Have you noticed that when vendors talk about the cloud, the conversation often revolves around their own product or service? You may come to believe that the “cloud” is defined by a specific set of equipment and software.
It’s not. The cloud is a concept, and it can be attained via various routes and with multiple vendor’s gear. Your options are open, which is the point of this series.
We’re going to discuss what the cloud is, what technologies are involved, and how you can get there with the vendors of your choice.
Why this matters
It’s an important discussion because cloud concepts will save you time and money. For many users, these concepts already are. Every week, we meet with users who have implemented substantial portions of the cloud model. They get more done on fewer servers, and their IT people can implement projects in hours or days, rather than weeks or months.
Furthermore, they’re building the foundation for what’s to come.
Which is the second point: This is a journey. The technology does not yet support the entire vision — despite the hype! Even for those who are furthest along, there is still tremendous opportunity to do more.
What is the Cloud, anyway?
We’ll start this series what a look at what the cloud is, and get to implementation in future posts.
There are a number of cloud definitions, and then some sub-definitions (public vs private cloud, for example), but we need a definition to build a discussion around. So let’s look at two levels.
The high level view
At the very highest level, the cloud is a model for delivering IT services, as opposed to simply delivering infrastructure and applications. This is an important distinction for what we’re trying to achieve. Why? Because thinking of it as a service implies these attributes:
It’s there when you need it- You don’t pay for it when you don’t need it
- Availability is generally very high
It’s like plugging into the wall socket for power. The organization plugs in “business requirements,” and the IT organization delivers the needed services on demand.
Of course, this sounds terrific but it’s not very actionable.
Getting more specific
To build a useful model, we need a more specific definition. From that, we can design an architecture and then see how the design measures up against the definition.
Gartner offers five useful criteria that provide this framework that define the cloud as:
1) Service-based
It’s the service that matters (email services, database services, or web services, etc.). This means defining the service and the service level. How much performance is needed? What availability? Is disaster recovery capability needed? When changes are required, what response time am I committing to? (Going back to the power analogy, if I need 100 amps of power at my house, I can get it in a second. If I need 1,000 amps, I know it’s going to take some re-wiring.) User expectations drive costs, and need to be factored in. Thinking about IT as a service makes that a natural part of the conversation.
2) Scalable/elastic
The infrastructure needs to be flexible. This point has two perspectives. From the user’s perspective, he wants services that can grow or shrink to meet his needs. (I don’t want to pay for power I’m not using!)
From the perspective of the IT person, flexibility is just as critical. I want an infrastructure that I can scale with a minimum of disruption. (Case study point: One cloud user today gets new servers from the shipping dock to production in two hours. Can you do that?)
3) Shared infrastructure
Break down the walls! For efficiency and management simplicity, infrastructure should not be divided up by department or function. This is a tall order since many functions are separated out today. But the biggest gains will be realized when 100% of apps are virtualized, not 20%.
4) Metered by use
Users need to be aware of service costs, and the implications of different service levels. This doesn’t necessarily mean presenting a bill to users each month, but it does mean making people aware of how services are being consumed.
Think of the advantage for IT here: When business directly drives the needs, IT expenditures are directly justified by usage.
5) Uses Internet technologies
This is a multi-faceted discussion, but ultimately means simplified management — both for IT and for the user community.
From the user perspective, it can mean self service. The definition of “service” will vary depending on your user’s needs, and these tools will evolve as back end tools become more rich.
From the IT perspective, it can mean:
- Remote management: Fewer trips to the data center
- Rapid provisioning: “Drag and drop” rather than dragging wires
- Richer tools: Scriptable tools, intelligent monitoring,
This does not necessarily mean “automation,” but certainly implies “auto assisted” and lights out to a much greater extent.
Next Time
These five points provide a framework for the discussion about the cloud. And we can see already that they are a way of thinking, not a product. But as we define the cloud we can measure against them.
One thing is obvious: Reaching these objectives can save a lot of time and money in many environments. What’s less obvious is that you can make significant progress on all of them with open, multi-vendor solutions that are available today.
In the next post, we’ll get into the building blocks.
Tags: cloud, Cost savings