Sony PlayStation Network: Gaming Cloud Remains Dark

By samdizzy

For cloud computing this week represents the worst of times — and the best of times. On the downside, the Sony PlayStation Network cloud has been down since April 20 and the outages could stretch into this weekend. Amazon Web Services (AWS) also suffered a cloud outage this week. But don’t weep for the cloud: Strong financial results from VMware and cloud-related technology companies suggest cloud demand continues to grow rapidly.

First the bad news: In a blog post, Sony on April 21 said the PlayStation Network (PSN) cloud outage could linger for “a full day or two” before the service is “completely back up and running.” CNN and other web sites speculate that hackers took down Sony PSN. Either way, it could be a long weekend for frustrated PSN online (er, offline) gamers.

Meanwhile, Amazon also suffered a glaring web outage this week. But investors seem to be shrugging off the short-term bump and focusing on Amazon’s long-term cloud opportunity: Amazon shares are training near a 52-week high — as are many other cloud stocks. A range of tech companies — VMware, IBM and Intel, F5 and EMC, to name a few — delivered strong quarterly results this week.

We’ll be updating the Talkin’ Cloud Stock Index this weekend with the latest performance indicators.

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