Cloud Computing and SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) have been at the heart of the vision of the Xuropa Platform from the very beginning…on the proverbial napkin back in May, 2007. It’s current incarnation is captured with our Online Lab facility, and our development progress is metered by the adoption rate of key concepts by the electronic design industry.
This first post in a series of 4 was spurred by Daya Nadamuni’s article in EETimes.com and many conversations with a huge proponent of Cloud Computing and SaaS for EDA, Harry Gries (aka The ASIC Guy). I thought it was time that I took a crack at articulating how I see this technology evolution and it’s application and adoption within the electronic design industry.
Definitions
As with any “next big thing”, the definition of Cloud Computing will evolve over time as it’s better understood and the software industry moves the ball forward. However, it’s important to note what Cloud Computing is not. As we saw within EDA and the stretching and pirating of the definition of “ESL” in the early days, it’s important to have a common understanding.
Wikipedia offers a pretty good and comprehensive description and definition of Cloud Computing.
I’ve paraphrased points here for convenience.
What it is not:
- Grid Computing: “The application of several computers to a single problem at the same time.”
- Utility Computing: “The packaging of computing resources, such as computation and storage, as a metered service similar to a traditional public utility.”
- Autonomic Computing: “computer systems capable of self-management, to overcome the rapidly growing complexity of computing systems management, and to reduce the barrier that complexity poses to further growth”
It’s a little tricky, because as is noted in the Wikipedia entry, “many cloud computing deployments are today powered by grids, have autonomic characteristics and are billed like utilities, but cloud computing can be seen as a natural next step from the grid-utility model.”
Cloud Computing Components
I’m a huge fan of models like the OSI Seven Layer Model, and the Wikipedia editors of the Cloud Computing entry have taken a shot at capturing a hierarchy of its components. I’m not sure I completely agree with this model yet, but it’s a good start.
Cloud Computing Stack
Client: self explanatory. The combined device and browser system.
Services: These are support services intended to be used by Applications. Eg. Google Maps and PayPal.
Application: Software applications that are accessed via the web and leverage cloud infrastructure. Peer-to-peer (Skype); web-based application (Facebook, Xuropa (networking, news, and other applications) ); SaaS (SalesForce, Xuropa (Online Suite, Booth, and Kiosk); software+services (Microsoft Online Services)
Platform: A software application delivery environment. A key differentiator between a Platform and an Application is the degree of openness. In the case of Facebook Apps, the API is open and is written to by third parties who then have their application delivered to users within the Facebook environment. In the case of a Xuropa Online Lab it does not make sense to create an API for software vendors to write their tools to. And so we took the “API” down to the logical level – the Operating System.
Storage: Remote storage that is made accessible via the web and charged as a utility. Pay as you go/use. Eg. Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)
Infrastructure: Essentially the hardware resources and utilities to manage and make upper layers of the stack available via the web. Eg. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud).
Another example may be illustrative:
A database accessible via the web can be presented in three different ways to users.
- Raw database that is accessible via the web: Application
- Database with a UI (eg. Salesforce): Application
- Database with a macro API that can be written to and the resultant applet/macro/widget hosted and accessed by other users of the database: Platform
Adoption By Electronic Design: Where are we?
As can been seen from reviewing the above model, aspects of Cloud Computing are being used by the electronic design industry today: webex, Skype, salesforce.com, etc. But these are support services in the context of the EDA industry.
The rest of this series discusses the use of Cloud Computing and SaaS at the heart of the EDA business: delivery and monetization of electronic design software applications via the web.
99% of people in the industry to whom I mention Cloud Computing state with great conviction that it will never happen - “it’s been tried before”. And if they’re anticipating a step-function adoption that will stretch across the entire flow and be able to serve mainstream semiconductor vendors from the start, then they’re probably right. But that’s never the way things happen.
[“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” -- Arthur Schopenhauer]
A common theme that recurs across these conversations is “trust”. And as with any new dislocating technology, this is a major hurdle to mainstream adoption.
So, regardless of all the buzz out there, this is where I think we are today:
Cloud Computing Technology Adoption Curve
So far, not very far.
The next post in this series will address The Drivers of Cloud Computing Adoption. What industry components make cloud computing and SaaS attractive, and what would potentially slow adoption down.
Part three of the series presents a potential roadmap of cloud computing adoption for electronic design.
Posted under Features, Xuropa, business, industry, marketing
This post was written by James Colgan on December 9, 2008
Hi James,
Good post. I look forward to the next 3 parts to see how closely your vision of the future aligns with mine and others.
I agree that there is a lot of confusion over what exactly to call this computing paradigm. AT the same time, it is crystal clear that the economic forces are driving us this way. As an example, I was just reading an article at Tech Republic that listed the top 5 IT trends of 2008 as:
5) The rise of ultracheap PCs (i.e. Netbooks / Think Clients)
4) Green IT meets energy savings (i.e. the need to more efficiently utilize compute resources to save cost and meet gov’t regulations regarding CO2 emmisions)
3) Offshoring, H1Bs, and the labor deficit (i.e. the continuing globalization of the workforce and projects)
2) Virtualization and utility computing (i.e. building a lower cost, streamlined, flexible IT infrastructure that can scale up and down based on user activity and resource needs)
1) IT’s opportunity in the economic tsunami (i.e. to be more ROI focused by bringing down company costs using technology to help automate and streamline tasks)
All 5 of these trends directly support or are complementary to “cloud computing”. I think that’s strong validation.
At the same time, I agree that we have not even approached the chasm yet as relates to EDA, although I think that by the end of 2009 we’ll have some well established innovators and perhaps some early adopters moving this way. Should be fun!
Thanks Harry. And thank you for the link to the Tech Republic article.
There certainly is a large number of dynamics that are converging. If it were just one or two drivers I’d still be skeptical, but even at the highest level of abstraction there are at least four: Performance, Business Model, Cost and Security. All of which are leaning toward some aspect of Cloud Computing for particular tools and scenarios.