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MigrationtoCloud:RealizingtheValue Proposition

Abstract
CloudComputingisamodelfordeliveringservicesover theInternet,ondemand,andapayasyougobasis. Withthismodelofcomputing,organizationsneednot makecapitalinvestmentsonhardware,softwareand networkingandcantakecareofthepeaksandtroughs intheircomputingdemandwithouthavingtoplanfor them.TheresultingsavingsinITspendingandoverall businessagilityarecausingagrowingnumberof companiestoembraceCloudComputingtoday.Atthe sametime,beforetheymigratetotheCloud, organizationsmustexaminekeyconsiderationsand benefitsofCloudComputingandthemannerinwhich theycanleverageitsadvantages.

ImpetusTechnologies,Inc. www.impetus.com October2010

MigrationtoCloud:RealizingtheValueProposition

TableofContents
DefiningCloudComputing.....................................................................................2 Public,privateandhybridClouds..........................................................................4 DecidingonthemostrelevantapproachtomigratingtotheCloud.....................4 EnsuringaseamlesstransitiontotheCloud .........................................................5 . Conclusion..............................................................................................................6

DefiningCloudComputing
LeadingITresearchandadvisorycompany,GartnerInc.,definesCloud ComputingasastyleofcomputinginwhichmassivelyscalableITrelated capabilitiesareprovided"asaservice"usingInternettechnologiestomultiple externalcustomers. Independent technology and market research firm Forrester Research has described Cloud Computing as a standardized IT capability, such as software application platform or infrastructure, delivered via Internet technologies in a payperuseandselfserviceway. UndertheCloudmodel,thecomputationcapabilityincludinginfrastructure, platformorsoftwareisavailabletousersonapayperusebasisasscalable services. AccordingtoarecentresearchbyGartner,by2012,20percentofenterpriseemailseats willbedeliveredviatheCloud.GartneralsostatesthatSoftwareasaServicewill experiencecompoundannualgrowthof17percentthrough2011forSCM,CRMandERP marketsintheSmallandMediumBusinessessegment.

InfrastructureasaService(IaaS)
InthecaseofIaaS,servers,networkdevices,andstoragedisksaremade availabletoorganizationsasservicesonaneedtobasis.Virtualization(a software/hardwaretechnologythatusesaphysicalresourcesuchasaserver anddividesitupintovirtualresourcescalledVirtualMachinesVMs),allows IaaSproviderstoofferalmostunlimitedinstancesofserverstoclients,while makingcosteffectiveuseofthehostinghardware.CompaniescanuseIaaSto buildnewversionsofapplicationsorenvironmentswithouthavingtoinvestin
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MigrationtoCloud:RealizingtheValueProposition physicalITassets.Increasingly,organizationsareusingIaaStohosttheir Websites,monitortheirtrafficandkeepthemrunning24x7,withouthoggingup internalITresources. Thechiefadvantagesofthislayeristhefactthatusersdontneedtodealwith thehardware,withpower/cooling,ondemandprovisioning,physicalsecurity, economiesofscale,etc.

PlatformasaService(PaaS)
Thislayerprovidesaplatformforcreatinganddeliveringapplicationsoncloud. PaaSsolutionsareessentiallyplatformsthatprovideadefinedsetofApplication ProgrammingInterfaces(API)fordevelopmentanddeploymentofapplications intheCloudandaccessedthroughabrowser.WithPaaS,developerscanbuild Webapplicationswithoutinstallinganytoolsontheircomputersandthen deploythoseapplicationswithoutanyspecializedsystemsadministrationskills. McKinsey&Company,inits2008report,Emergingplatformwars,hasdefined PaaSascloudbasedIntegratedDevelopmentEnvironments(IDEs)thatnot onlyincorporatetraditionalprogramminglanguages,butincludetoolsformash upbaseddevelopment. PaaSplatformsarefunctionallydifferentfromtraditionaldevelopment platformsinthattheymayalsoprovidemultitenantdevelopmentcapabilityto supportmultipleusers,eachwithmultipleactiveprojectsallsharingthesame underlyingresources.Unliketraditionalenvironments,wherescalabilityisnota concern,PaaSisaboutmultitenantdevelopmentarchitectures,where scalabilityoftheapplicationanddatatiersisbuiltin.PaaSplatformsadditionally provideintegratedmanagement,wherethemonitoringcapabilityresideswithin theplatformandintegratedbilling,tomonitorusageandchargeforit.

SoftwareasaService(SaaS)
ThislayerincludesapplicationsthatmayrunontheCloudandareavailableto Webusersorenterprisesonapayasyougo,anytimeanywherebasis.Apart fromapplicationsthatdirectlytouchconsumers,theSaaSlayerencompasses offeringsthataretargetedatvariousorganizationsandenterprises. Organizationscanusethesetotakecareoftheirpayrollprocessing,HR management,CRMandcollaboration.MicrosoftsOnlineServicesarean exampleofSaaSfortheenterprise.

