Despite growing cloud adoption in some public and private sectors, overall, cloud computing is receiving a lukewarm reception in Germany.
According to the Global Cloud Computing Scorecard compiled by the BSA Group, last year, Germany lagged behind in terms of cloud readiness. Ranked third in 2012, Germany now has to content itself with fourth place after the United States topped Germany, despite an economic crisis and infrastructure problems.
Down just one place? That may not sound too bad at first. But the news isn't good for German businesses and government agencies.
BSA -- an advocacy group for the global software industry -- generates its scorecard based on factors such as security; cybercrime incidents; data protection; freedom of trade; support for international trading standards; copyright; and the expansion of broadband networks. It’s this last point where Germany’s being left behind, having been eclipsed by Japan, Australia, US, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Korea. And compared to Germany, Both Canada and Poland have made strong strides forward.
Broadband lines are the backbone of connection to the cloud. Without fast broadband, exchanging large amounts of data becomes tricky. Although the German government has declared the expansion of rapid broadband a priority, it’s apparently easier said than done, according to Broadband Investment Index. Red areas on its map show that in 2012, entire sections of the country were still not yet on the broadband network.
IBM engineer Milnes David inspects the chilled innards of a radiator-equipped IBM computer. IBM (Internet Evolution's sponsor) demonstrated the radiator technology in June 2012, when it built the world's fastest, hot-water cooled supercomputer for the Leibniz Superconductor Center in Germany. (Source: Jon Simon/Feature Photo Service for IBM)
The lapse is due to sluggish investment by Internet service providers, especially market leader Deutsche Telekom. It may have installed fiber-optic cables in cities in recent years, but it’s still balking at the prospect of providing high-speed Internet access exceeding 1 Mbit/s in rural areas. True, some cable providers like Kabel Deutschland are stepping into the breach, but as they only began developing their networks a few years ago, a lot more still needs to be done. The introduction of LTE (4G) services is supposed to improve things in the country, but subscribers are beset by volume restrictions.
The prospects for cloud computing in Germany were recently exacerbated by Deutsche Telekom’s announcement that all new DSL contracts will come with volume restrictions. As a result, standard 16 Mbit/s connections will be capped at 75GB per month (download and upload combined); afterward, the speed will plummet to 364 kbit/s.
With cloud services being very data-intensive, how people are supposed to embrace the cloud under these circumstances is a mystery. Deutsche Telekom recommends using its own cloud services -- which funnily enough won’t be covered by the new limit. But that runs counter to the principle of network neutrality, an important aspect considered by the BSA study. Germany appears slated to slip even further behind other nations.
Another reason for the slow development of cloud computing in Germany is the country’s lack of datacenters. Top German providers only really discovered cloud computing once international players like Dropbox and Amazon were well-established. Deutsche Telekom now has quite a healthy offering for enterprise clients, and other leading German providers are trying to make up for lost time, but once again, it’s a case of too little, too late.
Many German companies have already signed long-term deals with other vendors. And since it’s not easy for a business to connect its internal IT infrastructure to an external provider, subsequently switching to a German vendor is an awkward affair. At least the situation looks better for home users, with Deutsche Telekom and its main rival 1und1 providing consumers with sufficient amounts of cloud storage.
Further exacerbating the issue, German regulations are only slowly catching up with the new realities. For years, the government has paid only cursory attention to the web. There’s no support for investments and too much red tape, making things particularly difficult for startups. The exception to this is Berlin, where the local authority has provided so much assistance for startups and new technologies that more than 500 new companies have set up their headquarters in the German capital this millennium. Berlin is pointing the way forward for the rest of Germany.
— Charlotte Erdmann comments on a wide range of technologies from her base in Berlin. In addition to blogging, she is a media and communication consultant, organizing and managing large customer magazines and marketing activities within the IT industry.
May be you need some help about the dire consequences of late adoption especially iin the technology world. Hedging your bet with regards to revolutionary technologies lke cloud computing is not helpful toany busness. We know from history that many businesses have lost significanty market share for failing to adopt new technologies. Cloud computing is not perfect as it is right now but that should not be a deterrent to adoption. It is simply the computing paradigm of the future.
Why is that the case Mashka? If that is the case, then there is no need to scapegoat the Patriot Act as been one of the deterrent to adopt cloud computing.
That's so true but the truth is the Europeans may be are just missing out on the revolutionary impact of cloud computing.
What do you think willbe the impact on the cloud computing industry by this slow pace to embrace the Cloud by the Eurpoeans? I can understand that big cloud vendors in the U.S. will be missing out on potential customers who are based in Europe.
Kessner you are right. I am of the opinion that rushing to conclusions will not be in favour and going slowly and cautiously and weighing every move will be better option. Wait for the adoption of cloud by others and then follow their suit.
"We live in a time, unfortunately, where many European countries have strict privacy laws which provide governments with "expedited access" to Cloud data. Reding notes that, indeed, France's anti-terrorism law has been said to make the Patriot Act look "namby-pamby" by comparison.
A recent study of the laws of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States showed that it is incorrect to make the assumption that the US government has more or less access to data in the cloud than have other advanced economies
To underscore the reach of governments, an example was provided of the German Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA); where the BKA suspects terrorism, a computer virus is employed to infiltrate and search a Cloud provider's servers. The 'Federal Trojan' is then left in the system to continue to covertly monitor traffic.
Additionally, the German intelligence services has the right, provided by the G10 act, to monitor and record telecommunications without a court order if they are investigating serious crime, terrorism or threat against their national security"
"And Europe is reluctant to use American cloud providers due to Patriot Act privacy concerns"
Is this trend (i.e. Germany slow to embrace the cloud) true for all of Europe? I would like to think that smaller European nations may not be too critical of Patriot Act an as such may be willing to use more American Cloud vendors.
In addition,most European countries,notably France have adopted lawas that will make the Patriot Act looks so better. The bottom line is that where the data lives with regard to physical location of the cloud, service provider, or its facilities does not limit the government's access.
".every single country that we examined vests authority in the government to require a Cloud service provider to disclose customer data in a range of situations. Moreover, some governments permit invasive investigatory measures of Cloud providers when the investigation concerns national security".
So Eurpoeans should not use the Patriot Act as as excuse for lagging behind in cloud computing.
Germany is not as bad as South Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, Thailand and Vietnam which all ranked in the bottom of the BSA standings, but when you think about the long-term implications of their infrastructure and broadband access in small rural parts the outlook don't look so rosey.
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