Effectively Explaining the Cloud to Your Colleagues

Agenda

The Cloud Defined

Definition

Types of Services Moved to the Cloud

Why Companies are moving to the cloud

Types of Clouds

Participants in the Cloud Model

Example: Desktops in the Cloud

Types of Products Hosted in the Cloud

For IT Professionals Only

The Cloud - Defined

Cloud computing is the delivery of hardware and software computing resources that are provided in a subscription model, and are accessible from a remote location over a network – most commonly the Internet.

The term “cloud” comes from the common use of a cloud-shaped symbol as a depiction of the complex infrastructure contained in system diagrams.

The Cloud Technology Advantage

Cloud Technologies are basically a pool of computing resources (e.g. servers, storage, applications, voice services) that are provided to businesses from another company and:

Eliminate the need for onsite equipment, maintenance, and management.

Enable IT departments to increase or add capabilities as needed without purchasing equipment, software, or upgrades; training employees to support equipment; and taking up expensive office space and power and cooling to house equipment.

Provides end users immediate access to new features from nearly any device in any location, through a predictable, subscription based, pay-per-use method of funding IT.

Includes built-in redundancy and disaster recovery.

Types of Services Moved To the Cloud

InfrastructureComputing resources, storage and networking capabilities that are owned and hosted by a service provider Web server hosting, back-up, or DR systems are examples

SoftwareAn application that runs on someone else’s systemWeb-based email, Salesforce.com, and Google Docs are example

PlatformsA broad collection of application infrastructure (middleware) services, including application platform, integration, business process management and database services The Google App Engine is an example

Communications Communications functionality such as your phones, instant messaging, conferencing, and presenceVoice over IP (VoIP) telephony, call center and web collaboration are examples

What is “as-a-Service”?

Because Cloud Computing is a style of computing in which resources are provided over the Internet on a subscription basis, you will often see the delivery model referred to as “as-a-service”.

For example, from the previous slide:

SaaS – Software as a Service

IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service

CaaS – Communications as a Service

PaaS – Platform as a Service

Why Companies are Moving to the Cloud

Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Reduced amount of computing hardware onsite

Built-in disaster recovery / business continuity

Lower hardware and software maintenance

Instant software updates, accessibility

Improved performance and reliability

Pay only for what is used

Agile; make changes on demand

Better for the environment

Types of Clouds

Private CloudDedicated equipment for single customerSame technology as on-premiseSecure & isolatedHigh-availability difficult to achieveScaling and Cost challenges

Public CloudMultiple customers share resourcesInexpensivePerformance challengedSecurity issues

Types of Clouds

Hybrid CloudIndustry answer to problems plaguing both modelsUse Public for what it’s good forUse Private for what it’s good forCombine the twoThe integration of these solutions is complex Costly

Virtual Private CloudBest of both worldsStable, isolated, and secureControl to scale and expand on-demand“High-availability” ensures prearranged level of operational performance will be met Functions perfectly with both new and legacy applications

Participants in the Cloud Model

Cloud Service Provider: the party responsible for the IT assets and their maintenance

Business Management: the party responsible for monitoring and managing services delivered from a service provider’s cloud

End User: The person using the services, who does not require any knowledge of the underlying technology

Thank You

For IT Professionals Only

The Evolve IP Difference

The Virtual Private Cloud Difference

VENDORS INFRASTRUCTURE FOCUS

IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND

VIRTUAL PRIVATE CLOUD

Evolve IP Savvis Terremark

Legacy applications Production

environments such as SAP, Oracle, SQL, etc.

Evolutionary approach to Cloud over revolutionary

Low risk; incremental savings

Higher-grade; higher cost solution

Can run legacy applications with little or NO adaptation

Enterprise data center at “Service provider scale”

WEB-SCALE CLOUD COMPUTING

Amazon Web Services GoGrid Softlayer

Only good for easily ported web apps or newly developed apps

“Revolutionary” approach to cloud

Good for new opportunity; higher risk for legacy

Technology choices are different

Requires intelligence in the application; “Evolutionary”

Higher risk Can run legacy apps

only with re-architecting

Types of Products Evolve IP Hosts in the Cloud

Phone SystemsCloud-based communications solutions free organizations from managing carriers, phone systems and vendors and provide lower TCO, scalability, advanced end-user features, and web-based control to any user, in any location, for a predictable monthly fee.

ServersVirtual Data Centers deliver utility computing (processor, memory, and disk) in a scalable and secure virtualized architecture.

Call CentersHosted Call Centers enable organizations to unify and simplify their call center operations with a turn-key hosted solution that removes geographic boundaries – all for a simple per-user monthly service fee.

DesktopsVirtual Desktop Infrastructure frees businesses from the endless cycle of purchasing, supporting, upgrading and replacing local PCs by providing a untethered “virtual” workspace that can be accessed from anywhere, at any time, on a variety of devices and for a predictable monthly fee.

ApplicationsOffice Applications provide customers with the enterprise-class software they need from the cloud, eliminating on-site servers, licensing, maintenance and headaches.

What to Look for in a Cloud Service Provider

Enterprise-grade or better infrastructure

Treats network, servers, storage, and bandwidth as modular IT resources

SLA of 99.999% core platform uptime

Delivers predictable performance over bursty compute

Failover via redundant Active-Active platforms

Support team of in-house, experienced engineers with 24/7/365 availability

Robust training program and resources (user guides, videos, webinars, etc.)

Experienced Product Team that has been in your shoes and understands your pain points and needs