Do we need cloud oriented architecture?

One of the criticisms leveled at service oriented architecture is that the 'architecture' aspect has often been overlooked. In one of his latest analyses, ZapThink's Ron Schmelzer wonders where architecture fits among all the excitement around cloud computing.

"The discussion of architecture has been given short shrift in cloud computing conversations. In much the same way that the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) conversation degenerated into a conversation about the (often unnecessary) Enterprise Services Bus (ESB), the cloud conversation is degenerating into one about the infrastructure needed to handle scalable service provider volume."

Cloud providers have been more concerned with infrastructural concerns than business requirements, Ron said. "When the 'architecture team' meets in these cloud providers, what problems are they aiming to solve? Business problems?" he asks. "Certainly not. ... Where’s the business in all this? The answer: nowhere."

As a result, Ron also pointed out that moving to the cloud will not take away the need for solid enterprise architecture go away -- it will make EA even more important.