MigrationtoCloud:RealizingtheValueProposition

Public,private,andhybridClouds
Apartfromitsdifferentlayers,theCloudisalsovisiblethroughthreevariants thepublic,privateandhybridClouds.InpublicClouds,theinfrastructure servicesareprovidedbyahostingproviderthatmanagestheseofferings.Inthis scenario,companiessimplyavailofalltheITservicesfromtheprovider,without investinginsoftware,hardwareorapplicationsonasharedbasis.Inthecaseof theprivateCloud,therequiredinfrastructureisprovisionedbytheprovider dedicatedlyforthetargetcustomer/company,andworksasanextendeddata centre.Aprivatecloudisdeeplyintegratedwiththeapplicationplatformand customizedtoprovideidentityprotection,appliancebasedintegrationsand accesstechnologiestocreateaprivatecloudofserviceorientedenvironment forenterprises. Amorerecent,architecturallynewconceptinCloudComputingisthehybrid Cloud,whichisablendofthepublicandprivateCloud.Thehybridcloud, createdforanenterprise,canleveragethebenefitsprovidedbybothpublicand privateclouds.However,issuesrelatedtothesharingofresponsibilities betweentheenterpriseandtheprovidergoverningsuchacloud;makeita slightlycomplexdeploymentoption.

Decidingonthemostrelevantapproachto migratingtotheCloud
CompanieschoosingtoembracetheCloudhavetoweightheprosandconsof thebusinessmodel,andtheapproachesneededtomigratetotheenvironment. Byundertakingarealisticassessmentofthechoicesbeforethem,userscancut migrationissues,maintaincontroloftheimplementationandmakesurethat securityisnotcompromised. CompaniesmustgaininsightsontheirownITandbusinessrequirementsbefore theycanoptfortheCloud.Theymustattempttounderstandhow technologicallymaturetheyareandthevariousaspectsoftheCloudtheywant todeploytobeginwith.IsittobeIaaS,PaaSorSaaS?Shouldtheygofora private,publicorhybridCloud?Oncetheyhavemadethisdecision,companies mustalsobacktheirrolloutwithnecessarylegalcomplianceandrisk managementstrategiesandcontractualprotections,whichimplyCloudService Agreements,KPIs,RoIstrategiesandTCOassessments.Byregularlymonitoring allimplementationandpostdeploymentactivityandbringingtogetherthe entirestakeholderonthesameplatform,themigrationtotheCloudcanbe smooth,seamlessandsuccessful.

MigrationtoCloud:RealizingtheValueProposition

EnsuringaseamlesstransitiontotheCloud
InordertomakesurethattheClouddeliversonallitspromises,organizations mustaskthemselvesthefollowingquestions: IsmydemandforusingCloudservicesconstantorvarying? Whatismyfrequencyofusage?Veryhighfrequencyusagemaymakethe payasyougomodeloftheCloudunviable. DoIrequireveryhighlycustomizedservices?ThisalsomakesCloudservices unviable,fromtheperspectiveofthevendor/serviceprovider. Ismyapplicationmissioncritical,requiringstringentSLAs,thatthevendor maynotbeabletomeet? InwhatstageismyLineofBusinessorcompanyinmygrowthplan?Start upsaremoreamenabletotheCloudthancompanieshighupintermsof businessmaturity. Doesmyindustryorbusinesshavestringentcomplianceneeds? Whatisthepreferredtechnologyanddevelopmentplatformformy company? WhataretheperformancerequirementsofapplicationsandservicesandI plantousefromtheCloud?

Inthisway,byansweringsomeofthesekeyquestionsobjectivelyand subjectivelyandassigningweightstoeachparameter,organizationscanarrive atascorecardthatdeterminestheusabilityoftheCloudforthem.Thisscore cardwilltakeintoaccounttheextentofdigitizationandscaleofexistingIT infrastructurewithinacompany,thebusinessvalueandutilityoriented applicationportfolioandthegeographicalspreadofITresources,includingdata centers. Bydefiningthesecriteria,companiescanavailofthefeaturesoftheCloud, includingondemandselfservice,broadnetworkaccess,resourcepooling,rapid flexibilityandmeasuredservice. ProvidedtheycandecideonwhattheywantmigratedtotheCloudandhow theycangoaboutit,theycanleveragethemyriadbenefitsofthisplatform includingitsabilitytoscaleupquickly,virtualizationandreductionofcomputing hardwareandcostsavings. TheCloudallowsforbetterutilizationofcomputingpowerandstorageand ensureshighavailability,uptime,productivityandefficiency.

MigrationtoCloud:RealizingtheValueProposition

Conclusion
InordertoensureasmoothmigrationtotheCloud,organizationsmustmap theirneedsandbusinessobjectivestothebenefitsthattheplatformoffers.The mannerinwhichcompaniesmigratetotheCloudwilldependonthebusiness goalstheyareaimingtoaddresswiththeirdeployments.Atthesametime,the backgroundofthevendor/Cloudserviceprovidermustbeexamined,aswellas itscapabilities,experienceanddeliveryexcellencewithinthespace.Bymoving differentapplicationstotheCloudinaphasedmanner,basedontheircriticality andtherequiredtimelines,companiescangaingreaterconfidenceinthe environmentandgraduallyovercomethechallengesinvolvedinthemigration.

AboutImpetus ImpetusTechnologiesoffersProductEngineeringandTechnologyR&Dservicesforsoftwareproductdevelopment. Withongoinginvestmentsinresearchandapplicationofemergingtechnologyareas,innovativebusinessmodels,and anagileapproach,wepartnerwithourclientbasecomprisinglargescaleISVsandtechnologyinnovatorstodeliver cuttingedgesoftwareproducts.OurexpertisespansthedomainsofDataAnalytics,LargeDataManagement,SaaS, CloudComputing,MobilitySolutions,Testing,PerformanceEngineering,andSocialMediaamongothers. ImpetusTechnologies,Inc. 5300StevensCreekBoulevard,Suite450,SanJose,CA95129,USA Tel:408.252.7111|Email:[email protected] RegionalDevelopmentCentersINDIA:NewDelhiIndoreHyderabad

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