An increasing amount of the time spent working with clients via my web development firm is understanding the differences between cloud based and hosted software and apps. There are no shortage of terminology bear traps and even the fundamental pricing structures can vary wildly.
Recently, SmashingMagaine.com published an article by Zack Grossbart and Eduardo Abe that provides one of the most comprehensive written overviews I’ve come across.
There are no prerequisite knowledge levels to walk away with a much better understanding plus they do an excellent job at explaining how to leverage your increased knowledge into actional decision making when considering new development projects. Here’s a great example:
Before you and your client can know what kind of cloud you want, you need to discuss four questions:
- How complex is the software you need to run?
- How much does it need to scale?
- How important is it that it never goes down?
- How fast does it need to run for users around the world?
The second item is highlighted because this is one area where I’ve found most performing arts orgs tend to overlook, especially those that manage ticketed events. We’ll take a deeper dive into this very topic in a future article.
In the meantime, set aside some time for this article as it’s a great way to develop a better understanding.
