Virtualization and Cloud executives share their predictions for 2016. Read them in this 8th Annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Contributed by Shelley Perry, chief product officer, Cloud Solutions, Dimension Data
Why private cloud is critical and game changing
Some have declared private cloud to be past its prime, making
public and hybrid cloud the reigning champions in the cloud race. However,
public and hybrid cloud aren't always the best choice. For those who are tasked
with the deployment and operation of enterprise-grade non-native cloud
applications with stringent security and performance requirements, private cloud
is the clear winner.
In fact, the rate of new private cloud offerings with
consumptive-based commercial models continues to attract the savviest IT decision
makers with a ‘cloud first strategy'. The new private cloud models are
accelerating the migration of non-native, critical enterprise-grade applications
to the cloud while also providing the added benefit of making the IT department
the enterprise's service provider of choice.
Private clouds enable IT departments to optimize
infrastructure costs and performance for specific types of applications that
had previously been dismissed as cloud targets. Additionally, private clouds empower
an IT department to improve overall service levels through customized
extensions unique to the users and applications that will be operated in the private
cloud service. It also increases infrastructure agility specific to certain
workload characteristics that cannot be obtained in hyperscale environments and,
most importantly, offers a higher level of security options. All of this with consumptive-based
commercial models - private cloud is the clear winner.
Another hidden benefit of the private cloud is secure enterprise
IT metadata as this information will drive the adoption of hybrid management platforms
and services.
Hybrid management requires successful metadata management,
which results in greater automation and efficiencies. This enterprise IT metadata
is used to manage governance, enforce policies and drive automation, but faces
the risk of increasingly becoming the target of cyber attacks. The enterprise
IT metadata will grow at an accelerated pace due to the increase in virtualized
offerings that support higher levels of configuration and will need a robust
cloud infrastructure to support its growth and unlock more efficiencies for the
new enterprise IT landscape. This will take cloud adoption to the next
level.
The IT director's ability to implement a private
cloud that is easy for the enterprise to consume, easy to turn up, customizable
for specific workload types and allows the business to grow as the application
workloads scale while keeping costs in line is innovative. But the addition of
hybrid management with metadata that links on demand to a secure network to
update policy and automation rules across the new enterprise IT landscape will
be revolutionary.
Private cloud will spawn the adoption of a hybrid
management that connects both private and public deployments under a single
enterprise view, in a secure manner. Having a provider that can help take the
enterprise on this difficult transformation from an on-premise environment to a
world where applications can be deployed either in a public cloud and or a private
cloud, and be able to securely connect the environments and migrate from one to
the other is going to be imperative for enterprises. The complex management of
these environments, as well as providing visibility and higher levels of
automation to manage workloads and increase efficiencies or speed to market,
will increase the use and adoption of private cloud models. In essence, the private
cloud remains a vital part of the IT infrastructure.
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About
the Author
Shelley Perry is the chief product officer for
Cloud Solutions at Dimension Data where she is responsible for product strategy and management for the Cloud Business
Unit. With her extensive 20-year technical career in
engineering, R&D and product management, Shelley has a passion for
designing and developing ground-breaking solutions that deliver real value for
businesses. Shelley identifies speed to market, rapid scalability and agility
as the three key elements of cloud computing having the biggest
transformational impact on businesses today.