“Cash for Clunkers” Should Have Used the Cloud!

Enomaly: Startup of the Week

By G C Network | November 18, 2008

Congratulations to Enomaly and Reuven Cohen for being named Startup of the Week byInformationWeek !!! Reuven and I collaborate quite a bit and his blog, Elastic Vapor, is a staple for anyone interested in…

Cloud Computing at DoD, DISA, DIA, CENTCOM and NCOIC

By G C Network | November 17, 2008

At CloudCamp last week, Military Information Technology distributed free copies of it’s November issue to all attendees. The issue contains a very informative article by Cheryl Gerber titled “Computing in…

Last Night’s Camp Out !!

By G C Network | November 13, 2008

Check out Tech BISNOW for more on CloudCamp Federal! Follow me at https://Twitter.com/Kevin_Jackson

CloudCamp Federal was AWESOME !!

By G C Network | November 13, 2008

Just got home from CloudCamp Federal. What an event!! The over 100 attendees definitely made the statement that the Fed is interested in cloud computing. As expected, cloud security was…

DISA taps CollabNet to manage DoD cloud software development

By G C Network | November 12, 2008

This week, the Defense information Systems Agency (DISA) announced that they will be using Collabnet tools to manage application development for RACE. The Computerworld article said that DISA will use…

Today is CloudCamp Federal !!

By G C Network | November 12, 2008

Today we kick of off the first CloudCamp Federal. Reuven Cohen, Bob Lozano, Brand Niemann and over 150 other cloud computing enthusiast are expected to attend. We also plan to…

CloudCamp “Sold Out” !! More Tickets Added

By G C Network | November 11, 2008

We are happy to announce that CloudCamp Federal (aka DC), taking place tomorrow at Apptis headquarters in Chantilly, VA (directions), is sold out. But don’t fret, we’ve added 25 more…

President-Elect Obama: Good for Cloud Computing

By G C Network | November 11, 2008

In his article, “What Does Obama Revolution Mean to Cloud Computing“, Krishnan Subramanian lays out a rosy picture for cloud computing: Protecting the openness of Internet: crucial for cloud computing…

Only 9 tickets left for CloudCamp Federal !!

By G C Network | November 10, 2008

Only 9 tickets left from the original allotment of 150 for CloudCamp Federal this week. We’re working to free up some more, but don’t leave it to chance. Go to…

Valiant Angel – A Perfect PED Application for Cloud Computing

By G C Network | November 10, 2008

A few weeks ago in an article title “Why the Cloud? Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination“, I described two instances where the newspaper industry used cloud computing in order to process,…

Rich Bruklis wrote an excellent essy on how the government missed a perfect opportunity to use cloud computing. In “Cloud Opportunity Missed” he writes:
“It appears that the voucher system set up to handle dealer claims was crushed by unusual high demand. Now ‘unusual high demand’ to me is synonymous with cloud computing.”
He also cited three drivers that caused the problem:
– The high popularity surprised the auto industry which forecasted that the program wouldn’t have a major effect on sales.
– The dealer sales people ‘pre-sold’ the program to customers causing an initial rush to the Cash for Clunkers web site and crashed the system.
– The Transportation Department officials were presented with just 30 days to get the program up and running.
As Rich also noted, it seems that the Government instictively relied on less automation, not more, by adding 700 more human claims processors to the original 300 midway through the program.
Why didn’t they consider cloud computing !! SCRATCH THAT!!

Update: Apparently they did use cloud computing !! According to a Washington Post article, Oracle OnDemand application was used:
“Administration officials said the On Demand program, produced by Oracle, allowed Cash for Clunkers to keep running even as consumer interest in it rose in the initial days by more than 10 times the government’s projections.”
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3 Comments

  1. Rebecca on August 25, 2009 at 2:42 pm

    Kinda reminds me of the "Look before you leap" quote. Rushing into things just to get them done often leads to big mistakes which can be very costly.



  2. Venkat Girish CISSP on September 29, 2009 at 2:53 am

    This is a huge misnomer that the Government didn't use cloud. It used Oracle's OnDemand services – which essentially is a cloud based offering from Oracle – See vivek's acknowledgement of the same and how it saved the day for Cash for clunkers eventually by just googling "Washington post Vivek Cash for clunkers"



  3. Kevin L. Jackson on September 30, 2009 at 11:53 am

    Outstanding!! Thanks for clearing that up.