Fabric Applications = Private Cloud computing

I've never been one to add to what is already some serious vendor over-hype, e.g. 'Cloud Computing', but then again I'm not one to rant against something either (regardless of how funny that can be). I'm hearing that some customers find the concept helpful. Cool. I know I find it helpful to review why these things have value to customers.

In my day job, we've been delivering what we call Fabric Applications for many years. In concept Fabric Applications are similar to what is being called a Private Cloud, especially as it relates to fabric apps such as Storage Virtualization. Our company's focus up to this point has been specific to Storage networks (vs. LANs), though this will change with FCoE and CEE.

And I had been wondering if given the current economy, or trends in vendor consolidation, or a new administration, or Jessica Simpon's weight challenges, etc... if customers' needs were really changing with regard to Fabric Apps and this whole cloud computing thing. As you may recall, a key driver to network-resident computing is the value it brings to managing resources from many different vendors. As it turns out, this is still a growing need for companies.

Data recently released by a leading IT research firm shows that more that 80% of Enterprises are working with 2 or more storage vendors, and more than 25% of companies are now working with 6-10 different vendors - an increase over last year! In addition, enterprises that have products for Storage Virtualization are continuing to expand their use. The hype around ‘cloud computing’ and ‘private clouds’ is apparently there because there's value in it: companies want best-of-breed solutions along with management flexibility. And Fabric Apps or Private Clouds or Enterprise Clouds or insert-your-favorite-term-here, are the way to achieve it.