The IT Metamorphosis

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“We’re putting everything into the Cloud”

Has any phrase in recent years been so universally adopted to serve as the summation point for corporate IT

strategy than this one? From one perspective, this is a perfectly logical assertion since you won’t find many

naysayers in, or outside, of the organization that will argue that this is some form of heresy in relation to

current IT orthodoxy. On the other hand what does this really mean when we scratch below the surface? Do

they really mean everything? Does this mean they are pre-disposed to outsourcing large swaths of business

critical applications? Do they have a network architecture to support their plan? All are valid considerations

as they reflect a changing dynamic in the operational environment of the IT organization and their role in

servicing the myriad requirements of the enterprise.

The Traditional Role

While every department in any company feels besieged from time to time, in many respects, corporate

IT departments seem to have been invented to serve as the organization’s universal “whipping boy”. IT

governance sometimes creates the thought that that department is “where bold initiatives go to die”. In many

instances these perceptions are fed by parochial views within the company as to the role of the “Information

Technology” department. Under this paradigm, the IT department acts as a vigilant gatekeeper focused on

maintaining control over IT cost and security. This reflects the historical role of IT as a reactive, task-oriented

organization and the data center as the repository for the company’s applications’ supporting hardware. IT

can, and must, change this perception.

Historically, the role of IT

within the organization

has been reactive and

task oriented.

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The Alternatives

The universe of technology is populated with innovations and products that patiently await their rediscovery

and re-adoption. For example, applications that now proliferate under the label of “cloud”—SalesForce.com,

for example—are really just new iterations of offerings once known as Application Services Providers (ASP)

of the 1990’s. In fact, we may consider cloud-based solutions to be the equivalent of a product “stack” that

are available to support one or more corporate applications:

1 Application-as-a-Service (AaaS)

2 Shared cloud

3 Dedicated/Bare Metal cloud

4 Colocation

5 Dedicated Facilities

Each of these alternatives supports network communications via public internet access to an application such

as Salesforce.com—or direct access offerings at peering points for the provision of enhanced performance. For

example, the provision of Office365 from an Equinix facility uses a business’ private network with x-connect

to Microsoft’s private network.

Application-as-a-Service

AaaS is, obviously, the provision of a remotely hosted application by a third party source.

Shared Cloud

A cursory examination of the technology that provides the foundation for shared clouds reveals something

akin to a distributed version of the classic mainframe shared virtual machine structures that have existed for

decades. Capacity on a server is partitioned to support multiple customers, each of which are competing for

processor access. This arrangement is predicated on the premise that no single

user on the server will have a processing need so large that it will negatively

impact on its fellow server residents. This has made shared cloud offerings

attractive for a number of customers with 1) small or uncertain storage and

processing requirements such as “test/dev”, or 2) applications with variable

“bursting” needs of compute, and 3) applications with large scalable demand

such as NetFlix. Coupled with the size of its major providers including Amazon

(AWS), Microsoft (Azure), shared cloud is the de facto term used when

someone refers to the “cloud”. It is also the primary source of “shadow IT”

where a credit card swipe allows any employee to get started building an

application.Shared cloud is the de facto term used

when someone refers to the “cloud”

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Dedicated/Bare Metal

The next rung of the cloud ladder, which goes by a variety of monikers with the most prevalent being Bare

Metal Cloud (BMC), is what has been traditionally known as a dedicated server. Quite simply, these offerings

are the antithesis of shared offerings as the supported application(s) are housed on one or more single user

servers. Typically sold using a menu of processor and storage configurations, the concept itself is predicated

on the fact that some end users have applications that require either a higher degree of security and/or

performance needs than is available in a shared environment.

Colocation

Although they can, and often do, incorporate applications whose requirements are at a level above what

can be supported by either a shared or dedicated environment, colocation is really the next step in terms of

the scalability of an organization’s necessary computing environment. These outsourced solutions enable a

business to outsource at least some portion of their data center applications to a third party provider. Typically,

a colocation data center will house a business’ mission critical servers in a cage or cabinets in a shared MEP

environment. Network interconnection needs can also drive colocation; a situation that makes sense since

the genesis of the term “co-location” originated from the ability of companies to co-locate equipment at a

Bell Central Office.

Dedicated Facilities

Dedicated facilities, data centers for example, are, as the name implies, the sole domain of a single user.

The non-shared nature of these locations make them the natural alternatives for organizations that require

complete control over all aspects of the operation of the facility and the applications that are housed

within them. Up until recently, most enterprises had to build, and own, a facility themselves in order to get

a dedicated facility. Now, specialized service providers provide dedicated facilities either for the just the

data center component or for the entire building including ancillary spaces via lease or sale. Typically the

need for a dedicated facility is driven by a variety of factors including enhanced security, scale or regulatory

requirements.

Colocation enables a business to outsource

at least some portion of their data center

applications to a third party provider

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The Four Factors

The decision as to what solution is best suited to support a corporate application or applications is based on

the interrelationship between four specific factors:

1 Regulation and risk

2 Scale

3 Control

4 Expertise

As we shall see, the interrelationship between these factors is far from linear and reinforces the need for IT

to step up to it’s new role of evaluating and determining the platform for applications based on the strategic

requirements of the organization. In making these assessments, IT must weigh the “costs”, both financial

and in terms of risk, that are associated with each potential platform to determine the best choice for the

organization.

