Your Firm In The Cloud

Editor's Notes

• #2: Course Synopsis: Talk to any IT professional today, and they are certain to share how the cloud is quickly changing the computing landscape. But what is cloud computing, and how can organizations make the move? This session will provide an introduction to cloud computing and clear up some of the most common misconceptions. Topics covered will include the evolution of the cloud, IaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS, public vs. private clouds, expected benefits and what to consider migrating to the cloud and when.
• #3: Today we’ll start by discussing How we got to where we areWhat’s going on now in the industryI’ll take some time to de-mystify the terms associated with Cloud ComputingAnd I’ll talk about the different options for deploymentThen I’ll wrap up with a discussion of the benefits and concernsBefore we begin, let’s do a bit of housekeepingRestroomsTime CheckQuestions before we begin?
• #7: When it comes to technology innovation, I’m skeptical. I view technology as a tool, much like a shovel is to the ditch digger. I don’t spend my evenings tinkering with computers and you won’t find the latest gadget of the day attached to my belt – unless it adds real value to me. I’ve done the math on Cloud Computing and I can tell you that it is not just a fad – it’s here to stay and in the coming years, every business (including yours) will come to rely heavily on products that are delivered “In the Cloud.” So, it is important for you to understand what “The Cloud” really is and how it can benefit your firm. Congratulations for taking the initiative to learn more about what the future holds for you and your firm.
• #9: This slide represents the tremendous volume and speed at which the internet is moving. If you think you’re not “In the Cloud,” THINK AGAIN! Every day we entrust applications built in the cloud to do more and more for us.
• #10: Companies are investing heavily in cloud computing – because it makes sense! The fact that cloud now comprises more than one-third slice of IT budgets suggests the computing approach has gained serious traction within enterprises. And cloud isn’t just being brought in to enhance applications or to save money. One-fourth of respondents from the business side, in fact, report they believe cloud will play a critical role in shaping business strategy.Cloud may grab an even bigger slice of IT budgets in the next few years. Close to two-thirds of companies expect to increase cloud spending in the next 12 months. On average, organizations will increase cloud computing spending by 16%.Seven out of ten add that their IT departments needed to expand their skills base to keep up with cloud trends.Applications that companies will be moving to the cloud within the next three years include email/messaging; collaboration/conferencing; data storage; customer relationship management; and human resources. The strongest private cloud implementations will involve IT infrastructure management; security management; financials; and supply chain management — all planned by a majority of respondents.Even though there are higher short-term costs for implementing cloud initiatives, the majority of organizations (63%) agree or strongly agree that there will be long term cost savings. Concerns about security dominate, however, as the main barrier to cloud, cited by 70%. Concerns about access to information follow at a distant 40%.
• #11: Businesses are looking for better ways to deploy business management systems. Recently we asked several of our customers to provide feedback on how they are adopting SaaS in their organization.
• #12: So let’s take a few minutes to define some of the terms that are thrown around today with regard to the internet. Cloud Computing – Metaphor for “The Internet” , but it’s really more than that. Think of Cloud Computing as a process of outsourcing IT services on a subscription (rental) basis.
• #13: When you move applications to the “Cloud,” they are technically available from any device that has access to the internet, via Wifi or Wireless – tablet, smart phone, PC, or Laptop. I say “Technically Available” because usability issues with some legacy products may preclude them from being accessible on today’s mobile devices. Applications have to be smart enough to understand what device is accessing it and tailor the output for that device.
• #14: We really need to better define what is pushed to the Cloud and how that correlates to what you are currently doing today. We classify the outsourcing to the cloud three ways: IaaS – Infrastructure as a ServicePaaS – Platform as a ServiceSaaS – Software as a ServiceLet’s talk about each of these in a bit more detail
• #15: Most likely you are currently using an On Premise method of managing and delivering business technology to your staff and customers. In this example, you can see that you take responsibility for all facets of the infrastructure. You buy the applications and install them on the servers that you own. You take responsibility for installing all upgrades to the software. Backups, Security, hardware maintenance, etc. all fall to you to manage.
