HiTech. White Paper. Adopting an Effective Strategy for Seamless Adoption of Cloud Integration

Transcription

1 HiTech White Paper Adoptig a Effective Strategy for Seamless Adoptio of Cloud Itegratio

2 About the Author Vekata Nagedra Vekata Nagedra M. is a EAI ad Service Orieted Architecture (SOA) solutio architect who works with the Hi-Tech uit at Tata Cosultacy Services (TCS). With over 11 years of experiece i the IT idustry, he has executed large ad complex itegratio egagemets across the utilities, isurace, ad maufacturig domais. Vekat holds a Master's degree i Computer Applicatios from the Uiversity of Madras.

3 Abstract I recet years, eterprises are icreasigly embracig platforms like social media ad mobile, as well as SaaS (Software as a Service) tools to realize high growth opportuities ad expad their busiess. This has led to a proliferatio of data sources dispersed across cloud, o-premise, SaaS, parter applicatios ad so o. Eterprises struggle to achieve seamless itegratio betwee diverse sources of data to realize their busiess objectives. I additio, the challeges with traditioal itegratios such as high costs, icreased implemetatio cycles, ad rigid ifrastructure ecessitate a pragmatic approach. Cloud itegratio, otherwise called ipaas (Itegratio Platform as a Service) provides a efficiet meas of overcomig these challeges. Cloud itegratio helps provisio services i a cost effective maer to address iterfacig requiremets betwee cloud applicatios ad o premise, parter, ad SaaS applicatios. It brigs i admiistratio ad moitorig capabilities to effectively maage the services required for the smooth ruig of a busiess. The aticipated beefits are low cost of owership, faster time to deploy, ease of access, ad scalable ad flexible ifrastructure. However, give that cloud itegratio is ot a complete replacemet of o-premise traditioal itegratio, it is challegig for eterprises to decide a holistic strategy to costitute o-premise ad cloud itegratios. This requires a pragmatic approach to determiig the itegratio requiremets, coupled with a step-by-step approach to migrate or implemet the itegratios o to the cloud. This paper provides a comprehesive strategy to implemet cost effective cloud itegratio solutios.

4 Cotets 1. Itroductio 5 2. Trasitioig from Traditioal Itegratio to Cloud Itegratio 6 3. Implemetig a Holistic Cloud Itegratio Strategy 7 Step 1: Coduct Iitial Requiremets Assessmet 7 Step 2: Idetify Cloud Itegratio Adoptio Model 8 Step 3: Deploy the Right Approach to Move From O-premise to Cloud 9 Step 4: Take a Hybrid Approach Realizig Added Value Coclusio 11

5 1. Itroductio Today s eterprises are fidig ew aveues to stay competitive, ad simultaeously be cost effective i their operatios. To achieve this, they eed to comprehesively uderstad customer requiremets, idetify levers for shorteig the time to market, reduce TCO, ad provide flexibility for iovatio. This ivolves tappig social chaels for effective collaboratio with customers, streamliig busiess processes, ad implemetig solutios rapidly by embracig cloud computig. Cloud computig is see as a key factor that helps achieve cost effective solutios. Give the aticipated beefits of cloud computig, eterprises are adoptig various associated aspects such as IaaS (ifrastructure as a service), SaaS (software as a service), ad PaaS (platform as a service). The emergece of SaaS applicatios like salesforce.com ad NetSuite have also revolutioized the way eterprises leverage cloud computig to achieve quicker ad effective solutios i a cost effective maer. Aother critical aspect is optimum itegratio of various applicatios ad data sources spread across distributed locatios. With the advet of SaaS applicatios, ew itegratio challeges have surfaced. These iclude implemetig seamless iterfacig betwee cloud to cloud ad cloud to o-premise eterprise applicatios to support the core busiess fuctioality. Busiesses also face challeges with traditioal itegratio solutios related to cost, scalability, flexibility, ad lack of support for itegratio betwee cloud to cloud ad cloud to opremise applicatios. This has led to the emergece of cloud itegratio or ipaas (itegratio platform as a service). Figure 1: Cloud Eterprise Applicatio Itegratio 5

