intechnology - is cloud computing the next big thing?
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What exactly is Cloud Computing? This is a surprisingly contentious issue and is hotly debated across the industry. Among the many opinions, there is general agreement that Cloud Computing describes IT applications, such as email and CRM, that are delivered from a 3rd party data centre somewhere in the network (“The Cloud”), rather than from your own office. The term ‘Computing’ is used in the broadest IT sense, encompassing servers, storage, communication systems and applications.TRANSCRIPT
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Richard QuineDivisional Product Director - Voice & Unified Comms
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Some things Cloud Computing is not.
Cloud Computing is not a technical definition of a set
of technologies. It’s got nothing to do with computing
architectures, such as grid computing or mainframe
computing. And it does not have to be exclusively
delivered across the Internet, it can also include
corporate networks and large community networks
such as JANET (the UK academic network). Cloud
just means network.
Of course, delivering applications and services from
within the network is not a new idea. But the trend
which is referred to today as “Cloud Computing”
represents a fairly recent convergence of a number
of technologies that have the potential to radically
change the way that every IT service will be delivered
in the future.
What follows is InTechnology’s view of Cloud Computing. InTechnology is one of the UK’s leading
service providers and delivers network-based services to over 800 businesses across the UK and
abroad. It has a critical skill mix embracing network, data and hosted telephony and this paper
distils the lessons learned over many years working inside “the Cloud”.
What exactly is Cloud Computing? This is a surprisingly contentious issue and is hotly debated across the
industry. Among the many opinions, there is general agreement that Cloud Computing describes IT
applications, such as email and CRM, that are delivered from a 3rd party data centre somewhere in the
network (“The Cloud”), rather than from your own office. The term ‘Computing’ is used in the broadest IT
sense, encompassing servers, storage, communication systems and applications.
Stefan Haase & Richard Quine
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The drive towards Cloud Computing came out of the realisation that some applications are not always best delivered by traditional methods – traditional being buying and installing a server, installing some software, and then maintaining it on an on-going basis.
Take websites as an example. When the WWW was in its infancy, most companies hosted their own web servers; but with time
came the realisation that it was better for a professional web hosting company to do it because:
They had faster Internet connections, so were closer
in network terms to the users of the web server
They could operate a flexible service where
you could buy (or rent) as much web space as
needed
They could operate a flexible service where
you could buy (or rent) as much web space as
needed
There was no need for IT staff to physically access the web server – you could upload content from
anywhere in the world, it didn’t really matter where the physical web server was, or even if it was a
physical or virtual server
They operated a 24x7 technical support service,
so you didn’t need to
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Having said this, the recent push towards Cloud Computing is being driven by business
priorities, not by technology.
Websites are still, on the whole, designed and
maintained by in-house IT teams, but the physical
server and storage infrastructure of the web
server are maintained by a hosting provider on
the Internet. This rule applies to other Cloud
services; just because the infrastructure is now
provided by a service provider, the management
and control of that application or service is still
managed in-house, i.e. by the IT department.
And yet for all that early conversion to the
Cloud, the move to rent other IT services on-line
rather than DIY has taken some time.
Slowly and gradually, three factors have
combined to change the landscape for good:
The standardisation of IT: Many IT
components have a standard design and are well
defined. Servers, storage and certain applications
are ideal to supply on a “quantity used” basis - per
GB, per user, per server, etc.
WAN speeds and reliability: WAN speeds are
now reaching LAN speeds, with 100Mb/s WAN
connections being affordable in many parts
of the UK. Comms providers are installing
100Mb/s as standard to all but the smallest
office these days, and in InTechnology’s case,
this is 100Mb/s of un-contended bandwidth
back to our data centres. From a network design
perspective, this makes our data centre a logical
extension of the customer’s infrastructure.
Virtualisation: The use of virtual servers is
commonplace in many IT departments because
of the scalability and efficiency benefits.
