The Cloud Defined
These days the term “the cloud” is loosely applied to any storage or service that is hosted off-premise. Gartner Inc. offers a more rigorous definition: “a style of computing in which scalable and elastic IT-enabled capabilities are delivered as a service to external customers using Internet technologies.” But definitions aside, the real issue is an offering’s ability to meet user needs, specifically yours. The first step in evaluating a cloud offering (or, of course, any service) is to clearly define your needs. The good news is that the cloud may offer capabilities you never knew you wanted or needed.
Welcome to the best-stocked hardware store you can imagine. Need a tool or material? It’s there at your fingertips. Cloud computing delivers economies of scale, flexibility of operation, and the agility to react swiftly to change. Cloud storage lets you back up and access data easily and from anywhere. Perhaps most important, cloud computing outsources the overhead chores of maintaining a system, freeing IT resources for strategic activities. In other words, outsourcing computing and/or storage to the cloud lets you outsource the drudgery of maintaining infrastructure without giving up control. It’s like driving a sports car without having to do tune-ups or change the oil.
Provision, Automate, and Manage
You may no longer house the infrastructure, but you probably will want to control provisioning, i.e., the allocation of storage and processing power and the segmentation of the system. You should expect speedy, automated implementation of your decisions, eliminating the weeks or months required needed to buy and install equipment. And, while may happily give up day-to-day administration, you will want to manage the system, keeping operations on-track as strategic resources supporting company goals.
(and IT staff) more valuable corporate resources. IT Services may happen anyway. The good news is that the cloud managed services lets IT outsource some of the least strategic aspects of their operations and focus on those that are most unique to the company, making Moving to the cloud is a big decision. It will change the way you operate, but because IT is changing—technology is becoming more user-driven—that
Article courtesy of Darren Peterson, Senior Manager of Product Management