flicker, youbute) Second - it makes our services stronger (LIS hosting, complex systems) third - it enables new partnerships, duracloud
32. Cloud computing gives everyone the ability to experiment, deploy, use services without larger IT support - You no longer have to ask the question “can I get a server that runs X?” Cloud computing breaks down barriers to service implementation - Pick a service level (service, platform, infrastructure) appropriate to your need Cloud computing simplifies systems all the way down the IT food chain - CC provides equalized access The disruptive force - fewer barriers to market entry
33. I list here 3 major scenarios and future systems - I think the most important one is the rapid in shifting user demands: Jeff Bezios - IT is 70/30 IT/core should be switched less capital investment, more innovative staff time positions your organization to respond to new demands look at the pace of change in LIS systems Look at the shift in goals of DAMS Think about the requirements of open source - fragmented platforms Potential complications: Future shift in issue focus security is a more complex issue platform & accessibility Subscription vs infrastructure requires new budget approaches potential scneario, future means better security potentail scneario multi-platform approaches, future scenario, octopus model - one central hub but multipl wys moving violently potential scenario - less capital cost - transition of cost to subscription approaches. new economic models means work out new economic models Pros / cons Security, privacy, licenses Often providers have stronger security / privacy / redundancy SLAs than we require (amazon) Other times, they have not considered academic issues - important to read the Service Level Agreements Enhanced service Multi-platform support more common in SAAS solutions, Come at expense of customizability Is your environment right for cloud ( bandwidth, access - VPN) New IT model Subscription basis changes how libraries look at it Amazon Bezios quote - 70% into IT, 30% into innovation - should be flipped Current lack of diversity in maket, unequal service levels (Amazon still a clear leader in IAAS) Leveled playing field With new services smaller players can get into game Regardless new skills are required, systems are becoming more complex, moving into CC means all departments are effected IT - how to manage CC env. Content creators - how to publish / manage Administrators - how to allocate resources, plan, transition
34. Potential - cost savings, service agility, resource availability Future - redefined services Key risk - will the cloud decimate open source software? Questions - outsource or resource optimization, speed vs stability. Can your grandmother run your enterprise email server? Does not change the need for expertise - it allows organizations to leverage expertise for key mission potential cost savings, future is savings to commit to more projects potential service agility, future is ability to tailor to evolving and individual needs potentioal resource availability - free resources making more resources available, by outsourcing tedious procedures you get to focus on innovatiove ideas with patrons. focus on service, ideas, innovation. Theresa Rowe - three factors - cost savings, service agility, reousr4ce availability http://cloud.lib.wfu.edu/blog/pd/2010/09/17/educause-webinar-on-cloud-computing/ Information Management Systems - Core information systems that would benefit from subscription, agility, resource benefits of cloud support.
35. Potential = a new organization where online collaboration is easy future =digital meeting spaces, collaboration open content, hybrid, etc.
36. 1. Wrap-up CC may have a rosy future, poses opportunities and challenges to IT How do you take steps to understand and act on CC opportunities? In Short - take the position, craft a vision experiment, don't be afraid, go out and do it! libraries have historically been leaders in information and information technology