6 2. Trasitioig from Traditioal Itegratio to Cloud Itegratio Ofte eterprises ow several domai specific applicatios caterig to the requiremets of various lies of busiess, as well as through mergers ad acquisitios. Eterprise applicatio itegratio is a critical compoet of eterprise IT architecture, which eables seamless iterfacig betwee these disparate ad distributed applicatios. Over the years, eterprise applicatio itegratio has matured sigificatly by movig from poit-to-poit itegratios to the recet reusable, robust ad scalable bus based architectures. Each of these models tried to solve the challeges posed by the previous oes, ad i the process made the itegratios betwee disparate ad distributed applicatios seamless. However, i spite of the advacemets i eterprise applicatio itegratio, eterprises still face issues due to their iheret complexity coupled with the high costs ivolved i procurig ad maitaiig middleware products. Other challeges iclude sigificat implemetatio time lag due to the extesive steps ivolved i procurig, istallig ad cofigurig middleware products across the various eviromets ivolved i the lifecycle of a itegratio applicatio. Additioally, ifrastructure availability limited to the extet of the predefied itegratio requiremets ca make it challegig to meet future scalability ad/or flexibility requiremets. I additio, eterprises have icreasigly started embracig cloud based SaaS applicatios, leadig to further itegratio challeges. Give these challeges, eterprises require optimum itegratio solutios. Cloud itegratio is the latest buzz i the idustry, see as havig the potetial to eable scalable ad flexible itegratios betwee cloud to cloud ad cloud to o-premise applicatios i a cost effective maer. It provides the framework for rapid implemetatio of cloud applicatio itegratio solutios with effective admiistrative ad moitorig tools. However, the switch from o-premise itegratios to cloud based itegratios is ot straight forward, ad requires a well-defied strategy for seamless trasitio to cloud. 6

7 3. Implemetig a Holistic Cloud Itegratio Strategy A flexible ad agile approach to cloud itegratio comprises four key steps assessig the requiremets, defiig the methodologies ad processes, implemetig the solutio, ad measurig the key metrics. Figure 2. Illustrates the sigificat aspects of the itegratio process. Collect ad measure all the key metrics o a o-goig basis Assess Assess the itegratio ladscape, ad uderstad the cloud itegratio requiremets Measure Cloud Itegratio Defie Migrate/re-egieer itegratio solutios. Implemet gree field implemetatios o cloud Implemet Defie the methodology ad approach, create a pla, ad defie the guidelies, processes ad practices Figure 2: Effective cloud itegratio Here's a detailed look at how eterprises ca seamlessly achieve cloud itegratio: Step 1: Coduct Iitial Requiremets Assessmet Give the importace of the itegratio layer, it is imperative to uderstad the existig itegratio ladscape prior to devisig a strategy for implemetig cloud itegratio solutios. This eables oe to uderstad the itricacies of the various itegratio elemets icludig itegratio patters, commuicatio modes, trasformatio rules, ad data formats. A detailed assessmet questioaire helps capture the various itegratio elemets, ad make a detailed assessmet of the itegratio ladscape. It also facilitates comprehesive uderstadig of the maturity levels of the eterprise i terms of embracig cloud itegratio. I additio, eterprises ca take iformed decisios by arrivig at various retur o ivestmets (RoI) parameters for cloud ivestmets ad comparig it with o-premise itegratio ivestmets. 7

8 The assessmet questioaire ca be framed aroud the followig topics for comprehesive coverage of the itegratio ladscape: Techology or Applicatio Portfolio: Itegratio products, ladscape, adapters, ad stadards Architecture: Itegratio architecture, frameworks, patters, volumes, ad frequecies Cloud Requiremets: Curret itegratio challeges, cloud itegratio strategy, product evaluatio, ad ed systems Security: Security mechaisms, protocols, ad tools Testig: Tools ad methodology Operatios: Criticality ad coverage Deploymet: Public ad/or private cloud, hybrid cloud Step 2: Idetify Cloud Itegratio Adoptio Model Itegratig disparate eterprise applicatios spread across multiple geographies is a complex process. Eterprises therefore eed to formulate a model to switch to cloud. A effective cloud adoptio model provides a comprehesive methodology for movig o-premise itegratio solutios to cloud. Figure 3: A effective cloud itegratio adoptio model comprises four key step-by-step processes 8

