> I guess "Make America Great" may spawn a big Cloud Industry in Europe.
Unlikely.
I've worked at an american cloud provider and (in another job) i've worked with an european cloud provider (in this context, when I say "worked with" I mean i was in contact with the people actually managing the hardware as well as the software that serves the "cloud").
It's just a completely different mindset, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
The main issue i see is that european cloud providers mostly have technically-ignorant upper management for which providing a cloud offering essentially boils down to "buy this software component from company xyz (likely an american company) and install this open source product abc, then slap a cloud marketing name and unleash the salespeople". They can't even contemplate the idea hiring somebody with FAANG-level skills, paying it FAANG-level money and let it do FAANG-level work. They hire a few underpaid 20-somethings and have them manage, at best, an OpenStack installation.
I kid you not: in late 2021 i was in a meeting with (among the others) the head of cloud engineering of one such companies and asked when are they planning on offering ipv6 connectivity. The guy had a loud laugh and said they had no plans to even consider ipv6 connectivity. And that was at a company that does both "cloud" computing infrastructure and connectivity (!!!). That's the mindset.
I don't see europe building a realistic alternative to american cloud providers, and the core issue is not technical.
> The main issue i see is that european cloud providers mostly have technically-ignorant upper management for which providing a cloud offering essentially boils down to "buy this software component from company xyz (likely an american company) and install this open source product abc, then slap a cloud marketing name and unleash the salespeople". They can't even contemplate the idea hiring somebody with FAANG-level skills, paying it FAANG-level money and let it do FAANG-level work. They hire a few underpaid 20-somethings and have them manage, at best, an OpenStack installation.
Thank you! As a german that saw how the sauce is made in public sector tenders it's exactly this!
This is not restricted to hosting / cloud sector. It's a good summary for most german IT companies.
Arrogance and incompetence are rampant. Programmers and their managers need to go en masse to have some substantial change.
Everyone is so full of themselves and disconnected from reality it's scary.
>I don't see europe building a realistic alternative to american cloud providers, and the core issue is not technical.
The brain drain ultimately takes it toll. The most capable people from europe ( and every where else), move to US , be they engineers, management, entrepreneurs etc.
> The brain drain ultimately takes it toll. The most capable people from europe ( and every where else), move to US , be they engineers, management, entrepreneurs etc.
And they are going to stay there once the megalomaniac in chief and his South African oligarch have gone with their wrecking ball through the very fabric of the US society and economy?
the real point is not ipv6 (or this or that specific service). the point is the attitude.
anybody in this subthread bikeshedding what aws service supports what version of the ip protocol has missed the point and would probably fail a text comprehension test.
Nobody missed the point. The examples of AWS after 15 years still being dragged into full IPv6, is to show the lack of support for IPv6, is not the lack of technical awareness that is trying to be demonstrated.
Depending on the context, and granted, lacking some of the subtle details missing in the interaction described, might actually show real experience in the field.
They also move too slowly, so they fall further and further behind each year.
For example, Hetzner has great potential, but they’re only just now releasing object storage after 4 years in the cloud space, and they don’t even have managed database yet.
But the more important point was that they started branding themselves as a cloud vendor 4 years ago, and investing in new offerings around that pitch, but it’s taking them far too long to release basic parts of the offering, and they’re falling behind.
My local European ISP provided me /64 IPv6 addresses since at least 2020 and had so called sticky IPv4 addresses since at last 1999. They were sticky because they did not change for years if the box was connected within 15 min.
This was possible because motivated individuals held technical positions in the ISP while the management has been totally incompetent and was later jugged outright corrupt.
Because of corrupt management and public scandals, my ISP has been sold to Orange. I am afraid this will end the 25 years of technical excellence as well.
Unlikely.
I've worked at an american cloud provider and (in another job) i've worked with an european cloud provider (in this context, when I say "worked with" I mean i was in contact with the people actually managing the hardware as well as the software that serves the "cloud").
It's just a completely different mindset, and I don't see that changing any time soon.
The main issue i see is that european cloud providers mostly have technically-ignorant upper management for which providing a cloud offering essentially boils down to "buy this software component from company xyz (likely an american company) and install this open source product abc, then slap a cloud marketing name and unleash the salespeople". They can't even contemplate the idea hiring somebody with FAANG-level skills, paying it FAANG-level money and let it do FAANG-level work. They hire a few underpaid 20-somethings and have them manage, at best, an OpenStack installation.
I kid you not: in late 2021 i was in a meeting with (among the others) the head of cloud engineering of one such companies and asked when are they planning on offering ipv6 connectivity. The guy had a loud laugh and said they had no plans to even consider ipv6 connectivity. And that was at a company that does both "cloud" computing infrastructure and connectivity (!!!). That's the mindset.
I don't see europe building a realistic alternative to american cloud providers, and the core issue is not technical.