Gmail’s Fiasco - It's Not Cloud Computing to Blame
02 Mar 2011
Google’s latest fiasco of disabling/ resetting 150,000 Gmail accounts over the last week has once again started a barrage of trash-talking articles on cloud computing and how putting your data out there is not a good way to run a business. I completely disagree. In the tech world, like it or not, SHIT HAPPENS! It used to happen before when you would get the Blue Screen of Death (courtesy Microsoft Windows Family) but all you could do is to cry alone in your misery. You then would have to go running around like a headless-chicken to find someone who could fix your computer and salvage any data that could be retrieved. With the Cloud, at least that is shifted to the vendor who is more of an expert than you are at restoring your computer/ server.
The problems in technology are similar. You just hear about it more today because of social media and a lot of chatter online.
More importantly, it is important to see how fast the service provider (in this case Google) addressed and fixed the problem. Here is the official announcement from Google — Gmail back soon for everyone — it is timely and shows how they are working on to restore the affected accounts. Here is the latest update on the Apps Status Dashboard which keeps you up to date with the restore process.
So, the next time you sign up for a Cloud service, remember, SHIT WILL HAPPEN.
On a side, I am assuming Cloud Backup services are going to have high conversion rates this week as they play on the fear mentality of consumers.