9 A effective adoptio model should commece with cosolidatio of disparate itegratio techologies ad solutios, ad culmiate with self-maaged itegratio solutios. Table 1. shows the typical steps of a effective itegratio adoptio model that eables seamless switch from o-premise itegratios to cloud. Phase Cosolidate Baselie Optimize Self-Service Descriptio Due to several reasos like idividual departmets workig i silos, mergers ad acquisitios, eterprises typically ed up usig multiple itegratio techologies. I the process, they build applicatios with redudat fuctioalities. The first step towards cloud itegratio adoptio should ivolve cosolidatig redudat techologies ad applicatios. This stage should be to migrate o critical applicatios to cloud. It helps to validate the cloud itegratio eviromet's ability to fulfil the itegratio requiremets. This phase should also help create the strategy; defie the referece architecture, ad lay dow the guidelies ad best practices to be followed across the cloud itegratio solutios At this phase, metrics ca be collected ad aalysed o a ogoig basis. This helps the eterprise uderstad the fuctioig of the cloud itegratio solutios i fulfillig the iterfacig requiremets. If the metrics collected match the expectatios, the the eterprise ca proceed with the migratio of critical itegratios to cloud. I the fial phase, automatio ca be achieved by leveragig self-service provisioig capabilities of the itegratio platform as a service for realizig itegratio solutios o cloud. This ca help i effective usage of IT as a tool for solvig busiess problems, with a focus o iovatio. Table 1: Overview of the four key steps i cloud itegratio adoptio Step 3: Deploy the Right Approach to Move From O-premise to Cloud It is imperative to idetify the right approach for implemetig itegratio solutios o cloud. The approach eeds to determie which of the followig activities eeds to be cosidered for a seamless switch to cloud, ad which of the existig ivestmets i o-premise itegratios eed to be leveraged. Migratio - Migratio refers to as-is movemet of the itegratio solutios from o-premise to a o-cloud platform. It is a appropriate optio whe the itegratios i scope are purely cofiguratio based, such as simple file trasfers, pass-through iterfaces ad so o. It ca also be utilized whe the cloud itegratio platform is compatible with o-premise iterface code. Reegieerig - Reegieerig of the existig itegratio solutio is required if the straight forward migratio approach is ot feasible. This could iclude partial or complete reegieerig of existig iterfaces. It requires comprehesive uderstadig of the existig fuctioality i order to rewrite the etire logic, which has to be compatible with cloud itegratio platform. Oce the cloud itegratio maturity levels of the eterprise has bee arrived at, a effective adoptio model helps i the seamless switch to o-cloud itegratios. 9

10 Step 4: Take a Hybrid Approach The emergece of cloud itegratio platforms may ot be able to completely replace traditioal itegratio platforms. This could be attributed to the followig reasos: Security cocers of exposig eterprise applicatio fuctioality or data over the cloud Network latecy issues that might impede performace Striget SLA requiremets High costs ivolved i migratig or re-egieerig all the o-premise itegratios I this cotext, eterprises have to take iformed decisios based o factors like cost, applicatio criticality, security, ad performace. By doig so they ca zero i o the iterfaces that eed to cotiue o-premise, ad those which ca be migrated or re-egieered to cloud. This leads to a hybrid model, which eables co-existece of both o-premise itegratios ad o-cloud itegratios, ad seamless iterfacig betwee o-cloud ad opremise applicatios. Eterprises ca thus leverage the existig ivestmets, as well as exted the o-premise fuctioality for iterfacig with cloud based applicatios. Table 2 provides the mappig of itegratio solutios with correspodig iterfacig types. Itegratio Solutio O-premise O-cloud Iterfacig Type O-premise to o-premise O-premise to cloud Cloud to cloud O-premise to cloud Table 2: Hybrid Itegratio Model O-premise to cloud applicatio iterfacig spas both o-premise ad o-cloud itegratios due to the followig reasos: Use of existig ivestmets i o-premise iterfacig with eterprise applicatios Ecapsulatio of the o-premise iterfacig fuctioality, ad its exposure through o-cloud itegratios Proximity to eterprise applicatios Depedecy of cloud applicatios o o-premise applicatios fuctioality/data 10

