Skyscape Cloud Services push the boat out

Time was, when you went to the cinema, there was always an advert for the local curry house.

These short promotional films followed rules from which no deviation was permitted.

The cameraman had to have the shakes. The soundtrack had to be just as unsteady, as though it was hanging on, rather listlessly, and didn't much care if it lost its grip.

The first grainy shot would have the proprietor, off-centre, trying to smile naturally and failing. All expense spared, the film would cut to a close-up of congealed entrails in a cracked bowl and then pull back to show a lot of worryingly pasty-faced people with no make-up sitting round a table and looking as though they might try eating the entrails. Or not.

Finally, without warning, it would stop being daylight and while the sound recordist replaced the sitar music with something more Hawaiian a voice-over would explain to us that the restaurant was just three doorways from this very venue, as though we didn't know, next to the betting shop.

It's always been a mystery. What happened to the professionals who made these gems? Where are they now? Let's face it, we miss them, it's part of our heritage.

Mystery solved. Take a look at this. Five-and-a-half minutes of Skyscape Cloud Services – Storage as a Service on EMC Atmos.

Let the whole thing waft over you and then try to answer a few questions:

• How much training was the graphic designer given? Any?
• Why didn't they just re-record the voice-over instead of editing it, apparently with a trowel?
• Who is being advertised? Skyscape? Or EMC?
• What are they selling and why should you buy it?
• How far are they from the betting shop?
• Can you remember anything about the film you've just seen?

It's a hugely nostalgic five-and-a-half minutes. Especially when you realise that HMRC have contracted with this company, probably Skyscape but maybe EMC, to store a lot of our data currently kept at HMRC local offices. And that GDS, the Government Digital Service, have contracted with them to host GOV.UK, the website on which all public services are supposed soon to depend.

Does this little film inspire you with the confidence to host your website and store your data with Skyscape/EMC? Or would you rather eat the congealed entrails after all?