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WHITEPAPER

HowITOrganizations

CanAchieveRelevance in the

AgeofCloud

ANEWAPPROACHTOCLOUDOPTIMIZATION

HELPSITMEETBUSINESSDEMANDSFOR

RAPIDSERVICEDELIVERY.

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

OutsideforcesaredrivingITorganizationstotransformhowtheyareperceived

andhowtheyfunctionwithintheenterprise.Insteadofcostcentersthatprovide

capabilitiesITorganizationsmustbecomeinternalserviceproviderssupplying

business-enablingsolutionsthatdriveinnovationanddelivervalue.Enterprisesregard

ITorganizationsthatadoptthismorestrategicroleastruebusinesspartnersrather

thanas increasingly irrelevant, cost-centric technology suppliers.

FormanyITorganizations,cloudcomputingholdsthepromiseoftransformingand

elevatingITwithintheenterprisebecauseitaddressestheneedforrapidservice

delivery.Today,cloudscanbeimplementedinavarietyofways:

• PUBLICCLOUDSofferITresourcesasaservicesharedacrossmultipleorganizations

andaremanagedbyanexternalserviceprovider.

• PRIVATECLOUDSdedicate IT resourcesondemand toa singleorganization.

• HYBRIDCLOUDSareamixofpublicandprivateclouds.Theyaremanagedasa

singleentity toextendcapacityacrosscloudsasneeded.

SPONSOREDBY: Thiscombinationofprivate,publicandhybridcloudputsITinthecriticalroleofa

servicebrokerenablingittoprovidearangeofservicedeliveryoptionssoapplications

anddatacanbeplacedintheappropriatelocationsbasedonbusinessrequirements.

WHITEPAPER| AchievingRelevanceintheAgeoftheCloud 2

Problem:TheNeedforIT Transformation

GONEARETHEDAYSwhenbusinessuserswerecontentwith

theapplicationsandcomputingresourcesthatITprovided.

Marketdynamicsandrecenttechnologyadvancementshave

fundamentallychangeduserexpectations.Usershaveseen

whatispossible:user-friendlydesign,anytime/anywhereaccess

toapplicationsanddata,andinnovativesolutionstolong-

existingbusinessproblems.What’smore,thelowbarrierto

entrymakesthesetechnologiesaccessibletoanyone.Obtaining

servicesthatdeliverbusinessvalueandenableusersto

completeworktasksmoreefficientlyisaseasyasdownloading

amobileapplicationoropeningafreeorlow-costuseraccount

withacloudserviceprovider.Asaresult,workersareprocuring

theirowntechnologies,forbothpersonalandbusinessuse.

ExternalprovidersarenowdoingwhatITorganizationshave

triedandlargelyfailedtodo:meetusers’business

requirementseasierandfaster.Whyshouldauserwait

daysforITtoconsiderarequestforaprojectmanagement

applicationwhenshecansimplytryoutseveraldifferent

applicationsonlineandfindonethatmeetsherneeds

inthatsameamountoftime?Endusersaretappingthe

publiccloudasashadowITdepartmenttogetwhatthey

needeasierandfaster.

Whilethisscenariomaysoundlikeawin-win,businesses

havecauseforconcern.Whenusersgodirectlytoexternal

serviceproviders,ITorganizationsrisklosingcontrolof

applications,businessprocessesanddata.Withnoway

toensurethatusersaremeetingsecurityandregulatory

compliancerequirements,thedangercanquicklyescalate.

ITorganizationsmustwinbacktheirend-usercustomers

byaddressingtheirneedsaswellasexternalprovidersdo.

DoingsorequiresafundamentaltransformationinhowIT

operates.ButhowcanITtransformitself?Andwhatwill

thatchangelook like?

TheAnswer:ITEmbracestheCloud

INREALITY,businessesdonotneedtorelinquishcontrol.

Instead,theycanprovidearangeofservicedeliveryoptions—

includingpublic,privateandhybridclouds—toensurethat

applicationsanddataareplacedintheappropriatelocations

basedonbusinessimperativesratherthanonwhocanget

accesstoresourcesthefastest.Increasingly,ITorganizations

aretakingthisroutetoachievetheagilityandefficiencythat

theirbusinessusersdesire,whileretainingthevisibilityand

controlthatITneeds.

Whileitisimportanttoautomate

initialprovisioning,itisequally

importanttoautomatetheentire

end-to-endservicedeliveryprocess.

ITwillalsoneedtoprovideperson-

alized,business-awaregovernance

andcontrolssoitcanstandardize

serviceswhilestillmeeting

business-specificneeds.

Eachtypeofcloudprovidesasetofsimilarcharacteristics

butdifferentdeliverymethodsandbusinessbenefits.Similari-

tiesincludeon-demandself-service,broadnetworkaccess,

resourcepooling,rapidelasticityandmeasuredservice.These

traitsallowservicestobeprovisionedandreleasedrapidly

andwithminimaleffort.However,eachcloudtypehasitsown

uniquecharacteristics:

• Publiccloudscanbeofferedasasharedserviceacross

multipleorganizationsandmanagedbyanexternalservice

provider.ItisimportantforITtobeabletoleveragepublic

cloudserviceswhenappropriate for theirbusinesses.