• #16: Many people feel that by keeping business systems on premise, they could more effectively control costs and manage and secure the data better. Security and reliability of on-premise business management systems are, for most organizations a myth. I can’t tell you how many businesses I’ve been in to where the server is located in an unsecure space – a broom closet, behind the receptionists desk, etc. Further, most organizations don’t have adequate backup capability and almost no one has a way to keep their server up and running if the electricity goes out. With many companies having remote offices or employees working from home or on the road, when your system goes down, you’re losing productivity and money. Very few businesses can claim to have anything CLOSE to a 99% uptime of their internal systems.
• #17: Infrastructure as a Service is the most basic of services. Think of this as having your server hosted by a 3rd party service. Vendors use Virtualization to lower costs of maintaining multiple servers.
• #18: Vendors that provide this service are generally experts at maintaining optimum performance of the equipment, but you are still responsible for installing and maintaining your applications. This means that you’ll still be managing upgrades, performing integrity checks, etc. Locally, RackSpace provides IAAS services
• #19: A term we hear a lot these days, whether in an on premise or hosted environment, is “Virtualization.” Essentially, virtualization software allows you to have a single server that can run multiple operating systems in their own environment, simultaneously.
• #20: Virtual Machines saves space, electricity, and cost. It allows administrators to more effectively balance loads and better use the resources available.
• #21: Many companies that talk about having a “Cloud Solution” are really just offering their products in a hosted or “Infrastructure as a Service” environment.
• #22: Platform as a Service takes on more responsibility for the infrastructure in that the database is also managed by the vendor.
• #23: When you hear Microsoft say, “Take it to the Cloud,” this is what they’re talking about.
• #24: A number of vendors have specialized in provide PaaS including Google with their App Engine and Microsoft with Windows Azure. You are still responsible for managing and updating the application programs as well as the content delivery.
• #25: So finally we come to Software as a Service, in which the vendor manages all aspects of your business management systems.
• #26: Everything is web-based and the infrastructure and delivery is managed by the vendor.
• #28: This brings us to how the data is stored in the cloud. You have probably heard the term, “Multi-Tenant” when talking about SaaS software. Multi-Tenant is a single database that serves multiple organizations. Single Tenant is when a vendor sets up a Physical or Virtual machine for every client. The results are generally the same, but the Multi-Tenant solution is much less expensive for the vendor to maintain because: Updates only have to be performed once on the single databaseMaintenance is performed on a single databaseSome people worry about the security of a Multi-Tenant solution, but this really isn’t an issue for products like NetSuite as they have a very sophisticated security system built in.
• #31: Public Cloud - Applications, storage, and other resources are made available to the general public by a service provider. These services are free or offered on a pay-per-use model. Generally, public cloud service providers like Microsoft and Google own and operate the infrastructure and offer access only via Internet (direct connectivity is not offered).Private Cloud - Dedicated system of servers, managed for a single enterprise. Servers can be either maintained on-premise or off-premise at a third party location. Private cloud provides greater control and performance, besides providing greater security for data and applications.Best suited for industries that are highly regulated (defense, healthcare, etc) and enterprises that run strategic applications that require high performanceHybrid Cloud - Combine the best of private cloud (security, control) and public cloud (flexibility, cost) installations. In a hybrid cloud installation, the enterprise maintains a private cloud that takes care of the normal workloads and utilize the public cloud during peak workloads and dealing with less sensitive data. Best suited for organizations dealing with data of various sensitivity and with highly variable workloads.
• #32: There are some great reasons that business is moving to the cloud. Reliability, Security, Scalability
• #34: But there’s another more sinister cost associated with On-Premise implementations. It’s called “Version Lock.”91% of all IT Budgets are focused on maintaining the status quo and only 9% is allocated towards innovation. The result? 66% of all customers running on-premise business management systems are on OLD VERSIONS of the software. Why is this important? Because companies that don’t stay current on their software will get locked in to the “OLD WAY” of doing business and won’t innovate. But it gets worse – After 4-6 years of being locked in to an old version of the software, the cost of upgrading is as much or more than the cost of changing systems entirely, so many business owners/managers opt to change entire systems. Businesses running on Cloud products are automatically updated as new version become available – it’s part of the fee. Plus, since vendors need to keep you on the current version, they have to make available training so that you’ll know what’s new in the software.
