A New Metaphor

Every time I (or almost anyone else) talks about Utility Computing, we usually use the electricity utility as a metaphor. Of course, there are many similarities with the growth of both industries, and the manner in which they impacted (or will impact) society as a whole. In Nicholas Carr’s excellent book “The Big Switch” he spends almost half his time explaining the history of the electricity industry, and how it grew across America. Its a really interesting story, and one that clearly demonstrates how something once considered a private resource became a public utility, offered to industry at a fraction of the cost that it was costing them when they were producing it themselves.

So for comparisons about the development of the industry, its actually a really good metaphor. But for people trying to visualize what Utility Computing will actually mean to them on a day-to-day basis, it falls a little flat. You see, the problem with electricity (as a metaphor) is that it is pretty much always the same. Anyplace that you find a standard power socket, you will find the same thing coming out of it – 110v AC @ 50Hz – and that really doesn’t change. And while that’s great for owners of electrical appliances, its less helpful when trying to explain how Utility Computing might be used to support business. After all, every business relies on different computing applications, so providing exactly the same thing to everyone wouldn’t work. Hence the new metaphor.

My new metaphor for Utility Computing is Cable Television. I used this briefly in my last blog post, so the idea isn’t entirely new … but its only a few days old! So, lets compare the two utilities and consider the similarities:

Cable Television	Utility Computing
Initial offering is “free-to-air” – pay nothing, but get a few local commercial broadcasters	Initial offering is free applications – like the free version of Google Apps Standard, GMail, Hotmail, and so on
Next level offering is “Basic cable” – where you get a reasonable selection of channels at a low price	Next level offering is Google Apps Premier – giving you access to mail, calendaring, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, web pages and video – for a basic charge of $50 per employee per year
Additional, more specialized channels (movies, sports or special events) are available at extra cost	Additional, more specialized applications are available either from Utility Computing providers (like Hoolipot) or from some progressive software vendors
When your TV-watching needs change, you call your cable provider and you have access to your new channels (almost) immediately	When your business application needs change, you call your Utility Computing provider and you have access to your new applications immediately
Cable companies don’t care whether you watch their programming on a 5″ portable screen or a 60″ plasma HDTV	Utility Computing providers don’t care about the size of the business using the applications. You just pay for what you use.
If you need an extra channel for a short time (like a PPV sporting event), you only need to pay for it for a short time	If you need additional computing power for a short time (like a sales promotion or a seasonal business increase), you only need to pay for it for a short time
When you decide you no longer want your cable TV, you give back your cable box and you’re done.	When you decide you no longer want your Utility Computing applications, you turn them off and you’re done.
You get what you pay for – you pay for only what you need – and its instantly available	You get what you pay for – you pay for only what you need – and its instantly available

So – you can see the similarities … yes? Is this a better way of explaining Utility Computing? Please comment below, and let me know what you think!