For me, the real innovation in GoogleAppEngine (GAE) is the provision of the Open SDK which is basically an open sourced standard. This open SDK can be re-implemented on other environments, even Amazon's, and hence is a first real step towards portability in the world of SaaS, PaaS, FaaS or whatever other aaS you desire.
Anyway, whilst it is an interesting distraction from my current work on innovation, it is already something which I've talked about for many years. I've provided links to videos for my OSCON & Web 2.0 Expo talks for those who are interested in more.
Video of OSCON talk - Commoditisation of IT (approx 40 minutes)
Video of Web 2.0 EXPO talk - Short on Storage, Long on Cycles
(approx 40 minutes)
I've read a number posts about GAE over the last few days, most of them seem to focus on the details but I've picked a few places that I consider are really good:
- Jesse Robbins raises some interesting questions about utility computing.
- Tom Gleeson provides an excellent analysis of Python as the new VBA
- Niall Kennedy provides a good analysis of what GAE is from a developer's perspective.
- Dion Hinchcliffe provides a good comparison between Amazon and GAE
- Doug Cutting examines open sourced implementations of cloud computing standards.
- James Urquhart provides a good analysis on what GAE isn't.
