Darn! The cringing sound of grinding metal. Smoke billowing from the vibrating hood. And temperature needle pinned to the red zone.
It was bound to happen but I’d hoped not for a few years. The 2005 Acura TSX finally hit a breaking point my executive skills could no longer bear. The 150k miles was more than I’d asked. A second AC compressor in 4-years at $1200 each finally did me in.
At noon on Highway 101 in downtown LA nonetheless. What a devastating setback this would have been a decade ago. But in this everything as a service, on-demand economy, no big deal. Providers for every problem are just moments away.
Everything as a Service
With my leased smartphone, I scrolled to the AAA service app, pre-configured with membership and payment info. After minimal data entry and screenshot location, an Arizona agent dispatched a local tow shop to rescue me.
Text message arrival notice - 20 minutes. Enough time for a makeshift solution. Santa Monica Honda, 15 miles. Import Auto Repair, 17 miles. CarMax free appraisal, one in Burbank, one near LAX.
Decision time … rent or own. iPhone Dropbox showed the same repair in 2013. Front breaks in ‘14, tires in ‘15, and air bag sensor last year. The verdict was in. Time to cut losses and get a new car.
Pay as you go
Or wait. Maybe rideshare for a few months and see what happens. ‘That’s possible,’ I thought. No need for long term commitment. Or any commitment. Simply pay as you go. Just like cloud computing from Microsoft Azure.
But could I make dinner in San Diego with my aunt? The Munchery order was set. Scroll to Waze, swipe to Weather Channel, and click KTLA Breaking News. Yep. And likely with a $5000 check in my pocket.
As I look back, there’s no doubt that shared economy app developers in Baltimore and Bangalore had scaled up their cloud servers for the Thanksgiving weekend. While bankers in New York and Singapore scaled down.
State-side demand spikes likely met overseas supply gluts with hardly worry in the boardroom or scrum lab. Thresholds were hit and IT alerted. But at the end of the day, I settled in for a nice family dinner with, and hopefully developers and ops teams did too.
SOI and Service Catalogs
Underlying this shared economy, fueled by digital upstarts, is an assortment of cloud solution unlike the legacy systems supporting aging applications. While still containing storage, compute, and security, these platforms are paired with automated management and service catalogs, collectively known as service-oriented infrastructure (SOI).
Within SOI, service catalogs allow IT to centrally create and manage pre-approved templates and solutions for application developers. And they quickly find and implement certified services with less ramp up and fewer concerns.
Azure DevTest Labs, Managed Applications Service Catalogs, and other cloud services are Microsoft three offerings that enable fast access to SOI. Without long-term commitments or up-front cost, IT and app teams can be up and running with on-demand infrastructure in minutes or days versus weeks or months.
Next Steps with Microsoft and Trianz
So how do you get there from here? Hire a seasoned staff, craft a complex plan, and study infrastructure migration? Or call on on-demand experts, just finished with similar projects, to jump in and tow the load?
In other words, should you rent or own this project? In today’s everything as a service environment, consider this option carefully. Expert cloud solutions, like Microsoft’s Azure, and seasoned digital transformation consultants, like Azure’s business and certified technical specialists, are just moments away to come to your rescue.
And by the way, did the European Wine Club, with the Brazilian sommelier, deliver that vintage Cab yet? Ah, who cares. Instacart is on its way from the urban winery that’s leasing space from the bankrupt book store. Or was it a Honda dealer?
