I am using Virtualization, am I not using Cloud ?

A lot of people are confused with the differences between Virtualization and Cloud Computing. Are they different? Are they the same? & what defines the relationship between them? A part of this confusion is due to tons of Cloud computing definitions floating around the web. To record these in a holistic manner, we have listed the set of opinions and questions that worry & irk customers:-

1) I have/am using a Data Center which internally uses Virtualization. Am I on Cloud?

2) I am already using Virtualization; do I need to move to Cloud?

3) I have to devise the IT strategy for my organization. Should I include Virtualization or Cloud in it? Which is better?

……

The list is endless.

Virtualization is a half-a-century old technology. It was coined by IBM in the 60’s and since then has revolutionized the Data Center and Enterprise IT Infrastructure.

Effective Utilization is one of the corner stones of Virtualization.

VMware, a company founded in 1998 brought Virtualization in the mainstream, and its products have since dominated the Server Virtualization market.  Xen, a product of Research labs back in 2003, had created a stir in the Open Source world by bringing Cost-effective and reliable virtualization to the masses. Organizations have been either tweaking or using the Xen Virtualization Software to build effective Data Centers.

However, all this was still restricted to the Data Center world. Enterprises looking for a managed Infrastructure services would host their suite of applications in large Data Centers which run on the many Off-the-shelf Virtualization products.

Any new demands from the Customer would lead to a manual intervention at the Data Center, and this would take substantial time. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity plan also involved manual labor and were inherently risky, and hence required systematic planning. The Virtualized Data Center improved the effectiveness of the Servers, but had no effect on price models, and the Customer involvement was limited. More so, dynamic scaling and on-demand provisioning were unheard of.

Virtualization was a boon to the IT industry, but still had a long way to go in order to create and sustain a market based on economies of scale.

In comes Cloud Computing. Cloud Computing has its foundation in the success of Virtualization and technologies that have enabled Virtualization to perform at near native speed. However it does away with the various challenges and risks involved with plain-vanilla Virtualization solutions. Over the matured layer of Virtualization software, runs a perfectly orchestrated set of services, which enable dynamic provisioning, on demand scaling & high availability aspects of a Cloud. This set of services is then abstracted by a Self Service portal giving users an interface that they identify with.

These services can be categorized as:-

a) Metering, Billing and Rating System

b) Identity Management

c) Dynamic Provisioning Engine

d) Monitoring and Management

e) Security Sub-system.

However, each vendor alters & adds new set of services to the above list in order to improve the functionality of its cloud offering. The careful interaction of these services provides the bare virtualization resources to be available on demand by the user.

Hence Virtualization is a key component of Cloud Computing, but it is the various set of services surrounding it, that gives Cloud Computing the real edge and its game changer qualities.

Cloud Computing is regarded as a Silver bullet to ease the cost & infrastructure woes of an Enterprise, and is currently viewed as a Game Changer for Organizations. It is certain that CIOs haven’t missed it from their radars.

Why Cloud Computing

Let us take a look at the existing scenario. Whenever there is a requirement, to scale up Hardware & Software infrastructure, enterprises make purchase decisions, based on the requirement itself and on any possible future need. An immediate requirement for hardware or software would require considerable amount of time & such delays are fatal in a market where competition rules. To mitigate IT Procurement costs, Virtualization was adopted. Virtualization allows Enterprises generate more value with the existing resources available to them.

Cloud Computing Adoption

Cloud Computing brings a proven perspective & ubiquity to business. The concept of computing available on demand on pay-per-use model can greatly reduce the IT Budgets. Business agility through anytime-anywhere data and applications can reduce the latency between what business demands and IT delivers.

Cloud Computing Adoption Patterns

Beyond the fancy labels, a close look at Cloud Computing reveals considerable number of choices, arrangements and Architectural patterns that an organization must decide upon before thinking about ROIs. To facilitate the migration from a traditional model to the Cloud model, organizations require more than just investment of minds. Decisions range from choosing the type of clouds – Public, Private or Hybrid, to the type of Architectural shifts depending upon the risk and criticality of data involved in an Enterprise. Not to mention the various Cloud Computing vendors and software stacks to choose from. Since the spread of Cloud Computing, the list of Vendors for all kinds of Cloud implementation has been ever growing. Google, Microsoft, Amazon and others have been around for some time, and their technology is mature enough to be adopted at the enterprise level. Concerns regarding Data Security and Infrastructure sharing is another decision Organizations need to take.

To successfully mitigate the risk and challenges involved in an Enterprise Cloud Adoption, a detailed analysis of the existing structure of an Enterprise IT model and Operations is a must. The wide variety of IT Systems in operation, each with its own demand of performance and scalability, requires a careful scrutiny of methods and practices. Moreover with major focus on data security and exclusiveness on a Cloud, a thorough scan of in and outs of Cloud is a necessity.

System Integrators and Cloud Adoption

A SI (System Integrator) specializing in Cloud adoption practice evaluates the existing IT System in an Enterprise. A SI’s role ranges from assessing & recommending the migration of the brick and mortar implementation of Infrastructure to either a public, private or a hybrid form of Cloud, to deciding which existing Desktop applications like CRM, Payroll and ERP may be made available as Software-as-a-Service model.

The SI’s role expands to develop and integrate the solutions it recommends. Since SI’s have the experience in various Cloud vendor implementations they make available best practices that not only reduces the latency in Cloud adoption, but also creates a robust and flexible architecture for the Enterprise. The SI also has understanding of the gaps if any in the IT Systems which requires to be filled when moving to Cloud.

A close interaction between the business and the System Integrator is thus a fruitful bond that can lead to a better and agile progression of Cloud adoption by any Enterprise.

Starting today, we are not just implementing great solutions for our Customers, but also reaching out & building bridges between us and all of you out there.
The Torry Harris blog will discuss our vision on the latest technology trends, business challenges, outsourcing & many more. It is a place to share your thoughts, ideas & benefit from our learnings. Our Blog will indeed be the place of great exchanges & interaction.
The first of the many to come in this on-going series, describes the role a System Integrator plays in the successful adoption of Cloud by an Enterprise.
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Happy Conversations!