• #35: Here are the top 5 reasons business owners are turning to the cloud to solve their business issuesImproved Business Agility – Create, deploy, and manage business critical applications – quickly. Let’s say, for example that you get a new contract that requires you to hire an additional 20 employees. If your business systems are deployed on premise, you will have to upgrade or possibly replace your current hardware/software systems. This is time consuming and expensive. If you are implemented in the cloud, it is a simple phone call to add the additional users. Plus, when the project is over the costs sunk in to upgrading the on premise systems are sunk costs that cannot be recovered or reduced.Generate an attractive ROI – When comparing the cost of on premise vs. cloud, you have to consider the cost of purchasing, maintaining, and upgrading hardware over time. You must also calculate the potential cost of down time due to various hardware failures (virus, drive failures, natural disasters, etc.). There are also various labor costs that must be included in the analysis, such as cost of managing upgrades, backups, etc. Accelerate Time to Value – Time is money and putting your business systems on the cloud is FAST. On premise implementations require the creation of infrastructure and that takes time and money. Jump Start Innovation Programs – Once your business systems are implemented in the cloud, it is easy to provision a “Sandbox” to test new processes before going live. Elasticity and Scale – One of the key promises of cloud computing is limitless capacity. This elasticity and scalability are key factors in allowing small businesses to compete against the big boys. As your business expands, you don’t have to rely on IT staff and DBA’s to give you the tools you need to grow.
• #36: In other words, Increased productivity is a result of moving to the cloud, according to the Institute of Management Accountants. Streamlined operations, speed of deployment, lower TCO, are all important drivers, and of course, let’s not forget that a cloud solution is available anytime and anywhere that you have an internet connection
• #37: Adoption of the cloud is hindered by skepticism, so let’s talk about the concerns.
• #38: But some of you may have concerns about the cloud. Is my data secure? Is it Mature?Is it Reliable?Do I still own the data? YES! In the case of Deltek Vision, they have taken their Project Management software to the cloud by partnering with Amazon – one of the pioneers in cloud infrastructure. They have operated for several years with greater than a 99.95 percent up time. By the way, not many companies can boast that their systems have been up anywhere near as regularly over several years. Deltek Vision is the leading project management software in the PS space and no one has the maturity in the market that we do. And your data is yours – no matter what. If you decide to bring your system on premise for some reason, you can download it and import it in to whatever system you choose
• #39: While your concerns about a Cloud Based solution are valid, there are some things you can do to mitigate the possible dangers. Interview the vendor to insure they have the infrastructure in place to support your needsJust because a vendor offers a “Cloud” solution, doesn’t mean that it is secure. Recently, one of our customers implemented a IaaS solution, from an IT firm that advertised that they would host the server at their facilities. The idea of not having to manage backups, maintain the server(s), etc. was appealing. When a data issue occurred and a restore of the data was required, it took over 48 hours to get the backup restored, costing thousands of dollars in lost time. The really scary part of the story is that the IT vendor at one point told us that the restore had failed and they couldn’t recover ANY of the data!! Only after multiple tries and by employing the assistance of a 3rd party programmer were they able to recover the data. A Cloud provider MUST be able to insure they have a tier one data center, adequate staffing, redundancy, etc. – if they can’t provide that, they should not be entrusted with your business data. And just because it’s a “Big Name” doesn’t mean that they aren’t vulnerable. In February users of Microsoft Azure (PaaS) were unable to reach their data for over 48 hours because someone at Microsoft forgot to renew the Security Certificate for the entire Azure Network, causing a worldwide, cascading failure for all Azure users. (and BTW, they had a similar failure LAST February)!!!
• #40: There are a host of security and licensing issues to think about when considering a partnership with a Cloud provider. We have put a lot of thought in to how to determine if a vendor can meet your needs and in a moment, I’ll give you a way to receive our white paper that will help you wade through the issues and make a decision that is right for your firm.
