How NOT to run a cloud service

If you've ever had a PC crash, you know how painful it is to lose personal data. Most times, you have only yourself to blame for not backing up your data properly.

But what if the entity to blame should know better — for instance, the provider of a cloud computing service? Just how much blame, and recrimination, should there be to go around?

That's the story that played out recently when Microsoft's Danger division — maker of the Sidekick device — suffered a major server malfunction that resulted in the loss of contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists and photos for most of its users. Also caught in the cross-fire was T-Mobile, which markets the device and is ostensibly the “service” provider most responsible to the customer.

The immediate fall-out for the firms involved was massive: irate customers (to say the least), $100 gift card offers and the halt of sales of all Sidekick devices. All told, the server malfunction will cost the parties involved millions in lost revenue and customer good will.

What does it mean for the future of cloud computing?

Defenders immediately noted that the failure was the result of poor data center planning and operations rather than anything intrinsic in cloud services. In fact, the outage impacted a basic synch and storage service, not a true cloud application running on “cloud-style” virtual servers and computing environments.

More than anything, the outage raises big questions about what it means to be a service provider today. While Microsoft (or its Danger unit) may be to blame operationally, it was T-Mobile that took the biggest hit with customers. In the future, telecom operators may be running services that others market and sell. The operational responsibility may fall to the data center owner, but the ultimate bottom line is who serves the customer. All parties in today's digital value chain should be on alert.

Read more about Google's growing prominence in the telecom industry in Sarah Reedy's story, “Will Android devices take Nokia down?” on the Unfiltered blog. TelephonyOnline.com