Mike Kavis, in his latest blog post, does a great job in analyzing some of the same things I'm seeing now, that many of the mistakes we've made in SOA are being repeated in the emerging cloud computing space.
This is just like the death of SOA, everybody sees the next big thing and just starts doing it. You need architecture. Without it, this too will die.
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Things are awful "hype-y" right now around cloud computing, everyone is jumping into the mix, and confusion is the way of life in the cloud computing space. The problem is that many of those providing advice are failing to see the forest through the trees. With cloud computing, SOA, or whatever we come up with next, we still need to figure out core issues within our enterprises that no set of technologies or emerging trends can solve. We get too wrapped up in defining the hype, and then don't care about the architecture. It's SOA in 2000 all over again, trust me.
...how many new technologies, emerging trends, frameworks, or architectural styles does IT have to screw up before we learn our lesson? Cloud computing is the most disruptive technology since the adoption of the Internet and the birth of the personal computer. The platforms and the tools will mature over time and I predict 5 years from now, those not in the cloud will have a hard time competing. So as IT professionals, how can we save our industry from ourselves, and not let cloud computing die a slow agonizing death like its friend SOA?
Cloud computing is indeed disruptive technology, and something that needs to be placed in the context of a holistic IT strategy, as well as understood, defined, and leveraged from domain to domain. The silliness that hurt the adoption of SOA is bound to infect cloud computing as well, if we let it happen. I urge you to get below the surface here quickly, else history will repeat itself.