Cloud computing infrastructure may not be replacing on-premise infrastructure in Canada just yet, but there’s a move afoot to go “cloud-first”— an opportunity for information technology (IT) departments to pursue new initiatives considering the advantages of a cloud infrastructure before examining the implications of an on-premise solution.
Cloud From Both Sides Now – A two-part series
Cloud computing once fell squarely under the banner of “hype.” It’s now become a mainstream alternative to on-premise solutions, and for good reasons. Chief among them is the cost certainty that comes from moving computing infrastructure from a capital expense (CAPEX) to an operational expense (OPEX). Other benefits include the extensibility and scalability of the infrastructure, as well as confidence in the currency of your applications and service level agreements that promise uptime and security.
Although there’s often a clear business case for moving to the cloud, it’s not a simple decision. There are three critical dimensions to consider.
What kind of cloud is right for your applications? Cloud infrastructures come in three basic flavours. In a public cloud, you share an infrastructure with other enterprises. This has the advantage of scalability — more cycles can be devoted to your workload on demand — but a shared infrastructure means you’ll be scaling at the same time as other tenants. In a private cloud infrastructure, you’re not sharing with other tenants, but the cost is generally higher. Increasing in popularity is the hybrid cloud, wherein certain datasets and application workloads are hosted in a private cloud for security and control purposes, while other applications are designed to scale out to a public cloud infrastructure when workload demands it.
Where — physically — will this cloud architecture exist? While virtualized workloads can be efficiently hosted, scaled, and migrated on a physical platform hosted by a provider, they can also be hosted internally within the business, ideally, managed by a service provider to provide the SLAs and cost-certainty that make cloud so attractive.
What degree of control do you need? In a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, the service provider spins up instances of applications for scalability, and ensures these pre-packaged applications are up-to-date and secure. In a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) model, development rests more in the hands of the customer. Applications aren’t pre-packaged and can be developed according to the demands of the enterprise. In an infrastructure-as-a-service model (IaaS), development and maintenance rest entirely with the customer, with the service provider simply providing the hardware and supporting infrastructure, e.g., power, heat, cooling, etc.
Join us for a two-part series of webinars that will help you explore and understand cloud services better and what they can do for your business. On Demand. Cloud Goes Mainstream, discusses real-life examples of how the cloud can transform business.
On June 23 from 1 to 2 p.m. EDT, Managing Cloud Strategically, focuses on how to build on and manage cloud computing for strategic advantage, with specific use cases, a focus on integrating cloud-based and legacy applications, and the security implications of cloud-based infrastructure.
Now Available On Demand
Part 1 – Cloud Goes Mainstream
June 23, 2015 – 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm EDT
Part II – Managing Cloud Strategically
