Cloud Computing is far from being an entirely new concept. In essence it’s how services are bundled from technical, operational and commercial perspectives. But what’s really interesting is the way the term can mean so many different things depending upon the various vendor solutions. In my role as director of IT managed services for the IT services company 365 iTechnology I’ve spent a lot of time trying to simplify for prospective customers the various scenarios in the Cloud Computing arena and I thought it might be useful to share the terminology I use to achieve this with you.
Accordingly when speaking to prospective customers I use the following terminology and explanations:
Cloud Computing
This is an often used generic term but a quick web search will provide a vast number of very different definitions. It’s important therefore to appreciate this is only a general term. In its generic context I try to explain it succinctly as “the use of IT applications and/or IT infrastructure delivered and supported from a remote location by a third party”. It does not indicate what aspects are included or how and to what standards the various services are delivered.
In its more specific context it often refers to the provision of a group of applications usually on a rental/ per user basis. In most cases to date this refers to groups of applications attempting to replace MS Office with an all encompassing solution such as Google Apps or Amazon Web Services. The attraction is that as a user you do not have to worry about the deployment and management of an IT platform or the relevant applications – you just pay the monthly fee and use the application. Conceptually this is great however the apps are often not fully compatible with MS Office and operationally, whilst similar, are different in a number of ways. Additionally companies can’t use their existing application licenses they’ve invested in and in most cases have to complement the Cloud Computing solution with in house applications and associated infrastructure platforms which partly negates the benefits in the first place.
As a consequence of these factors I believe these types of solutions are, as they currently, more suited to small businesses, start-ups and single professionals.
SaaS (Software as a Service)
This is effectively the renting of applications on a per user basis and they’re often provided by niche or specialist providers for specific applications e.g. CRM, HR or Finance. The attraction is that users do not need to worry about the procurement of application licensing, server hardware, storage, hosting, data backup or support.
The down side is there are limited applications available (although this is growing) and for many businesses they would need to liaise with a number of suppliers whilst using in addition in-house solutions to meet their entire needs. Not an ideal scenario. Accordingly I see SaaS a good fit for two different scenarios; 1) The start-up or SoHo businesses operating in a niche arena or 2) larger, established businesses needing to use specific applications such as CRM.
Private Cloud
This is effectively the collocation of business specific infrastructure and applications in to a remote data centre environment. Here it may be combined with shared services such as data storage and backup, network access, monitoring and management. It’s effectively enhanced managed hosting and consequently tends to suit the larger businesses with existing application and infrastructure investment.
Cloud Computing Platform
In this scenario the service provider would provide all aspects of the computing infrastructure whilst using the customers existing applications and associated licenses. The services supplied vary enormously but should include servers with operating systems, data storage, monitoring and management e.g. OS patching and anti-virus updates, data backup and server DR (disaster recovery). These should all be delivered against agreed service levels. Importantly once the infrastructure platform configuration has been agreed full manage and support sits with the service provider with the user paying only an agreed, fixed rental charge thereby reducing the levels of IT support required in-house and the need for future capital expenditure.
This diagram shows these various elements and highlights how this approach enables the
customer to focus on managing the applications knowing that the infrastructure and supporting services are all in place, monitored and underpinned by robust recovery and support procedures.
In addition the Cloud Computing Platform is usually provided on service fee basis thereby avoiding the need for capital expenditure whilst assisting with budgeting.
ROI is also underpinned by driving service improvements and through the lowering of support costs as in-house IT support is now free to manage applications and strategic activities rather than day-to-day IT admin.
In addition the Cloud Computing Platform is usually provided on service fee basis thereby avoiding the need for capital expenditure whilst assisting with budgeting.
ROI is also underpinned by driving service improvements and through the lowering of support costs as in-house IT support is now free to manage applications and strategic activities rather than day-to-day IT admin.
This Cloud Computing Platform model should be able to meet the needs of most businesses. Clearly this is dependent up the selected service provider and care must be taken in choosing the correct partner.
These explanations are summarised in the simply diagram below (click on image for full size version):
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