Cloud computing isn’t meant to replace
a company’s current infrastructure or help
outsource its entire data center operations.
Most enterprises take advantage of existing
resources through a mix of public and private
clouds.
1 PUBLIC/PRIVATE CLOUDS
6 DELIVERY MODEL, NOT BLACK BOX
Cloud computing is a delivery model, not a technology. It
represents the combination of some now-mature technologies
(taken from prior initiatives such as grid computing, utility
computing, SAAS and online storage) to create a paradigm
shift in how IT is delivered.
Cloud computing is ideally suited
for pre-production workloads—for example,
for testing and development and storage.
2 CLOUD APPLICATIONS
3 ONE SIZE DOESN’T FIT ALL
Cloud computing models should be built to
take into account a company’s specific business
challenges and needs. For example, clients in
the financial services or public sectors that are
especially concerned about
governance, security, data
protection and reliability
might consider evaluating
a private or hybrid cloud
approach.
7 NOT JUST FOR SMALL PLAYERS
Cloud computing isn’t strictly an SMB
play. Many large enterprise customers are
consuming a mix of services from public and
private cloud models—a hybrid approach—to
support business resiliency, information protection and collaboration services.
8 SELF-SERVICE CAPACITY
Cloud computing is similar to ATMs in the banking
industry. Years ago, banks looked to see which transactions
they could make “self-service” to help reduce the amount of
tellers and other staff required in a branch. The ATM was
born to handle certain types of transactions: withdrawals,
deposits, etc., in a self-service model.
Cloud computing isn’t just about improving efficiencies by
maximizing capital expenses and reducing operating expenses.
Consider how standardized business processes can be an
enabling force to expand or invent services that can address
the world’s biggest problems, helping to create a more connected, smarter planet.
5 PLANNING
10 CHOOSE THE RIGHT WORKLOAD
Cloud computing isn’t just about signing up
for a service and getting it. You need to have a
sophisticated system management platform in
place. You have to think about problems that will
arise and how you’ll diagnose them in real time.
9 STANDARDIZING BUSINESS PROCESSES
4 CLOUD-Y IT STRATEGY
Cloud computing is an important part of a
company’s IT strategy and needs to be handled
as such. This entails having a common architecture for cloud deployments, a workload
analysis of what is applicable to a cloud, ROI
studies to ensure that you will get a good return
on your cloud investment, and an integration
strategy to tie in cloud services and storage
with other IT services.
Cloud computing is appropriate for many workloads, but not
all. Workloads that are complex in nature, have high compliancy
requirements and/or are mission-critical
may not be appropriate for the cloud delivery model. Conversely, infrastructure ser- ery model. Conversely, infrastructure ser- ery model. Conversely, infrastructure ser
vices, applications such as e-mail and data
analytics, and development platforms will
migrate to a cloud model quite nicely.
