The Benefits of Cloud: Maximizing Resources, Maximizing Value

Transcription

1 The Benefits of Cloud: Maximizing Resources, Maximizing Value White Paper May 2015, Version Van Buren Street - -Herndon, Virginia (571) (800) vion.com

2 The Benefits of Cloud: Maximizing Resources, Maximizing Value Across sectors as diverse as state and local government, education, and commercial enterprises there is a desire to move to the cloud to save money and use technology more efficiently. While both are key benefits of cloud solutions, the money-saving value proposition is a bit more complicated than it may appear at first glance. Looking at bottom-line numbers, cloud solutions may end up costing the same as other technology approaches, but the value that a service-based cloud solution provides is more than just dollars and cents on a balance sheet. Citizens, students, and consumers all expect online services not only to be available, but to be a consistent part of daily life. They believe they should have the same service experience whether they are renewing a driver s license or setting up a monthly home delivery (neither is exciting, but both have to get done). Cloud will help institutions and organizations meet the expectation of increased service levels while still being responsible stewards of taxpayer, donor, and shareholder investments. 2

3 Organizations have invested a lot of money in existing infrastructures that in most cases work fine for their intended purposes. There may not be funds available to rip out and replace infrastructure to meet customers increasing demands, but there is budget for continuing operations. This is where cloud comes in. Cloud solutions can be purchased with operational budget dollars and help extend the life of existing capital investments. Multiple organizations can share the same cloud-based infrastructure and applications, allowing them to further defray the bottom line expenditure for each group. This non-infrastructure investment can make it possible for organizations to greatly expand their physical bandwidth and provide the applications their users expect. Shared Service Enabled by Cloud When considering cloud, it is best to think of it not so much as a technology but more as an IT business model, a way to deliver technology. In this model, cloud capabilities are delivered as a service, an approach that is changing the way technology is developed and deployed. Whether organizations look to purchase software-as-a-service, infrastructure-as-aservice or platform-as-a-service, customers of the cloud have the power to use a provider s offerings in the way that works for their organization. Whatever is being used from the cloud, be it an application or infrastructure, it is there to serve the end user s needs. This as-a-service perspective changes how organizations share resources among themselves for a more holistic IT infrastructure. Shared service is where the value of cloud is found. There are three main ways of using cloud to deliver services to an organization and its constituents. Software as a Service provides applications to users from a cloud environment rather than depending on hardware within an organization s IT infrastructure. This allows organizations to take on projects that they could not have previously handled. For example, if a small company is looking to develop a new product, their R&D team will need a specific piece of software for 60 days of the project. Without the cloud, the investment in buying and installing the software would not be justified, but with a cloud structure they can buy the software as a service for only the 60 days needed. Platform as a Service serves as an extension of the IT department, providing a place for applications to be deployed and used by a large, dispersed user base. Educational institutions use these platforms to accommodate varying student registrations in online classes from semester to semester, and ensure every study group on campus can log into collaboration workspaces during mid-terms. Cloud provides the flexibility to scale up and down with no effort on the part of IT. 3

4 Infrastructure as a Service allows IT professionals to automate the provisioning of computing power and resources such as storage, networks, and processing. For example, state and local governments have multiple data centers. Even if each data center is being highly utilized, there is still typically 30 percent of capacity not being used in each one. That s 30 percent of the investment sitting idle. If those data centers are consolidated into a single cloud, the entire network will require less overall capacity and can still share any unused capacity across all connected organizations. This cost savings and efficiency is great for organizations, but what does it offer end-users? If a state like Tennessee used infrastructure as a service and a shared services model, for example, small rural towns could afford to provide citizens access to the same level of services as those provided in large cities. The government could equalize the level of service across the state and make a huge improvement for a fraction of the cost to offer the services on a town-by-town basis. This is the type of value that cloud provides beyond dollars and cents. Value Beyond Cost The bottom line cost of a cloud solution may not always offer the dramatic cheaper, faster, better benefit in every case, but it can deliver a tremendous value in certain organizations and applications. A recent GovLoop survey of 230 public-sector employees highlighted some examples of how their organizations found value in the cloud: Accessing a shared pool of tools and infrastructure Collaborating between government and public staff Conducting assessments and valuation and creating maps with GIS software Connecting to programs and shared data files on state servers Developing dashboards ing, file sharing and archiving of documents Operating an information technology service desk and case management system Promoting telework and facilitating web meetings, document sharing and asynchronous communications Sharing and storing data at reduced costs Storing large data files that are sent from outside resources Tracking program effectiveness 4