• Privatecloudsarededicatedtoasingleorganizationand

existbehindthecorporatefirewall,enablingITtomaintain

visibilityandcontrol.

• Hybridcloudsareamixofpublicandprivateclouds

managedasasingleentitytoextendcapacityacrossclouds

as needed.

Throughacombinationofcloudapproaches,ITcansecurely

deliverresourcestousersinhoursorevenminutes,where

itoncetookdays.Theresultingbusinessagilityallowsindi-

vidualline-of-businessstakeholderstodevelopapplications

onavarietyofplatformsquicklyandinanenvironmentthat

ITcontrolsand manages.

StepsTowardCloudServiceDelivery

FORMANYORGANIZATIONS,thefirststeptowardbuilding

acloudisdatacentervirtualization.Byconsolidatingmany

virtualmachinesontoasinglephysicalserver,organizations

canimproveefficiencywhenprovisioninganddeprovisioning

servers.However,thisisjustthefirststep.Transformationis

oftenstalledbecauseITfailstoautomatetheadditionalkey

components.

WHITEPAPER| AchievingRelevanceintheAgeoftheCloud 3

Initialprovisioningisaprimecandidateforautomation,since

infrastructuresiloscanmakestorage,networkandsecurity

provisioningtimesunacceptable.Whileitmaytakelessthan

fiveminutestodeployavirtualmachine,itcantakesome

companiesseveraldaysbecausesomanypeoplehaveto

touchit.Differentpeoplemanuallymanagevirtualmachines,

thenetwork,storageandapplications—andtheyallworkin

silos.However,coordinatingtheprocesscanbeautomated—

aticketgoestoonepersonforstepA,thenanotherperson

forstepBandsoon.Yetevenwithautomation,theprocessof

provisioningITservicescanstilltakeseveraldays,andpossibly

uptoaweek.

Whileitisimportanttoautomateinitialprovisioning,itisequally

importanttoautomatetheentireend-to-endservicedelivery

process.ITwillalsoneedtoprovidepersonalized,business-

awaregovernanceandcontrolssoitcanstandardizeservices

whilestillmeetingbusiness-specificneeds.Finally,thecloud

mustintegratewithexistingtools,infrastructureandprocesses.

LackofautomationcanimpactITstaffperformance.Inconsis-

tentandcomplexautomationprocessesthroughoutthecloud

lifecyclealsointroduceunnecessaryandincreasedbusiness

risk—theverythingsITwastryingtomitigateinthefirstplace

byofferingusersservicesviaacloud.

CloudAutomation:TheKeytoMaking

CloudWorkfor Business

CLOUDAUTOMATIONINCLUDESallofthelifecyclemanage-

mentfunctionsofITservicedelivery,frominitialprovisioningto

post-provisioningchanges,scaling,reconfiguring,snapshotting,

reclaiminginactiveresourcesandarchiving.Simplyput,cloud

automationisthepiecethattransformsavirtualizeddata

centerintoa cloud.

Whenmanualprocessesareautomated,theresultisthe

speed,agilityandgovernanceneededforeffectivecloudauto-

mation.ITservicescanbeprovisionedmorerapidly.Policies

canbedefinedthatgovernwhichservicesuserscanprovision,

towhatextentandwhen.

Byeliminatingmanualtasks,automationalsoprovidesquantifi-

ableimprovementsinefficiencybecausestaffisfreedupto

focusonmorestrategicinitiatives.Inadditiontoimprovingthe

productivityofsystemsadministrators,automationenables

organizationstoreducecapitalexpenditures.Policiesregarding

overprovisioningandthereclamationandreuseofinactive

resourcesensurethatcomputingresourcesareoptimized.

HowtoAchieveCloudAutomation

THELASTWAVEOFITefficiencywasachievedviavirtu-

alizationandconsolidation.Thenextwavewillbedrivenby

automation,andthebenefitswillbeseeninimproveddelivery

timesandbothoperationalandcapitalcostsavings.Butauto-

mationisnotassimpleasimplementingapieceofstand-alone

software.Thetechnologyhastoworkwiththeorganization’s

existingtools,infrastructureandprocesses—andextend

beyondITserviceprovisioning.Full lifecyclemanagement

iscriticalformovingbeyondmanualprocessesoperatingin

silos.Thisincludesreprovisioning,reconfiguring,snapshotting,

backingup,decommissioningandarchival.

Whenyouautomatetheentireend-to-endlifecycleofIT

services,therolesandresponsibilitiesofITstaffmembers

mustchange.Thesystemsadministrator,storageadministrator,

serveradministratorandnetworkadministratorwillneces-

sarilyrelinquishcontroloftheirpartoftheprocess.Awelcome

byproductofthischangeisthatthesestaffmemberswillhave

moretimetodedicatetostrategicresponsibilities.

