GET CLOUD EMPOWERED. SEE HOW THE CLOUD CAN TRANSFORM YOUR BUSINESS.

Cloud computing is as much a paradigm shift in data center and IT management as it is a culmination of IT’s capacity to drive business ahead. It can be narrowly defined as “just-in-time provisioning and scaling of services on shared hardware.” But really, it’s an opportunity to completely transform how your business and its people work.

The cloud makes it possible for you to:

• Scale rapidly—up and down.
• Deploy services only when and where they’re needed.
• Deliver rich experiences across the PC, phone, and browser.
• Generate efficiencies and cost savings by paying as you go for only the services used.

In moving to the cloud, you can choose to implement any combination of several cloud models. The “public” cloud typically describes complete services offered by third-party providers. A “private” cloud involves organizations enabling their own cloud-computing capabilities on-premises or via dedicated hardware from a third-party host.

There are three basic models in mind:

• A private cloud is a set of computing resources that is dedicated to an organization, usually on-premises.
• A hosted private cloud has a dedicated infrastructure that’s hosted by a third-party but is inaccessible to other customers.
• A public cloud involves computing resources hosted externally but shared with other organizations and dynamically provisioned and billed on a utility basis – pay for what you use as you use it.

None of these models are all-encompassing. Part of the cloud’s unique power is its flexibility. Cloud models are designed to work together, so you can use the right models for your organization as well as for individual workloads.

IMPROVE AGILITY AND RELIABILITY WITH THE CLOUD

For growing businesses that need agility and reliability to compete, the cloud represents both a unique opportunity and a paradigm shift in the value of IT as a competitive differentiator. Savvy CIOs are finding that a standardized, global infrastructure has deep bottom-line potential. Because the cloud encompasses these characteristics, businesses can use it to:

• Save costs directly.
• React more quickly and efficiently to new business requirements.
• Increase reliability in several important ways.
• Potentially add revenue by making themselves more competitive.

Being able to directly align IT resources with new business requirements has been hugely difficult in the past, largely due to long and expensive purchasing and deployment cycles. The cloud represents a paradigm shift in IT computing because it can dramatically decrease deployment cycles and make purchasing considerations – at least in terms of planning and reaction – almost a non-consideration.

With an agile cloud infrastructure, you can:

Exploit global business opportunities more quickly. Bringing a new electronic product to market in a foreign country, for example, used to mean at best a new outsourcing contract to a data center in that country, requiring separate contract negotiations, IT process alignment, hardware and software deployment and testing, and possibly even new staff hires. By contrast a public cloud will:

• Already have a global presence that allows you to simply request servers deployed in a specific geographic locale.
• Negate the need for hardware purchasing and deployment because resources are virtualized.
• Significantly decrease software deployment and testing since the new servers can be based off images of your current – already functioning – production servers.
• Integrate with your existing on-premises technology, making maintenance simpler.
• Protect your existing software investment by providing full compatibility between on- and off-premises resources.

Cut deployment time by huge percentages. This agility was realized by Acumatica, which cut its time for deploying a new software-plus-service solution from two months to two hours.¹ If your company has extended its private cloud into the geographic region in question, private clouds can offer the same benefits. If not, it’s a perfect example of when to consider combining private and public models.

Enable business opportunity while decreasing IT investment. Another example of the cloud’s ability to increase business agility is RiskMetrics. With 1,100 employees in 13 countries, RiskMetrics models over 4 million global securities daily. The company was being challenged by its customers asking for complex, on-demand financial simulation models, often generating bursts of demand on its computing resources that were 10x above normal usage. By moving these operations to the cloud using a pay-as-you-go model, RiskMetrics was able to meet these demands while decreasing its new data center costs because it only needs to pay for those resources as they are used.²

Help improve IT reliability. This involves many of the same processes that bolster IT agility:

• Virtualization. Virtualized servers are based off the same or similar images (copies of themselves). Virtualization not only decreases testing time, but it also increases reliability because IT staff in different locations aren’t configuring servers in different ways causing more points of possible failure.
• Reduced server sprawl. Whether in a public or private cloud model, virtual machines run in a higher density on fewer hardware servers. That means a lower chance of hardware failure and an easier time building reliable hardware fail-over protection.
• Simplified disaster recovery and business continuity. If all or even most of your IT infrastructure is virtualized, spinning up a mirror of your entire infrastructure becomes easy. And connecting users to it becomes equally easy as long as they have an Internet connection and you’re employing an identity management system that spans various computing scenarios.
• Easier archiving and backup. The cloud essentially allows you to outsource these functions while still maintaining direct management control. Any concerns about regulation compliance can be addressed by having cloud providers ensure that appropriate audit trails and log files exist with which to stay in compliance.

Increasing your IT department’s responsiveness to changing business demands can effectively contribute to the bottom line, and turn IT from a loss leader to a competitive advantage in the bargain. The cloud will also simultaneously allow IT to significantly decrease capital and operational expenditures.

