Be Careful of Cloudwashing!

Looking back at the so-called Infrastructure-as-a-Service announcement Oracle made a few weeks ago, I’ve been wondering if marketing in other industries might adopt the same approach to jump on the cloud bandwagon.   Looking to rent a large new flat screen in time for the Super Bowl?  By Oracle’s logic that would be Television-as-a-Service.  Perhaps mortgages can be marketed as Home-as-a-Service.  And that car loan?  Auto-as-a-Service! 

TaaS, HaaS, AaaS aside, true IaaS (infrastructure as a service) is not a payment plan.  James Staten notes that misrepresenting static server environments as “cloud” by vendors does their customers a disservice – and creates confusion across the industry.  (He also goes on to note that ignoring the realities of today’s public cloud usage is equally dangerous.)  This isn’t the first time that Oracle has been accused of “cloudwashing,” either, though at least they’ve sometimes been honest about what they are doing.

If you want real cloud services without the “virtually impregnable moat,” talk to Microsoft.  Learn more on our blog network, or website.  On the other hand, if you’re looking for a new handle to market hotel stays, I’m working on the trademark for VaaS.