Cloudautomationtechnologyincludesself-serviceportalsthat

allowuserstoprovisiontheirownresources.Whenprovi-

sioningprocessesaretakenoutofthehandsoftheITexperts

(e.g.,silos),controlsmustbeinplacethatgovernworkflow

approval,resourcelimits,userandgroupresources,andusage,

etc.Usersshouldbepresentedwithacatalogofappropriate

applicationsandserviceswith theappropriatepermissions.

VMwareProvidestheAnswerto

CloudAutomation

MANYITORGANIZATIONShaveachievednewlevelsof

efficiencyviadatacentervirtualizationenabledbyVMware.

Optimizingthecloudisanimportantsteptoimprovingdelivery

WHITEPAPER| AchievingRelevanceintheAgeoftheCloud 4

times,increasingcostsavingsand,ultimately,achievingrele-

vancyamongbusinessusers.ITorganizationscantakethisnext

stepwiththenametheyhavecometotrustinvirtualization.

VMwareCloudAutomationbringsITexecutivesmodern

capabilitiestoensurethatITalignswithandrespondstothe

increasingneedsofthebusiness.Bygivingyouradministrators

theabilitytoautomate,standardizeandgovernthecomplete

end-to-enddeliveryofcloudservices—frombusinessrequest

toactivationtoretirement—VMwarehelpsyoumeetbusiness

demandsforrapidservicedelivery.VMwareacceleratesthe

deploymentofany service—applicationorinfrastructure—

whileitdeliversthecontrolyouneedtobetterleveragepublic

cloudresourceswhereappropriateforthebusiness.VMware

givesyourorganizationnewcapabilitiestomoveatthespeed

of business.

VMwarereshapestheeconomicsandspeedofITinfrastruc-

ture,operationsandapplicationsteamsbyleveragingexisting

investmentsinvSpheretopoolsiloedresourcesintoasingle

infrastructureserviceandofferlogicallyisolatedenvironments

todifferentpartsoftheorganization.Policy-basedgovernance

mitigatesbusinessriskandputsITincontrolofvaluable

resourcesandwhatgetstheprovisioningprocess.Thenet

resultisrapidservicedeliveryandthetransformationand

elevationofITwithintheenterprise.

CaseStudy:

DOWJONES&COMPANY,aglobalproviderofnewsand

businessinformation,recognizedtheneedforacloudautoma-

tionsolutionwhenitcouldnotdeliverITresourcestomeet

businessdemand—evenafteraninfrastructurevirtualiza-

tioneffort.Withoutautomation,virtualizationcouldnotbe

extendedasquickly,resultinginhighercostsandincreasing

time-to-marketfornewproducts.

Duringarigorousthree-monthtechnologycomparison,Dow

Jonesevaluatedautomationsoftwarebasedonseveralcriteria:

flexibilityandabilitytointegrateintotheDowJonesenviron-

ment,abilitytounifyresourcemanagementofbothpublic

andprivateclouds,scalability,costeffectivenessandspeed

todeployment.VMwarevCloudAutomationCentermetall

ofthecompany’s requirements.

TheDowJonesenterpriseprivatecloudconsistsoftheself-

serviceportalandacatalogofITservices.Dependingontheir

rights,auserormanagercanselectcertainresources.By

applyingtheVMwaresolutiontothecloudenvironment,Dow

Jonescanstandardizeandautomatethisprocess,andhave

morecontroloverwhereITresourcesaredeployed.

“WithVMware,wehavereducedthetimeneededtodeploy

virtualmachinesaswellastheeffortofindividualsrequired

tofocusonmanualstepstoprovision,”Rupanisays.“This

issavingmoneybyrefocusingresourcestowardstrategic

activitiesratherthanbuilding servers.”

Conclusion

REALIZINGTHATTHEYNEEDTOIMPROVEITservice

deliveryspeedandefficiency,savvyITorganizationshave

lookedtoprivate,publicand/orhybridcloudstoenhance

servicedelivery.Butthebenefitspromisedarenotalways

realized.ITservicedeliveryisnotasrapidasitshouldbe,

anduserscontinuetoprovisiontheirownservicesthrough

externalproviders.

TooptimizetheircloudinfrastructureandelevateITwithin

thebusiness,ITorganizationsmustimplementcloudautoma-

tionthroughouttheentireITserviceprovisioning lifecycle.

VMware’scloudautomationsolutionbringstheagilitythat

businessneeds,alongwiththecontrolsITrequires,througha

flexibleplatformforautomatingthedeliveryofITservices.

“Wewantedtointernallyinnovateourinfrastructure,”says

AltafRupani,vicepresidentofglobalsystemsservicesatDow.

“Wewantedtoautomate;speeduptheprocess;andinstitute

controlsfortheproperdeployment,managementanduseof

ITresources.”

FormoreinformationonVMwarevRealizeAutomationand

howitcanhelpoptimizeyourenterpriseprivatecloud,visit

www.vmware.com/products/vrealize-automation