Throughout the computing era, we’ve seen the pendulum swing between customized and standard solutions. Custom solutions, tailored to the precise needs of an application or user, can boost efficiency, productivity, and ease-of-use, but come at a premium price. Standard solutions provide economies of scale, greater compatibility, and lower prices, but the “one-size-fits-all” approach doesn’t always live up to the promise in its name.
On balance, standardization has carried the day, but there are still many cases in which customization makes sense. One of those places where this is sometimes true is within the cloud computing realm – but only under the right circumstances and with the right tools.