5 When considering how to attain the potential value from cloud, organizations need to look at how they are paying for cloud. Because it does not require investment in new infrastructure, cloud can be procured using Operations and Maintenance funds rather than being classified as a Capital Expenditure (CAPEX). Not every service can be improved or instituted by using Cloud, but by funding those that are suited to cloud, capital funds may be assigned for other services improvement or development. It may take a budget cycle or even two to realize this savings, but it will be there once technology investments become an operational expense rather than a capital one. How do we get to the cloud? With the monetary and business value defined and agreed upon, there still can be roadblocks to buying the cloud. IT procurement is a tried and true practice, but cloud procurements are a mix of technology buys and consulting services. For many, this is a new way of doing business. Before engaging with a cloud vendor, organizations need to define a number of key elements: What is success What should users be able to do? What does the system allow your IT team to do (or not do)? What is the goal What are you looking to get out of the move to cloud speed, cost savings, new functionality, consolidation? What do you need the cloud-run applications to do for employees, customers and/or constituents? What data will people need to access? What security does that data need? Providing clear answers to these questions should yield valid Request-for-Proposal responses. When evaluating the responses, cloud buyers need to pay close attention to the service level agreements (SLAs). Do they match your goals? Is there a penalty for moving things out of the cloud? What is the plan should the cloud provider go out of business? 5

6 Defining goals and making sure SLAs match them is good practice and shows that cloud is not in fact a commodity buy. Cloud solutions need to be customizable and purpose-built to provide economic and service value. Understanding Your Cloud Options In the classic definition of cloud IT, the cloud services provider (CSP) owns the technology and charges the customer by usage. Similar to how you pay for electricity based on usage, you plug into the cloud environment and pay for what you use. This provides customers with flexibility to adjust spending based on their demand for technology. It also provides customers with more cost predictability and removes cost risks associated with oversupply of capacity.. Cloud services are delivered in various ways, depending on the organization and its needs. At ViON we are defining cloud deployment in this way: Private Cloud Technology dedicated to a single customer, not shared with other customers. Public Cloud Technology shared among a set of customers, also called multi-tenant cloud. Hybrid Cloud Mixed use; some technology is shared, some dedicated. On customer premise Technology located in the customer s own datacenter. Off customer premise Technology located at a remote location not owned by the customer. ViON Agile Cloud Organizations with significant security and performance concerns may find that a private cloud solution is best suited to their needs. ViON s Agile Cloud Solution was developed to suit those needs. It is the product of expertise gained in 35 years of working with the federal government, combined with 12 years of delivering private cloud solutions that meet the unique needs of our customers. A key component of our Agile Cloud Solution, ViON Agile Cloud Platform is a complete package of infrastructure (servers, storage, networking, and software) developed to enable delivery of enterprise-class private cloud. It was designed to help organizations gain maximum value through customizing options and features to best meet specific needs. The Agile Cloud provides a prescribed set of building blocks that can be flexible in terms of size and scope with built-in capacity and workload planning. 6

7 ViON Agile Cloud Platform includes: Hardware components needed to run application environments (servers, networking, storage) Software components to create a highly efficient and cost-effective virtualization layer Cloud enablement software that allows the delivery of private cloud and its associated benefits User portal with graphics highlighting usage and other critical metrics of the cloud platform Agile Cloud Platform can be installed quickly and easily on premise to deliver enterprise-class private cloud (a private cloud focused on highly secure, high-performance, high-availability application environments). Two cutting-edge technologies allow for the provisioning of computing resources in a new way for maximum efficiency: ViON Extreme Virtualization (EV) Technology Specialized technology that allocates resources in smaller increments for more cost-effective provisioning. ViON Vpool Technology Technology that takes extreme virtualization a step further by allowing easy tracking and charging only for the resources used. 7

8 Determining Your Cloud Needs Before implementing any cloud solution, ViON works with customers to fully understand their needs and determine the right cloud for their business and mission. This is accomplished with our Cloud Advisor service. Advisor is a structured, multidimensional analysis and reporting solution designed to facilitate the transition to a more efficient virtual infrastructure or cloud architecture. It includes a data collection tool deployed into the client s infrastructure to listen to the client s environment and provide a comprehensive analysis based on the organization s core business objectives, existing compute infrastructure and operational requirements. Deliverables from the Advisor include performance metrics and statistical analysis that provide fully detailed Return on Investment (ROI) and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) projections. In Conclusion An investment in cloud is just that, an investment. And as with any investment you expect to see returns. For private clouds, that return should be in the form of improved constituent service with little impact on IT team workload or effectiveness. Maximizing the investment in cloud requires strategic planning, goal setting and results measurement. Implementing a cloud environment is half the battle. Operationalizing the cloud to get the most from your investment is the critical component in ensuring success. ViON has the expertise to help you deploy the right cloud solution to meet your needs, overcome barriers to implementation and achieve your strategic goals. We partner with you from beginning to end to ensure your success. 8