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Putting cloud computing into perspective 
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Putting cloud computing into perspective
From security measures and service levels to exit strategies and integration, discover the practicalities of migrating to private and public clouds.
Cloud computing is the buzzword for 2010. But what does it really mean for the average business and IT department? If vendor hype is to be believed, cloud computing is the panacea for all IT and business woes.
We invited Niels Roberts, a project director for EDF Energy, and Colin Williams, Computacenter’s Networking and Security Practice Leader, to explore the practicalities of cloud computing.
Niels Roberts: Although the concept of cloud computing is a good one, it's essentially a collection of existing products and services under a new banner – for example virtualisation, hosting and utility pricing.
Cloud in Plain Speak – The Podcast
Computacenter recently invited a number of industry experts to cut through the hype around cloud and discuss topical sector issues in ‘plain speak’ including cloud sourcing, barriers to adoption, ROI and the challenges which CIOs face around solutions and skills.
This event brought together a diverse and exclusive discussion panel of thought leaders which included Andy Bechtolsheim (ex-founder of Sun Microsystems) David Bradshaw, (IDC) Dr Paul Miller (blogger and consultant), as well as top journalists including Max Cooter (Techworld) Martin Banks (Business Cloud9) Pete Swabey (Information Age) and Cliff Saran (Computer Weekly).
Colin Williams: So why is there so much hype if it’s nothing new?
Niels Roberts: Cloud computing does offer some unique advantages that don't exist with traditional outsourcing and hosting. The cloud model removes some of the time-consuming IT tasks associated with ‘keeping the lights on’, such as infrastructure maintenance.
Colin Williams: It also offers great flexibility and agility. Despite cloud computing’s ability to deliver on-demand inexpensive IT, adoption is still cautious within the corporate space.
Niels Roberts: I believe that reticence comes down to three major concerns: security, service level agreements and exit strategy. With public clouds, you have no control over where your data is stored or the security measures taken by the provider. Service levels are also generic rather than tailored to your business. It’s also unclear how you – and your organisation’s data – would be migrated to another provider or back in-house if you decided to change your strategy.
Colin Williams: That’s a major challenge - public cloud providers invariably use proprietary technology, so you could end up creating a series of IT silos that are difficult to migrate to and from. A personalised private cloud model can help to mitigate this problem – regardless of whether it is managed internally or by an external provider. With a private cloud, you can also have control over service and security levels and who you share the environment with.
Niels Roberts: And that’s why a private cloud might be an option for EDF Energy in the future. I am not sure we would ever sign up to a public cloud based on today’s model, but a private cloud could provide us with a cost-effective platform for commoditised applications - such as Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint - and peak workloads.
Colin Williams: Email is often cited as one of the applications most suited to a cloud environment. In many large organisations, however, email often underpins key business processes, such as fulfilling orders and tracking service desk tickets. If email is migrated to a public cloud, then the systems underpinning these processes will also need to be integrated with this environment.
Niels Roberts: Integration would be a major factor for us when deciding what applications are suitable for cloud computing. We would also need to understand the software licensing models that apply to this type of environment.
Colin Williams: As cloud is still an evolving market, the impact on software licensing has not been fully determined. Many vendors have yet to adopt a utility pricing model that is fundamental to cloud computing.
Niels Roberts: Security is also a grey area at the moment, which is a major barrier for companies like EDF Energy – there is just too much associated risk.
Colin Williams: You’re right, security is a major consideration. For example, if you migrate core desktop applications to a public cloud, will you be able to integrate your identity and access management processes with this new environment? To ensure the same level of security across your infrastructure, existing measures – from federated identities and single sign-on to two-factor authentication - would all need to be supported.
Niels Roberts: With so much potential complexity, there are definite advantages of working with an experienced IT services provider. Whether you set up a cloud internally or sign up to a external private or public environment, one of the biggest things to remember is that cloud computing is not a panacea and does have limitations.
Colin Williams: So does that mean there will still be a place for outsourcing and hosting models?
Niels Roberts: Outsourcing will always have a role to play but I believe hosting will become merged with cloud computing. Cloud computing will dramatically change IT over the next five years. For example, it will enable companies to cross-charge for IT services more innovatively and drive software-as-a-service, eliminating many of today’s software licensing challenges.
Colin Williams: So despite the hype, cloud computing is good news for businesses and their IT departments?
Niels Roberts: Cloud computing offers greater choice for sourcing and deploying IT, and can help companies eliminate the need to invest in infrastructure that offers no differentiation or business value.
* EDF Energy is one of the UK’s largest energy companies and employs 20,000 people. The company generates around one fifth of the UK's electricity and delivers electricity to approximately eight million customer homes and businesses.