What do Virtualization and Cloud executives think about 2012? Find out in this VMblog.com series exclusive.
Cloud Predictions for 2012
Contributed
Article by Dave Laurello, president and CEO of Stratus Technologies
Half of the applications in my company run in the cloud, so
when I say 2012 will be a year of "buyers' remorse" it's not because I view
cloud computing negatively.
For whatever reason - executive-office pressure, a profusion
of media hype, fear of being left out, protecting turf - a hefty number of companies and IT managers
will rush to cloud computing without having done proper due diligence. They
will force-fit applications and portions of their legacy infrastructure into
the cloud without cost-benefit analysis, a long-term strategy in place, proper
vetting of prospective suppliers, or definitive metrics of success.
At year-end, too many will ask, "What have I gotten myself
into?"
From our own experience with cloud computing and from
working with customers, here are a few observations:
-
Don't assume moving an application to the cloud
is more cost-effective than running it on existing infrastructure. This is
where cost/benefit analysis comes in. Understand who uses the application and
how often; is the application steady state or subject to wide fluctuations or
significant future growth; what other applications does it interact with; what
are the implications of data interruption, data loss, or extended downtime.
Once you have a profile, look at the application lifecycle in light of the
terms, conditions and fees of the provider(s), against the internal investment
you've made already, and your risk tolerance.
-
New applications make the most sense for cloud
consideration. This lets you ease into cloud computing without disrupting
existing business or work practices. It gives you a chance to demonstrate
success, and pave the way for more investment. It helps you to understand what
it's actually like to work with a cloud service provider, test their systems,
and verify their service commitments. The exception is start-up companies; go
to the cloud and don't look back.
-
Think long and hard before putting critical
business applications in the cloud. Then, don't do it. This gets back to
cost-benefit analysis. The fact of the matter is that most companies have no
idea how much money it costs when critical applications go down. Of those that
say they do, they grossly underestimate. The real numbers are scary. Placing
critical applications in the cloud is beyond risky. It's bad business practice,
especially if you have associated concerns such as regulatory compliance issues
or your business reputation (for many companies, this is huge).
-
The common notion is that cloud service
providers offer better uptime assurance than can be achieved internally.
Regrettably, this one is probably true. But it doesn't have to be that way.
Most companies and all cloud service providers I've come across assume that
failure is inevitable. Their attitude is, get used to it. In reality, it's
inevitable that things do break, but failure is preventable. Building an
infrastructure for failure recovery versus failure prevention is a complete
mind-set change (like cloud computing) and a different approach to application
support and infrastructure investment.
The cloud company executives I know agree that cloud
computing - pardon the sports analogy - has not reached first base. It's still
tail-gating in the parking lot. They also agree, as do I, that a cloud/no cloud
choice is not the future of information technology. It's a combination. It's an
infrastructure with an internal cloud handling critical applications and
maintaining sensitive data. It's external cloud handling low-to-mid tier
applications, voluminous data storage, product and application development and
test. It's a hybrid cloud when some internal applications need to go external
for occasional scale and then return home when the spike is over. And, the
correct balance will be different for virtually every company in pursuit of the
cloud's many benefits.
###
About the Author
Dave Laurello is
president and CEO of Stratus Technologies, Maynard, MA. Stratus is a global
company focused on providing customers with superior uptime assurance for their
critical business operations and applications.