The projections onto Cloud Computing have gone too far. Recently, I've heard it will make the world safe for democracy, reduce IT costs to near zero, and now save the planet from global warming. The fact is, while some part of these claims may be true, most of them are sheer marketing hype without any real facts behind them.

Take this poorly-thought-out announcement for example. It's full of outright lies and misdirection:
- Customers of NetSuite may save on energy, but that energy is simply wasted at NetSuite's data center instead of in their office.
- Total energy usage may be higher than running the software locally because now there has to be a server in NetSuite's datacenter AND a laptop/desktop running at the customer's site to use the software.
- NetSuite's servers are no more efficient than those it displaces at its customers because NetSuite doesn't use virtualization or automated datacenter management. In fact, its servers may be less efficient than the newest machines end customers may buy
- NetSuite shares its servers among customers, but the tradeoff is poorer performance than a locally running software suite because NetSuite oversubscribes its hardware. Some energy is being saved in total, at the expense of poorer service.
- NetSuite is not a cloud vendor by any stretch of the imagination (and neither is SalesForce or a legion of other software-as-a-service vendors!): Cloud is characterized by 1) Pay as you go billing where you pay only for what you use; 2) Scalable infrastructure (you can order up more computer power as you need it); 3) Abstracted hardware (you don't know what kind of hardware you're using because virtualization hides the details including the performance losses of shared infrastructure. Netsuite (and SalesForce) fail on all three counts, with the exception that SalesForce does have pay-as-you-go billing, but the billing isn't related to the amount of computing you're using. In particular, NetSuite's endless series of lump-sum-charged upgrades and a large yearly "license" does nothing but frustrate and anger customers because they're surprised by large bills on renewal or when they try to use an advertised feature they didn't pay for.

Cloud computing has some powerful advantages that make it right for lots of customers. But let's face it folks: many cloud vendors are in it to make a buck and won't hesitate "cloud-wash" their product if it will get them business or make them look like good citizens. Check out NetSuite's annual reports, customer reviews, and public information on their website. They aren't here to save the planet. They're here to make a buck.

'Anonymous',

Clearly you have some prejudices against NetSuite, however your points simply don't hold up to the facts. Let’s look at them individually:

- You claim NetSuite is simply wasting the energy it saves its customers: However, NetSuite is saving its customers 595M KWH / year - for NetSuite to consume this electricity on its side would cost approx $60M - this does not appear on its income statement (and would clearly be a ludicrous amount of energy for it to consume!!)

- You claim the energy costs may be higher because now there has to be a SERVER and a CLIENT: All on-premise accounting apps typically require a server, whether it is to run the app or just centrally store the files, and every office worker has a client to access them. Your statement does not make sense.

- You claim NetSuite's servers are no more efficient than those it displaces at its customers: NetSuite is a multi-tenant application - which is more efficient than virualization - customers share server *and* application resources. That is a key reason NetSuite is able to achieve these energy savings. In terms of efficiency. NetSuite runs 6,500+ customers on 1,000 machines (commoditized, small iron, HP energy efficient servers – as is indicated in the report) - very simple to see that this is more efficient than each customer running themselves

You claim NetSuite shares its servers among customers, but the tradeoff is poorer performance: Please provide detail here- your claims are unfounded. NeSuite’s machines are monitored constantly (another thing you get for free with SaaS). If NetSuite’s performance was as you suggest, NetSuite would not be growing at 40% with little customer attrition.

- Your 'personal' definition of the criteria of a cloud vendor simply doesn't jive with any industry standard definition of cloud computing (do your research). However, just to answer each point.

- NetSuite is pay as you go - it's a SaaS application, and bills as such. Unlike on-premise, you don't pay for what you don't need.
- On scalability, NetSuite balances the load on its servers. 2 of the tiers balance this load automatically. The DB tiers run with plenty of headroom. When thresholds are hit, these machines are load balanced - i.e. it meets customer computing demands dynamically
- On the whole 'abstracted hardware' point you make doesn't make sense - NetSuite customers have no idea what database (etc.) they are using - they simply use the application.

On your final point about 'they're here to save a buck' - every green company is about making a profit - every green company is about making a profit - whether making wind turbines, or batter powered cars. It's called a market based economy.

Please make a more educated post next time.

Thanks,

Paul

Our company adopted the Netsuite platform earlier this year & this blog article caught my eye as we are also a 'Green' company. Personally, I feel good about the energy savings that result from adopting an SaaS solution like Netsuite. We can power down all of our company's computers when we leave the office, whereas we used to have to leave them on overnight for our remote backup service (which we no longer need now that we're on Netsuite). I've noticed the difference in our electric bill from just making that one small change! We're also spared the expense of running a server 24/7 which would be energy-inefficient for a small company such as ours.

Netsuite's out-of-the-box functionality helped us launch Ecoswag.com much more quickly than would have happened otherwise, and has helped us bring our clients the eco-responsible promotional products they demand. It was a good solution for us & I'd urge other small businesses to consider Netsuite's system.

Diane Nudelman
President & Owner
Ecoswag.com