11 4. Realizig Added Value Some of the key beefits that ca be realized by implemetig seamless itegratio solutios o cloud platform are - Improved time to market A readily available itegratio platform ca help i cuttig dow the time take to implemet the itegratio solutios. This i tur ca help eterprises quickly reach out to their customers with their offerigs thus reducig Capex ad Opex costs Flexible ad scalable itegratio solutios - It ca help to provide o-demad availability of computig resources that ca eable elastic itegratio solutios Ubiquitous access - Aytime, aywhere access over the iteret ca help to maage ad moitor cloud itegratio solutios Improved agility i deploymets This helps to leverage the cloud capabilities with a focus o iovatio ad ca eable eterprises to address specific busiess challeges 5. Coclusio Cloud itegratio adoptio is a paradigm shift for eterprises. Adoptio requires a thorough assessmet of the AS- IS itegratio ladscape, uderstadig of the itegratio challeges, ad strategy for eablig cloud itegratio solutios. Without a effective strategy, it becomes difficult for eterprises to formulate a approach to embrace cloud itegratios. Cloud itegratio is o loger a buzz word ad is fast evolvig to become a key costituet of a eterprise IT ladscape. Eterprises plaig to embrace cloud itegratio eed to perform a fitmet assessmet of ipaas platforms across various critical parameters icludig security, service levels, availability, out of the box availability of adaptors, maagemet framework amog others, prior to subscribig to the services. A mature ipaas platform together with a well-defied cloud itegratio strategy helps eterprises seamlessly switch to cloud itegratio. Further readig [1] Garter: 35% compaies to deploy ipaas by 2016 [2] [3] Social Media Marketig Idustry Report: How Marketers are Usig Social Media to Grow Their Busiesses [4] Garter: Predicts 2013: Software as a Service [5] Cloud Itegratio - Strategy to coect all Apps to Cloud i Eterprise by Naga Vekata Sudhakar Kolluru, Niraja Matha, TCS [6] 11

12 About TCS' High Tech Busiess Uit Accelerated idustry growth, rapid techological obsolescece, ad the eed for faster time to market compel High Tech orgaizatios to improve busiess agility. High Tech solutios from TCS address fudametal idustry problems, improve process efficiecy, ad ehace productivity ad collaboratio across busiesses, while optimizig overheads. From software product egieerig ad supply chai, to leveragig Iteret of Thigs, digital reimagiatio, cloud, Big Data, mobility ad others, our solutios empower idustry players - computer platform ad services compaies, software firms, electroics ad semicoductor compaies, ad professioal services firms to compete effectively. Complemetig our comprehesive service portfolio of IT solutios, busiess cosultig, product egieerig services, ifrastructure services, ad busiess process services, are our parterships ad alliaces with leadig idustry vedors. Dedicated iovatio labs, ifrastructure support, ad the Tata Research Developmet ad Desig Ceter (TRDDC) offer our cliets access to cuttig edge techologies, advaced systems egieerig methodologies, storage optimizatio, ad covergece solutios. Cotact For more iformatio about TCS High Tech Busiess Uit, visit: HiTech.marketig@tcs.com Subscribe to TCS White Papers TCS.com RSS: Feedburer: About Tata Cosultacy Services (TCS) Tata Cosultacy Services is a IT services, cosultig ad busiess solutios orgaizatio that delivers real results to global busiess, esurig a level of certaity o other firm ca match. TCS offers a cosultig-led, itegrated portfolio of IT ad IT-eabled ifrastructure, egieerig ad TM assurace services. This is delivered through its uique Global Network Delivery Model, recogized as the bechmark of excellece i software developmet. A part of the Tata Group, Idia s largest idustrial coglomerate, TCS has a global footprit ad is listed o the Natioal Stock Exchage ad Bombay Stock Exchage i Idia. For more iformatio, visit us at IT Services Busiess Solutios Cosultig All cotet / iformatio preset here is the exclusive property of Tata Cosultacy Services Limited (TCS). The cotet / iformatio cotaied here is correct at the time of publishig. No material from here may be copied, modified, reproduced, republished, uploaded, trasmitted, posted or distributed i ay form without prior writte permissio from TCS. Uauthorized use of the cotet / iformatio appearig here may violate copyright, trademark ad other applicable laws, ad could result i crimial or civil pealties. Copyright 2015 Tata Cosultacy Services Limited TCS Desig Services I M I 03 I 15