By moving to a private cloud infrastructure, IT managers can decrease sprawling server and network purchasing by large margins. This has decreased the forecasted IT spend of some early Microsoft cloud customers by a factor of 10.³ Work with your cloud provider to find the right ratio and migration plan for your organization going forward.

Getting started. Start identifying the ways in which improved IT agility can help your enterprise: Exploiting new business opportunities? Easing the burden of M&A integration? Speeding procurement or order fulfillment? Build a wish list of capabilities from that discussion and use it as a map when planning the capabilities of your cloud infrastructure with your cloud provider.

EMPOWER YOUR BUSINESS WITH IT AS A SERVICE

If you had to sum up the power of the cloud, the term IT as a Service (ITaaS) fits the bill. Today, CIOs are leveraging the cloud for parts or all of their data center and IT management needs. Some are moving physical infrastructure into the cloud, called Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Some are moving server platform and management to the cloud, called Platform as a Service (PaaS), while others are simply consuming entire software workloads running in the cloud using Software as a Service (SaaS). Collectively, these models can be viewed as IT as a Service (ITaaS) and clearly delineate the fundamental paradigm shift that cloud computing will have on IT management. With ITaaS, your business and its IT operation will have the ability to:

• Increase agility. In many instances, front-line business managers and users will be able to initiate and provision IT resources (servers, applications, storage resources, and more) without requiring IT intervention. Via simple, end-user–appropriate interfaces, users can spin up resources with basic configuration options while a smart fabric of IT policies manages the rest in the background.
• Simplify IT utilization for end users. Think of this trend as part of the consumerization of IT. Not only do users want more control, but today’s tough business environment demands it. Users need to be able to consume IT services the same way they consume personal services on the Web – and cloud computing can help them do that. This self-service model can’t come close to covering all the requirements that a dedicated IT staff is hired to fulfill. But it can significantly decrease the burden of many rote day-to-day tasks and allow the staff to devote more of their expertise to expanding the company’s IT capabilities and competitiveness.
• Speed key business processes. Take the example of a company that employs in-house developers. These people can now spin up new development and test servers without IT acting as a bottleneck. New environments can be designed for specific testing scenarios by the very people doing the testing, thus increasing development speed; and your IT department can ensure that virtual server sprawl doesn’t become a problem simply by initiating virtualization policy using the same virtualization management tools they use today.

Your IT staff can also take advantage of ITaaS. For infrastructure like storage, which requires large annual capital expenditure investment as well as heavy day-to-day management, ITaaS can shift much of that burden to a public cloud provider. Even in a public-and-private cloud model, this can still significantly ease the management burden on your IT staff, reduce annual costs, and increase agility and disaster recovery at the same time.

Properly implementing ITaaS, however, is a complex task that will require significant planning and cooperation among IT staff – and with your cloud provider for those using public or hosted private models. While engaged in these planning sessions, make sure to also look at where you might use cloud power for the rest of your software IT infrastructure. Line of business (LOB) applications, for example, are often the last to be considered for cloud migration because many companies think of them as the foundation of their IT competitive edge. But with the new agility the cloud can offer, smart CIOs are looking at LOB cloud migrations much sooner seeking new competitive capabilities and an easier time reaching new markets.

Adding team collaboration and messaging applications to the cloud means taking advantage of a global cloud infrastructure for employee productivity and lowering TCO at the same time. A careful application audit and some in-depth planning sessions between your IT staff and your cloud provider can build the right cloud migration mix for your organization.

Getting started. ITaaS requires planning and several pieces of core infrastructure, including a management infrastructure that incorporates a self-service portal and a supporting identity management platform. Once you’ve ensured these pieces are in place, work with your users and IT staff to determine the best functions to be made available via ITaaS.

YOU CAN TAKE GREATER CONTROL WITH THE CLOUD

Loss of IT operational control is possibly the most common misconception about cloud computing. Yes, unless you stick entirely to a private cloud model, the cloud does require a certain amount of IT and infrastructure outsourcing. But what makes the cloud such a paradigm shift is that you’re not locked into an all-or-nothing approach. Work carefully with your cloud provider and make sure it can offer you all the control your IT operation needs.