Virtualisation is already the norm in other areas
of IT such as networks (e.g. MPLS VPN). The
concept of a shared services infrastructure that
is hardware independent is well established;
Cloud Computing is the next logical step down
the virtualisation path.
It makes commercial sense to reduce the time
and effort spent on operational maintenance,
and more on projects that can add value to the
business and be much more closely aligned with
strategic requirements.
There is also urgency around Cloud Computing
because of the shortage of credit and capital
funds. A Cloud-based service requires little capital
compared with an in-house system, so many
organisations are looking to the Cloud as a way
out of their budgetary problems. Even with IT
budgets forecast to grow slightly in 2010, CAPEX
is still a precious resource.
An important observation is that that the move to the Cloud for
web servers did not mean the end of in-house IT departments
and web designers - far from it.
When Nicholas Carr wrote his controversial 2003 Harvard Business Review article entitled ‘IT Doesn’t Matter’, he described a world where IT would become a pure utility and would be bought and sold like electricity or gas.
Few people would agree that his vision has come true, but likewise, few people would disagree that corporate IT is as bespoke and proprietary as it once was.
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When IT services are delivered from the Cloud, they are often referred to “As A Service”,
or “aaS” for short, which has prompted an explosion of four letter acronyms to describe
different types of Cloud-based services. The most popular is SaaS, or Software as a Service,
but there are many more, such as:
Communication as a Service
Hardware as a Service
Network as a Service
Desktop as a Service
Platform as a Service
CaaS
HaaS
PaaS Acronyms IaaS
NaaS
DaaS
Infrastructure as a Service
Not all IT services lend themselves to the Cloud
and will continue to be delivered in-house, but
there are many that are better delivered from
within the network. Attributes of a successful
“Cloud application” are where the same
application can be cost-effectively delivered to
many different users and customers with
minimal differences, and where there is a
benefit of having the application in the network
rather than on-site.
Popular Cloud applications, such as web hosting
and email, fit this definition well.
However, other IT services also suit being
performed in the Cloud. Take server backups, for
example. It’s a critical but routine job, and with a
Cloud service the data is backed up to a secure
data centre miles away from the primary servers.
You pay for it on a per month, per GB basis, and
you know your data is safe and that you’ll never
outrun the effectively limitless capacity your
provider can offer.
Other Cloud services such as virtual servers
have seen more recent growth, with businesses
starting to embrace virtualisation and commit to
more and more consolidation projects.
The flexibility to add, remove or upgrade servers
at a click of a web page, and only be charged
for what you use, has enormous appeal on both
efficiency and cost-effectiveness grounds.
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This started in the consumer market with services such as Skype and MSN, but has
transitioned into the business market with vendors such as BroadSoft and Microsoft building
carrier-grade cloud platforms that are designed specifically for businesses rather than
consumers. Telephony is an ideal candidate for the Cloud – in fact, the term ‘Cloud’ was
originally used to describe the public phone network.
To make sure you don’t fall foul, there are three basic questions to ask your prospective
Cloud provider:
Where do you find these Cloud services? If you
were to do a quick poll of IT directors, the best-
known providers of Cloud services would
probably be Amazon EC2, Google Apps,
Microsoft Azure and Salesforce.com. With their
enormous size and capacity, all these provid-
ers can deliver a highly reliable service. Their
business model is based on offering a small
range of services in volumes high enough to be
cost-effective.
However, if you are looking for a more unified
approach to managing your Cloud service, there
are specialists that can provide an end-to-end
service for you, including all your network, data
and communication services under a single
agreement. Cloud Computing is intended to
simplify how you manage your IT infrastructure;
but managing multiple service providers can be
just as complex as building and delivering the
service yourself, so there is real benefit in
partnering with someone who can offer a full
range of Cloud solutions.
A note of caution.
The hype around Cloud
Computing has seen an
explosion of small start-up
companies that claim to be
Cloud service providers but
are little more than websites.
Your business is at risk if they suddenly run
out of funding and have to switch the lights off.
A big advantage of a cloud computing provider
is that you should be tapping into their previous
experience, not being their first experiment.
