Seybold's Take: Behold the data in the cloud

T-Mobile, Danger and Microsoft, which now owns Danger, have egg on their face this week as a server failure wiped out data, pictures, calendars, and other things Danger devices make use of that are ONLY stored in the cloud. To everyone's surprise, there was no back-up, not even offsite. I doubt seriously if Microsoft's code base for its operating systems and programs are stored without multiple back-up copies updated on a daily basis, but I guess similar safeguards for customers' data never occurred to the Danger team.

This is not the first time cloud data has been lost. You might recall that some months ago, Nokia lost a fair amount of its customers' data. Both of these are examples of why I don't and won't trust the cloud. The Internet is not a mission-critical network and if the only place my data resides is in the cloud, it is susceptible to exactly what happened to both Danger and Nokia. Further, today we live in an always on and sometimes or most-of-the-time connected world. I don't want to be left high and dry when I cannot connect.

"Cloud" computing is not a new concept and neither are data issues with cloud computing. The first "clouds" were mainframe computers that were accessed via dumb terminals. Every company in the world that had a mainframe learned to make sure all of its data was backed up and that updated copies were kept offsite. Ever since mainframes, there have been companies that have promoted the use of what we now call cloud computing. Remember WAP browsers on a cell phone? They did not store any data locally and their functionality was totally reliant on the device being connected (and the data had to be accessible in WAP format).

Years ago, Sun decided that cloud computing would be its edge against Microsoft and delivered a set of applications that resided in the cloud, but this soon died. Oracle has been there, Google is preparing to be the cloud, and Apple is heading in that direction. The difference with Apple's iPod and iPhone service is that there is a copy of everything both on the device and on the PC or Mac. If the cloud disappears, you still have what you had.

Netbooks and smartbooks are making a splash in the marketplace. Some have applications and some data on the device, but others have very limited storage, necessitating the use of the cloud for data storage at least. Because this type of system is dependent on a connection, users must pre-determine exactly what data they will need on their next cross-country flight, for example, and retrieve it from the cloud ahead of time. If they miss anything, they will have to do without it, which means they may not be as productive as planned.

Yes, I use the cloud to back up my devices. But--and this is a big but--I also use a terabyte standalone network drive to back up all of the data on all of our systems. Even in the event of a fire or a flood I can grab the drive and know I have all of our data. The cloud provides additional back-up, and I keep my desktop and laptop synced using Memeo Autosync. My exchange server is a service and not a physical server on my network, so I also have an off-premise back-up with the data for all of our email, calendar, contacts, and BlackBerry content.

Most people don't back up their data in as many places or as often as I do, and while some networks offer automatic data back-up, as we have just seen, that does not mean data will not be lost. I use the cloud for a variety of things, including access to websites and the Internet for transport of my email and other information. But the cloud cannot be trusted as the one place to store my data, and I wouldn't use a device that could not store much of what I may need so I can still function even when I do not have coverage.

Many people seem to believe that the Internet and the cloud will always be there and accessible so their data is safe. It is worth repeating that the Internet (cloud) is not a mission-critical network. Hackers love a challenge and can get into almost anything, even my wireless phone it appears. Having personal data stored up in the cloud with thousands of other peoples' data is inviting hackers-why bother with a single device when they can crack into a data warehouse?

Andrew Seybold is an authority on technology and trends shaping the world of wireless mobility. A respected analyst, consultant, commentator, author and active participant in industry trade organizations, his views have influenced strategies and shaped initiatives for telecom, mobile computing and wireless industry leaders worldwide. www.andrewseybold.com