• #43: Service Summary or DescriptionThe service summary section usually appears in the introductory section of the SLA. It should always state the name of the provider and the name of the customer. This summary will enumerate the obligations that you, the customer, must fulfill in order to satisfy the SLA. For example, you may be asked to provide up-to-date contacts, network topologies and customer escalation paths. This section will usually list the support level (e.g., gold or platinum) you have purchased. The support level determines how fast the service provider will respond to your service requests, how many service requests you’re allowed per week or month, how often you will be notified during emergencies, and most important, what your general service availability guarantee is. HardwareService providers host security services in a variety of ways. Some will install dedicated hardware at your site. Some will provide you with dedicated hardware, but it will sit in the provider’s own network operations center. And others will provide the security service through virtual domains that share, with other customers, the same physical hardware located (again) at the service provider's site. Regardless of the method used, the service provider should state clearly in the SLA how the service is to be provided. Once you’re sure of the hardware in use, you will be able to ask intelligent questions about hardware specification, performance, throughput, size, upgrades and so forth. SoftwareMost service providers use products from name-brand companies such as Check Point, ISS, Cisco, and others. Other service providers will use open-source software such as Snort for IDS. It’s important to know what software will be used for the service you have purchased. Your company may have specific requirements, such as avoiding unsupported open-source software on any of your IT infrastructure. In that case, software such as Snort may be out and the service provider must use vendor-supported products. Knowing what software is used also allows you to better understand the relationship between the service provider and the software vendor. For instance, if your service provider is using Cisco PIX as the firewall software but there’s no CCIE on staff, that would certainly be a cause for concern. Service AvailabilityThe service availability section may be the section you're most familiar with. This section describes exactly what service level guarantee you will receive. One of the most critical service-level guarantees is uptime percentage. For example, 99.5% uptime means that your site can potentially be down for 216 minutes per month without any penalty for the service provider. If the service is down more than the guaranteed level, the service provider will compensate you for that period of time. It is critical to understand what the service provider considers to be downtime. For example, most service providers will not consider upgrades to constitute service downtime; therefore, you will not be compensated for those periods of unavailability. Other service-level guarantees the agreement may specify include how fast the service provider will respond to your service requests, how long upgrades will take, how fast service providers will detect and report problems, and so forth. Another critical consideration is how the service provider will be penalized if the service-level guarantee is not met. In most cases it simply means the service provider won’t bill you for that period of time. Service RequestsSLAs generally provide for a number of standard service requests per month and a number of emergency service requests per month. Understanding when the service call will be considered an emergency request will allow you to properly plan for changes. For example, if the service provider considers any requests you want performed outside of standard business hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday) to be emergency, and most of the changes you want fall outside of that time frame, you may have a problem. There are other things to consider when negotiating your service-request needs. Some service providers may limit the number of IT personnel from your company allowed to open service requests. Others may consider certain service requests to count as two requests. Some service providers may charge extra for certain service requests. Naturally, the list goes on. Monitoring and ReportingNetwork administrators can find it extremely frustrating if they’re unable to quickly perform troubleshooting when the network is unexpectedly down, or if they don't have the resources to quickly do forensic analysis when an incident is detected. These days, service providers are doing a much better job of providing reports to customers on bandwidth utilization, uptime analysis and log management. However, there’s still quite a bit of difference among service providers, and you'll need to ask a number of questions. For example, does your service provider offer the most up-to-date configuration online for your review? Will you receive daily, weekly or monthly reports based on your firewall, IDS or VPN logs? What about ad hoc or custom reports so you can perform troubleshooting or forensic analysis? And will you be assured of backups of all configurations? Availability, responsiveness, quality and communication are important elements to consider for any service provider SLA. In the next four articles in this series, we will discuss each of the above sections in detail, including the specific considerations for each topic, why it matters, what you should expect and the norms are among service providers.
• #44: Embrace Change - The cloud represents a once-in-a-decade opportunity for business executives to reinvent their organizations. For small businesses, the economic benefits of consuming externally hosted resources and services are too compelling to ignore.Make a Business Decision (not an IT Decision) - The business value of the cloud is impressive. Evaluate the many benefits and total cost of ownership of cloud solutions and compare them with traditional alternatives.Think “Cloud = Outsourcing” - External clouds are simply “Version 2.0” of the global trend to outsource functionality in order to realize business value. Therefore, it is critical that companies evaluate their choice of a cloud vendor in the same way that they evaluate and select an outsourcing partner.