It’s well worth a visit to their HQ to see and
understand the processes behind the Cloud; as an
IT professional you know what you’re looking for.
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Using the Cloud to help manage your data - storage,
replication, backup and archiving - is the perfect illustration of
the transformational effect of Cloud Computing. Compared with an
in-house solution, cloud-based data management services offer a
number of advantages:
1. Financial – Drive down IT costs through the economies of scale and commodity
pricing implicit in the cloud computing model.
2. Operational - Take advantage of the robust infrastructure and dedicated resources of
your Cloud provider to underpin performance and drive development.
3. Technical - Always have access to the latest technologies and applications without fear
of skills deficit, lack of support, licensing compliance or obsolescence and refresh.
4. Risk - Utilise Cloud-based services for business continuity.
5. Environmental - Reduce your carbon footprint and exposure to green taxes
through reduced energy and materials consumption.
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Like any IT service, you need to ensure that your data is secure, and is being handled in a way
that ensures compliance with all regulatory requirements relevant to your organisation.
Customers are ultimately responsible for the security and integrity of their own data, so you
need to be able to audit your service provider. No responsible Cloud provider would reject
such a request, so it’s worth asking before signing up.
As a rule, you should
know exactly where your
data is being stored, and
ask for a tour of the
service provider’s facilities.
You should also request a written guarantee
that your data will remain in the UK if this is a
regulatory requirement. You should also know
what happens in the event of a disaster and what
the recovery procedures are - as a minimum,
you should be looking for a backup copy of your
data to be hosted in a second data centre that is
geographically separated form the primary data
centre.
However, all of the above should be done with a
sense of perspective. With very few exceptions,
service providers protect their customer’s data
and infrastructure with almost paranoid levels of
security. They themselves are governed by strict
laws on data privacy as well as being bound
by contractual Service Level Agreements and
Service Definitions.
You can never eliminate security risks entirely
but you can’t do that with in-house systems
either. And objective observers would attest that
the security procedures in a service provider’s
data centre are likely to far outstrip those to be
found in most corporate environments. Security
is a core part of their offering - it can’t be
anything other than industrial strength.
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If done successfully, Cloud Computing will make a significant impact on enterprise
IT in four fundamental ways. These are:
With a Cloud service, the core infrastructure already exists so you can create a new virtual server, new phone user,
new email account in minutes. This also allows you to phase your implementation so you don’t pay for more than you use.
Cloud Computing allows IT directors to fix costs for the operational aspects of IT, typically over a three to five year contract.
This predictability of cost also usually means a larger budget for more strategic projects because the budget variance is limited.
Cloud service providers look after the day-to-day job of making sure that things are operating smoothly, while you look to
ensure your business is as profitable as possible. It’s a sensible and efficient split of responsibilities.
When you subscribe to an IT service from a Cloud provider, it’s the service provider’s job – not yours – to get you up and running.
The service charges don’t start until the service is working and to the level set by the Service Level Agreement (SLA).
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IT directors have to re-evaluate how they deliver IT services and question whether doing everything in-house
is really the best way forward. IT budgets are tight, teams are small and yet demands from the business are
ever increasing.
Technological evolution, coupled with economical, operational, commercial, risk
and environmental pressures, has brought us to a tipping point.
Stefan Haase & Richard Quine
On behalf of the CEO, Directors and Staff and inTechnology
To support this paper, inTechnology has produced a DVD based on the Apprentice.
This short video clip is compelling viewing and communicates the operational and cost
benefits of Cloud Computing. If you have not received a copy, or would like to meet to discuss
how inTechnology can help your business engage with Cloud Computing, then please call us.
More than that, please visit us...check us out. Let us walk you through our Harrogate data
centre, let’s show you our 24/7 support area, let’s introduce you to the team here that covers all
the specialisations needed to help you make an informed choice. We’d love to help.
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www.intechnology.com
To find out more about InTechnology’s cloud based Data and Voice Services
visit our stand or call us on 0800 983 2522
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