Defining Architectures for the Cloud, Part I

by Mike Rosen

In my previous two Advisors ("Selected Innovations in Cloud Products," 9 September 2009, and "SOA and the Cloud: Getting Past the Hype," 19 August 2009), I talked about the different styles of the cloud (infrastructure as a service [IaaS], platform as a service [PaaS], software as a service [SaaS], public, and private) and some of the products that are now available in those areas. This week, I look at the cloud from an enterprise architecture perspective. To do that, I start with the typical breakdown of EA into domains of business, information, application, and technology. For each domain, I look at some of the typical questions that are answered by that architecture and that will be affected by the cloud. I also list new questions that will need to be addressed.