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For at least a decade, US higher ed has been all-in on outsourcing as much IT to Google and MS as possible. It's been years since the last major US university replaced internally-operated email with one of those two.
One of the few computer-related services not yet completely surrendered to "the cloud" is HPC, but that's not for lack of trying. Years of literally screaming lies into the faces of researchers and IT people has taken its toll - a generation quit/retired/laid off.
To me, this all amounts to en-masse institutional self lobotomization. The talent that created the collection of technologies we call the Internet were replaced by service contracts with monopolists - contracts negotiated by incompetent poseurs. The result is the complete loss of self-determination - you get what they let you have.
The old team isn't getting back together, but efforts like Othernets might help us field the team we need now.
@lolcat Do you know my cloudheads paper abt. this?
No, but thanks for the pointer!
I assume this is the paper?
@lolcat Not sure if it is the newest version; This one is for sure: http://dx.doi.org/10.56553/popets-2023-0044
Also check out this report: http://dx.doi.org/10.17617/2.3532055
(all open access)
Thanks again for pointing me at your paper. The section on "Cloud Infrastructures and Power" neatly tracks ideas I have shared with Bert in earlier correspondence. FWIW, in my experience, the Uni and IT admins responsible for negotiating these agreements with Big Cloud were in deep over their heads. People with no business background at all were suddenly expounding on the importance of OPEX v CAPEX, etc. It made them feel good to cosplay as captains of industry.
The following section on Academic Freedom also rings true. All the way back in 2000, Intel granted million$$ in equipment to universities through their Education 2000 program.
At one R1 uni, several million$ were split between Arts & Sci and Engineering. The meddlesome CS chair who would go on to become a don in the Cloud Mafia was the Engineering PI, and he required all equipment procured for his college to run MS Windows.
...
...
He garnered huge credit with Redmond, but it meant most of the gear ended up being used as doorstops.
Later, when fundraising for new buildings, the boot licking paid off several times over. Some might say that's just shrewd politics. Others might counter that that's a slippery slope with a pool of piranhas at the end.
One more observation, and I'll stop spamming Mastodon.
You observe that in the absence of intra-institutional coordination, universities struggle to support alternatives to Big Cloud. In the US, one of the largest IT collaborations is Internet2, and it appears to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of those same cloud interests.
Lots of public interest laws regarding accepting gifts in excess of a few bucks are routinely violated at those meetings.
@lolcat @tfiebig That is quite an accusation.
For many in R&E, there is lots to criticize. Its initiatives are too niche, driven largely by a small handful of projects or people that are of little interest to most members. Or the member cost is of dubious value - I was very, very close to dropping membership for my institution a few years ago.
They look a lot like a buying consortium now, but to suggest they are corrupt? No, without any evidence, such an insinuation can be as easily dismissed as it was made.
Maybe I should have been clearer. I'm not suggesting anyone was receiving envelopes stuffed with cash, but something much more prosaic. You've probably heard the axiom that academic politics are so brutal because the stakes are so low? I'm claiming the value of steak and cocktails consumed sometimes (routinely) exceeds allowable limits. It's not only untoward, but also against the rules for state employees.