The new buzzword in IT today is cloud computing. This concept is seen as the future of IT, a style of computing where applications are provided as a service over the Internet, allowing access for users as and when they need, without the headache of managing complex IT infrastructures.
Cloud computing sounds like a dream to many businesses faced with server sprawl and titanic data centre costs. However, many corporates need to realise that in order to turn this concept into a reality, the structure of the data centre as we know it needs to evolve.
Core to the mechanism of cloud computing is the virtual infrastructure - companies need to be well-informed when following through with a virtual solution as many vendors might not be able to carry their business through all the levels of virtualization, which are: separation, consolidation, aggregation, automation and the final phase cloud computing.
By ensuring these strategic phases are effectively laid down, the foundation for cloud computing is set as the data centre is liberated from the restraints of physical hardware and the operating system (OS).
The development of a common virtual technology layer across multiple infrastructure types creates a foundation for everything the onsite and offsite data centre needs. This is something that will only give applications more freedom - where and how they run - because it removes hardware dependency and creates a fluid IT environment that is essential to the concept of cloud computing.
A different light
Nowadays, companies consider a return on infrastructure rather than a return on investment.
Chris Norton is VMware's regional manager for southern Africa.
Today, companies stand on the brink of an economic recession and IT budgets are being crushed. Gone are the days of server sprawl created by expensive over-provisioning. Nowadays, companies consider a return on infrastructure rather than a return on investment - as corporates sweat assets, running data centres at 5% to 20% capacity is not worth the cost.
This forces business to see technology in a different light and seek alternative methods, such as virtualisation and eventually cloud computing, because these are enabling technologies that let companies deliver more with less.
In the future, aggregated cloud computing service providers will allow customers to securely “burst into the cloud” when needed, without having the responsibility and cost of managing all maintenance issues. Organisations will therefore be able to save up to a third on IT costs. Once companies see the value in cloud computing's pay-as-you-use mentality, businesses will entrust their non-essential applications to an offsite hosting provider, thus freeing capacity for core applications, resulting in increased delivery.
Companies will have total control and freedom of data movement over their entire resource pool, without having to face the upfront investment costs that would have previously applied outside the cloud computing umbrella. The services they need will run as needed, creating a more flexible business model that can scale and grow in accordance with business requirements.
The benefits of cloud computing are still being charted and will continue to grow in leaps and bounds as technology itself changes to suit the new challenges facing businesses today.
However critical to their own evolution, many organisations need to see that in order to reap the future benefits of cloud computing, they need to see past the basics of virtualisation and recognise that by systematically modernising their data centre and ensuring the five phases are in place, liberation of the data centre can be achieved, thus embracing cloud computing, the future of IT.
* Chris Norton is VMware's regional manager for southern Africa.
Share