2011 march cloud computing atlanta

How the cloud is changing Startups and everyday developers

March 2011 Cloud Computing Atlanta Meetup

Chris Curtin

Non-programming Entrepreneurs

Get your Google Domain First

Non-programming Entrepreneurs

Stealth mode is stupid

Non-programming Entrepreneurs

You don’t need a lot of upfront capital for equipment/hosting

Use the free versions of IaaS/PaaS to get started

Non-programming Entrepreneurs

Website and UI are more critical today

Investors know you aren’t spending all your money on

hosting or building the backend!

Non-programming Entrepreneurs

Don’t give away Equity to the technology guys

But, expect to pay them to build first version

Bring them onboard once you have a few clients

Non-programming Entrepreneurs

Try to build it yourselfKnow any basic HTML?

Groovy/Grails, Ruby/Rails is pretty straightforward to

learn

Non-programming Entrepreneurs

Why? Because your first version is going to be wrong. Deal with it.

Also, don’t assume you are building the next Facebook

K.I.S.S

Programming Entrepreneurs

See previous slides

Programming Entrepreneurs

Security is a big deal

All the ‘usual’ concerns plus several new ones

Programming Entrepreneurs

Build it and show it off as quickly as possible

‘It isn’t ready yet’ is B.S. (assuming it does SOMETHING)

Programming Entrepreneurs

Expect (and encourage) Business/Product people to

iterate fast

Programming Entrepreneurs

Don’t expect Equity initially

But don’t work for free either

Programming Non-Entrepreneurs

Not everyone can/wants to take the risk

So become an ISV

Programming Non-Entrepreneurs

Learn the technologies

Offer services to your friends/contacts who aren’t in

IT/Development

Programming Non-Entrepreneurs

Ask them what problem they want solved that is ‘too small’ for IT to

tackle?

Be flexible in payment terms, but expect 1099

Programming Non-Entrepreneurs

Most of the skills needed you already have

Just learn how to use them in the Cloud IaaS/PaaS world

Programming Non-Entrepreneurs

Want to learn something new?

MobileTabletsMobile

General Business

What are your company’s rules for ISVs, contractors?

What are the compliance risks (not process risks, compliance = HIPPA,

SARBOX etc.)?

General Business

Any tactical projects you could get done in a Cloud w/o compliance

issues?

What has IT said is ‘too small’ for them but you need?

General Business

Learn what “Cloud” really means so you don’t get ripped off

Discussions should be around business issues/processes, not technology!

Ask for IT’s help in determining scope and cost

Corporate IT

Deal with it!Embrace it!

Corporate IT

Build a list of approved vendors

Build a list of compliance concerns and process to confirm they are

being addressed

Corporate IT

Come down hard on those who don’t use your vendors or follow your rules

Compliance is one of the biggest challenges to the Cloud

Blue Sky

What are some problems you could address if you

had more hardware?