I love movies. I enjoy re-watching a movie and picking up new details and new hidden meanings that had previously gone unnoticed in previous viewings and I have stumbled on a little known Star Wars fact and I am about to share it with you.
Did you know that Obi-Wan kenobi was the first to adopt Cloud Technology? I realized this while watching Star Wars with my daughter this past weekend. The specific scene I am referencing was when Obi-Wan tells Darth Vader that if he strikes him down he will become more powerful. When I was a child, that scene made zero sense to me. He certainly didn't seem more powerful. To me, he actually looked weaker. At the time, in my head, he was reduced to a transparent spirit that could not physically impact the outcome of a situation.
Like most kids, I was very surface oriented. Looking deep into a situation to find meaning was not in my playbook. I wanted constant carnage. So, when Darth Vader sliced Obi-Wan into thin air with his light saber and nothing happened I was understandably disappointed. I had visions of Obi-Wan releasing the Kraken (different movie, but still amazing…the original of course) the moment Darth Vader struck him down. That didn’t happen and it left a little boy confused. That was powerful? Mr. T in Rocky III (first fight) or Bruce the Shark or even E.T.’s extra-long finger all defined the word powerful in my mind. Now that I work with Cloud Technology & Hosted VoIP, I understand what Obi-Wan meant. Post light saber gash Obi-Wan was more powerful in the same way that the Cloud is more powerful than Legacy Technology. Let me break this down using the (4) primary advantages of the Cloud as they relate to Obi-Wan.
Luckily for you, I am a Star Wars geek, so I will take you through this step by step until you witness the true power of the Cloud.
Mobility: This is an easy place to start, Obi-Wan just showed up when necessary to advise Luke Skywalker. He didn’t need help to get where he was going, he could just be where he needed to be, when he needed to be there. He would make his presence known and could be available anywhere and at any time. Remove the Cloud technology, and he never would have found Luke near-death in the middle of a blizzard on Hoth. Therefore, he would not have been able to tell Luke to go the Degobah System to visit Yoda to further his training. If Luke does not get that message, it is game over…the rebels are out of business due to poor communication and we never get introduced to Yoda which would have been a pop culture tragedy.
Redundancy: No matter how dire the onsite environment was, Obi-Wan was unaffected by it. Refer to the blizzard scene on Hoth again, Luke was near death, Ton Ton’s were freezing to death (literally) and yet Obi-Wan casually shows up in just his brown cloak and efficiently gets his message across clearly unaffected by the onsite conditions. If Obi-Wan were an on-premise system, he would have been an icicle, much like Luke almost was if it were not for Han showing up with no time left on the clock. The reality is Han would not have been able to save both Obi-Wan and Luke from freezing to death (there was only enough room in the frozen Ton Ton for one person and certainly the long term ramifications of Han’s choice would have caused a major disruption in the force).
Investment Protection: Obi-Wan no longer ages in the Cloud and he is always at his best, performing at his peak. He does not have to worry about a flu bug or some crazy new disease. He does not need the typical maintenance or checkups that most legacy platforms, I mean humans, must have in order to be healthy. No Doctor’s visits, Dentist appointments, physicals, vaccinations, colonoscopies or hip replacements. Obi-Wan does not exhibit the typical signs and costly issues with aging. He just continues to be Obi-Wan. He builds upon his mind, without his physical body getting in the way.
Scalability: Obi-Wan could grow without the need of additional hardware, he had no capacity issues…okay, so the Scalability Advantage does not apply, but 3 out of 4 Cloud Advantages is not bad.
I leave you with this, without the Cloud, the Empire would have successfully dominated the universe and who knows where we would be today if that had happened. I for one would not want to look up in the sky and feel the constant pressure of the Death Star baring down on me. That is no way to live.
May the Cloud Be With You.
Andy DeAngelis is the Executive Vice President of Votacall, a premier Hosted VoIP & Cloud-based UC Provider.