Extending Your Data Center into the Cloud
Computerworld ran a thoughtful article yesterday about several organizations that have moved some and/or most of their applications into the cloud.[1] These groups have enjoyed tremendous savings, reduced internal workloads, and enjoyed faster deployments. As I read these success stories, I couldn’t help but think about a few of the colossal failures that happened alongside these successes. As any company considers expanding to the web, it is important to process the opportunities and challenges associated with such a move.
Moving to Google Apps
Multnomah County has become something of a case study for successful migration to the cloud-based Google apps. They chose to utilize Google Apps for Government as a way of reducing costs and staff time while increasing employee collaboration and productivity. Google presents them as an example of the possibilities with migration to Google Apps. A Google Case Study highlights the advantages:
Google’s Web-based solution costs less than $5 per person, per month. The Google toolset enables savings on software licenses for program suites, especially since many employees don’t need all the programs that come in traditional productivity packages to do their job. “In many cases, Google Apps provides us with equivalent capabilities for no additional cost,” said Multnomah CIO Sherry Swackhamer[2]
Earlier this year, I posted a story about a less successful Google Apps migration (see Integracon Blog). The City of Los Angeles planned a similar migration to Google Apps. In 2009, they started the migration process. Midway into the migration, they determined that Google would be unable to meet their security requirements. In the end, they had to develop an alternate solution.
Facing the Challenges Effectively
The two stories highlight the reality of success and failure in cloud migration. Both companies offer lessons for other organizations considering migration. The City of Los Angeles should have made certain that the consulting group facilitating integration and the cloud provider (Google Apps) both understood the full extent of their requirements.
Successful use of cloud services requires active participation from the customer. An IT representative must be involved in managing the process. In the case of Multnomah County’s successful implementation, Staci Cenis, IT project manager, actively participated in the “configuration, testing and disaster recovery concerns.”
When considering the cloud, effective project management is essential. Sadagopan Singam, Global Vice President of Cloud Computing at HCL Technologies Ltd reiterated this point in a recent interview with Dan Woods (Forbes columnist and editor at CITO Research). “(Yo)u still have to have some admins to do management within the cloud, including backups, upgrades and refreshes.” [3]
Integracon can help your organization assess the opportunities and risks of cloud deployments. We work with clients to develop a strategy for long-term success. To learn more about cloud computing or other technology challenges, contact us at 865-330-2323 or chat via Integracon.com.
[1] Sandra Gittlen. “The cloud as data-center extension.” Computerworld, November 8, 2012
[2] Counties Save Money While Improving Technology. A Government Technology Case Study: Google
[3] Dan Woods. “How to Plan Your Cloud Migration.” Forbes, June 11, 2012
2012-11-09 08:47:31
Source: http://blog.integracon.com/2012/11/09/extending-your-data-center-into-the-cloud/
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