Any form of outsourcing requires the loss of some direct control, but compared to traditional outsourcing, the cloud offers far more options for maintaining a controlled and entirely customized cloud computing experience. To gain the most from these options, you can:

• Leverage all the right cloud models for your enterprise. You’re not locked into a single cloud model. Make sure that your on-premises and off-premises cloud models are designed to work together with a common management model, a common identity model, and a common application development model. By utilizing cloud models on a workload basis, you can maintain physical control over assets or work streams that simply can’t be outsourced, and you can still take advantage of public cloud benefits for the rest of your portfolio. Work with your cloud provider to build an SLA that protects your company’s processes, and investigate updates to your current IT management software tools to make sure that your IT staff has visibility and control over all assets whether on-premises or off.
• Protect your critical data. Fear of losing control over critical company data is often another stumbling block in cloud adoption. The truth, however, is that cloud computing can give you as much or even more control over your data, not less. For example, data that can’t be moved can stay on-premises and cloud providers offer a plethora of options for protecting the data entrusted to them – sometimes more than your in-house IT staff and budget could make available. In all situations, however, data sovereignty should belong to you. Stay away from cloud providers that cannot guarantee that your data won’t be mined or used for another organization’s commercial purposes. Work up a detailed list of requirements that will both satisfy your need to control your IT infrastructure and leverage the benefits of cloud computing.
• Detail requirements with your SLA. If you’re worried about runaway costs, just remember your SLA. Plan your migration carefully and involve your cloud provider as much as possible. Choose a cloud provider that can meet up-front costs easily. Choosing one that already supports an application stack compatible with the apps you’re running in-house will help lessen migration and integration costs and protect the financial investment you’ve already made in your current software portfolio. Ask about compatible management tools; making sure the cloud provider supports tools that your IT staff is familiar with or already using will help you save money on both new tool purchases and staff training.

Make sure these and any other requirements necessary for your business are detailed in your SLA. Definitely cover the basics – 99.9% up-time and 24/7 customer support are good places to start – but take the time to go as deep as your organization needs. Your cloud provider must recognize that not all software is ready to run in the cloud today – and not just for technical reasons. The beauty of the cloud is that you’re not locked into a single model. Outsource what makes sense, and keep the rest on-premises. If your prospective cloud provider can’t support that to your satisfaction, keep looking.

The other most common misconception about cloud computing is security. Moving critical data to the cloud is a difficult proposition for many CIOs worried about data security. Fortunately, if you look closely, you’ll find that competitive cloud providers, with highly trained on-premises staff and enterprise-class datacenter facilities, can offer as much or more security for your data than what most companies are using now. Start the conversation with your cloud provider today, and ask the tough questions. Use the cloud’s unprecedented flexibility to build a cloud computing solution that both enhances your IT capabilities and helps protect your critical data.

Getting started. Not losing control starts with knowing what needs to be controlled. An accurate list of requirements is paramount here, and that’s a discussion for your IT department. Matching that list to your cloud provider’s capabilities comes next followed by customization to get that final level of control while decreasing costs.

MICROSOFT: IT’S ALL ABOUT CLOUD POWER

At this point, just about everyone’s talking about the cloud. But it’s not just another buzz word – and it’s not new. Microsoft has been leading the evolution for 15 years, building and hosting some of the world’s largest cloud services. We’re the only vendor currently capable of bringing you the full power of cloud computing with a complete offering of Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service. We’re enabling customers and hosted partners to build their own cloud computing environments as well as implement provided cloud services.

With Microsoft, you can build, extend, or migrate to the cloud on your terms. ISVs and in-house developers will be able to easily adapt existing applications to your cloud environment because we provide a set of common management, identity, and developer tools that work across traditional server and cloud environments.

We’ve infused our cloud solutions with the power of experience. Having run some of the world’s largest cloud services for over 15 years, we understand the requirements of mission-critical services. Our cloud services run in a global network of enterprise-class data centers that offer 99.9% up-time and full 24/7 customer support, as well as mission-critical physical and data center security accredited to ISO 27001:2005 with SAS 70 I and II attestations. Your IT staff and end users can easily move to and from the cloud using their existing investments and the skill sets they already have. We ensure a familiar and consistent experience by designing our cloud-based products with equivalent functionality and similar look and feel to that of our traditional, on-premises products.

There is a cloud on your company’s horizon regardless of size, focus, or vertical. Cloud computing offers a paradigm shift in cost savings, agility, scalability, and global reach that is simply too powerful for any enterprise to ignore. Whether you’re looking to move to the cloud today or you simply need to investigate this new model for the future, you should start that conversation with a cloud leader fully committed to existing cloud services and to future cloud innovation. By bringing the full power of the cloud to bear and providing you with the flexibility and control to harness that power, Microsoft will enable you to transform your business with cloud computing on your terms.

Now that you have begun exploring the possibilities of Cloud Power, contact your local Microsoft partner to learn more and to start transforming your business.

Footnotes

¹ Microsoft Case Study, Software Company Efficiently and Cost-Effectively Delivers Software-plus-Services, http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=4000005777 (November 17, 2009)

² Microsoft Case Study, Financial Risk-Analysis Firm Enhances Capabilities with Dynamic Computing, http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=4000005921 (November 17, 2009)

³ Microsoft Case Study, Siemens Expands Software Delivery Service, Significantly Reduces TCO, http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/Case_Study_Detail.aspx?CaseStudyID=4000005945 (November 17, 2009)