Cloud: And The Definition Is?
Platform as a ServiceInfrastructure as a Service
Software as a ServiceIT as a Service
Utility Computing
Distributed InfrastructureInternet Enabled IT
Distributed DatacenterConverged Distributed
Infrastructure Remote Data Vaulting
Yes, and more…
All that matters is, how does it help your business?
Its all about the applications and the end user service! Right data at the right place at the right time, and at the right cost- what else is there? That is every IT shops mission, cloud supports those goals
While interesting to some, users don’t really care about the actual hardware or delivery mechanisms; this is about abstracting physical datacenter from the end users and extending a consistent user experience to any authorized network connected device- eventually…
It is also about transforming IT itself to better support the business, through enhanced to access key applications and data delivered in a expandable utility like fashion
One thing is for sure, cloud computing will force IT to grow in to having a more relevant role in fulfilling business needs and in providing a competitive advantage in the company's vertical markets
Source and govern services that result in the right business outcome
IT organizationinternal service providerCloud
services
Internal services
Hosted, managed services
Business outcomesBusiness outcomes
Accelerate growth
Lower costs
Mitigate risk
Service portfolio
ServiceSourced
Service Delivered
Managing a hybrid service ecosystem takes a new kind of leadership
Valu
e S
ourc
ed Lines of
business
Business functions
Enterprise IT S
Business outcome
Cloud
Internal
Hosted, managed, outsourced
Business
users
S
S
SBusiness
outcome
Perspective on the IT service supply chain
7
IT organizationinternal service provider
In-house services
Enterprise-class software
Dedicated and shared infrastructure
Hostedservices
Hosted / outsourced service provider
Enterprise-class software
Dedicated and sharedinfrastructure
Cloudservices
Cloud service provider
Massive scale-out infrastructure
Global-class software
Public business services
Private business services
Dedicated
Shared
On premisesCustomer-owned data center
Off premisesService provider’s data center
Dedicated
On premisesCustomer-owned data center
Off premisesService provider’s data center
Native Cloud
Software and System Design
Resources dedicated to each workload; Co-lo, managed, hosted, multi-client data center
Service provider shares resources across workloads of multiple customers
Resources shared across workloads
Resources dedicated to each workload
Who are the primary targets for Cloud Near Term?
For awhile, I think most wide scale adoption will be fairly polarized between the very large and very small enterprises
The largest players are creating Cloud as they go and using it as a discernable competitive advantage, no one vendor could have provided them with what they needed- and they will continue to drive innovation and scale
Smaller business are prime for what I consider IT as a Service; they do not have the expertise, nor the economy of scale to be IT competitive- manufactures will bundle semi-customizable small office packages and just plain get them out of IT
Which leave the vast majority of business that land in the middle, where?
The Vast Middle Ground- gradual adoption
Many business that have capable IT staff and good infrastructure now, will balance build vs. buy, internal vs. external implementations, and application readiness and security issues with business priorities
Some factors that will slow down external cloud adoption are regulations, available bandwidth, cost of bandwidth, and performance needs of applications like databases, data mining, Business Intelligence and Business Analytic software
There will be no one direction shops will go- some apps will be prime for external cloud, some will need to be private in house clouds and some apps will just be served in the traditional way for many years
While on the ground it’s called fog… it’s not a cloud until it rises…
What About PC’s?
In a real way VDI is already a Cloud hybrid- many shops are looking to provide essentially PC as a Service in a local area setting
Looking outside the walls of the enterprise, PC over IP provides a delivery mechanism that can give a user a persistent PC image everywhere they go, with cloud as a distribution point
Another mobile and remote PC play is a virtual image that is “dockable”, where it is checked out when off the net, and checked back in when connectivity is restored to backup data and update OS and apps- a floating app in the cloud…
Down the road, Applications as a Service could break the PC paradigm, and that model would be best served by cloud computing… just look at Google Apps right now
What Does Cloud Ready Mean? (Breaking through the vendor hype)
The reality is, almost all vendors are using works like cloud ready, cloud enabled, cloud friendly, cloud compliant- and in some cases that is like saying a shovel is “ditch ready”, sure it can be done but you will be the one doing the heavy lifting…
Press hardware and software vendors for what their 2-3 year plan is around hardware and software integration plans- how are they going to enable you to build an in house cloud model with their products?
Pay special attention to partnerships manufactures are forming around this as well, there is still no one manufacture that has the “complete cloud in a rack” offering
Outside perspective- don’t be shy in engaging VAR’s and consultants as you go, but make sure they can tie plans and recommendations back to your legacy equipment and your specific business requirements