Regulation and Risk

Regulatory requirements can vary widely between industries. Strict confidentiality rules characterize the

health and financial industries, for example. In some instances, regulatory requirements can apply regardless

of specific business types. Statutes regarding the requirements regarding the movement of information across

international boundaries must be negotiated in many cloud-based scenarios, for example. Sometimes, the

risks or regulatory restrictions involved with a shared environment outweigh the benefit of convenience or

cost of outsourcing options.

Scale

The shear scale of data that must be stored and processed, and on what timeline, is the primary factor that

must be considered when assessing the scalability requirements of a potential solutions platform.

If the scale of total data consumed does not exceed a stair step amount, outsourced options can be the only

cost effective approach. This is why shared cloud and application-as-a-service are so popular with small

business. Even if they wanted the performance and security benefits of further down the stack, the costs are

prohibitive for the scale of their business.

Perhaps more common than applications with finite scalability requirements, are those that grow rapidly in

a relatively short period of time. In these instances, cost becomes a major, if not the primary driver. These

considerations are applicable across all potential platforms with the exception of dedicated data centers. In

each instance, the cost required to support the experienced growth eliminates the cost effectiveness of the

existing platform. In a colocation scenario, for example, the costs of expansion, or even the option to expand,

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can change dramatically if the current location runs out of space or power thereby generating the need to take

space in another location. In such an instance, potential costs must be weighed against other alternatives that

may make more financial sense for the business. Another example may be found with Bare Metal Clouds.

Often times an organization’s chosen method of financial treatment can substantially contribute to the need

to house those applications in the company’s own dedicated data center.

Control

In shared environments, be they cloud, hosting or colocation, the end user knowingly relinquishes some degree

of control over the computing environment. Typically this abdication includes areas such as oversight of the

location’s personnel and the scheduling of maintenance/technician activities amongst others. Companies

who place a high level of importance on these, and other related attributes are more likely to seek options that

are increasingly dedicated to them alone.

As would be expected, the definition of control varies from company to company. Typically, control can

mean anything from the ability to easily access usage statistics to high-level requirements based on factors

including the sensitivity of information, the frequency of hardware refreshes and moves/adds/changes

and even the personnel who support the facility. Although the factors the organization’s use to determine

the need for greater control over their applications, and the facilities/technologies that support them, do

not necessarily move in lockstep, they do tend to become more demanding as they rise in corporate and

customer importance.

Expertise

More so than its three counterparts, expertise is most closely aligned with the required platform. Although

the average IT organization typically possesses a wealth of technical knowledge, depending on the platform

required, internal resources may be more cost-effectively used in another area. For example, your IT

department certainly has the ability to provide a email exchange hosting solution but their time may be spent

more effectively elsewhere.

In evaluating the proper “home” for corporate applications, IT must make their determination based on a sliding scale of factors.

*Private cloud resides in a dedicated dc or colo

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IT, The Strategic Decision Maker

For years CIO’s have been bombarded with the unsolicited advice from industry analysts and pundits declaring

that in order to offer real corporate value they must adopt a more strategic role corporate role. Although

this admonition was probably always good advice, the dynamic nature the applications being implemented

by today’s businesses, and the variety of platforms available to support them, now makes it an imperative

requirement. Adopting this role means that IT will need to shift from operating in a reactive, tactical capacity

to one that is actively involves them in the earliest stages of corporate initiatives.

To serve a company’s strategic needs as they relate to their data driven projects and applications, IT

organizations will need to assume a consultative role in which they are responsible for marrying the appropriate

outsourcing or insourcing solution to specific applications. This “right-sizing” responsibility is predicated on

IT’s ability to evaluate the level of internal scale, expertise and control required for an application or project to

determine the most suitable platform required for its support.

By constantly understanding the market offerings, as well as, the “why behind the choices, the quiver of

today’s CIO is contains a variety of arrows to address the varying IT needs within the organization. The

answer is no longer this or that, but more of a menu of choices with each choice answering the key business

needs differently.

Summary

The world of data centers and IT has been historically been one of gradual evolution, but events and

capabilities that have emerged over the past 3-5 years present both a challenge, and opportunity to the IT

organization. The diversity of requirements within a single business is rapidly making the reactive mode of

operation that has heretofore characterized IT organizations not only obsolete but can serve as a governor on

corporate innovation as well. A shift in this mentality and method of operation is obviously required, but the

“repurposing” of familiar technologies to support “new” computing environments offers IT the opportunity to

capitalize on it inherent capabilities. The shift to a consultative/service provider mode of operation is a natural

transition, as opposed to a radical change, for CIO’s to define and implement. Organizations that embrace

this opportunity will find their IT departments to be a key element of corporate innovation as opposed to a

provider of last resort.

Compass delivers high-end, certified, dedicated data centers faster, with more features and personalization options at a lower cost than competing alternatives anywhere our customers want them. For more information, visit www.compassdatacenters.com.