The term, “cloud,” may be something new from an IT perspective. But a lot of the technology has been around for a while. As with anything new, the most important success factor will involve understanding the platform and, of course, thorough planning.
With public clouds, a key issue is determining where there is a direct fit with an existing infrastructure -- and where there is not. It’s critical that this discussion involve key business stakeholders as well as IT executives. Both will need to understand the benefits of moving towards a public IaaS environment as well as the potential pain points. Here are a few things to consider:
Security
Although a public cloud is certainly secure, some organizations have to comply with specific regulations about how data is delivered over the WAN. Securing the server and application will differ when these workloads are pushed through a cloud environment. As a result, time is well spent helping customers with advanced planning to address these myriad security requirements.
As customers plan out their environments, remember that cloud security isn't really just one component in itself. Rather, it's a lot of security best-practices being applied for the purpose of transmitting data over the WAN. It’s easy to get overwhelmed about cloud security. But it doesn’t have to be that way if you break down the issues at a high level into three key components:
- Security on the LAN. What are the security elements of the LAN? Is data being encrypted internally? Are there ACLs on the switches? How are the firewalls and load-balancers configured for data leaving the local network?
- Security at the end-point. How is the end-point accessing the data? Is it through a VPN or through an encrypted connection? Is there a secure client involved? Understanding the end-point security setting and policies is important to ensuring that the data reaches its destination safely.
- Security in the middle. When data is being transmitted over the WAN are there security settings in place from beginning to end? Is there a secure tunnel for the data to travel, constant monitoring of the links, and policies for maintaining server and LAN security?
Environment
Although public clouds can be easy to adapt to, some environments may not be ready for a cloud initiative. Assessing whether you have the right infrastructure in place is an important and necessary first step. Take the time and evaluate your current position to see if going to the cloud is the right move and the right move now.
Workload
The larger the workload, VDI for example, the longer it will take to be delivered. Some core applications require backend database connectivity where a public cloud model may not be the right fit. Before moving to the cloud, make sure your customers have a complete understanding of what will be employed in the public cloud arena. From there, they can make smart decisions about whether a given application or even virtual node is the right fit for a cloud model.
Control
Just as with a local, non-cloud environment, administrators must retain control of their environments. This is especially important in pay-as-you-go models. With little control or oversight, administrators might be provisioning VMs and resources when they’re simply not needed. This is where a public cloud can quickly lose its value. The IT organization must keep a watchful eye on its cloud-based workloads and resources to know what is being use and to be sure it is utilizing that environment efficiently.
Training
The success of almost any new deployment will be user acceptance. If an organization deploys a new public cloud capable of delivering entire workloads to the end-user, there must be core training associated with it. What good is a robust, highly scalable infrastructure if the end-user is confused? Since users are often adverse to change, all modifications should be gradual and well documented. Information passed to the user should be easy to understand and simple to follow. With good training and solid support on the backend, administrators can deliver powerful data-on-demand solutions.
Cloud computing is here to stay -- and with it come the many benefits of a powerful WAN-based platform. Whether administrators need to provision a new workload or test out an application, a public cloud solution can help an organization stay innovative and on top of its business.
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