Enterprise Cloud Computing – Jam today, not tomorrow

An Investors Guide to Cloud Computing

Introduction Ten years ago I wrote an article XML Web services – Jam today, not tomorrow, to

provide insights into where the trend of network-centric computing was headed, what was

then called Utility Computing, and what opportunities this presented for investors. All the

firms I identified were later acquired in major deals by vendors like IBM, and so my goal

now is to repeat the process for the same trend, which today is called Cloud Computing.

Enterprise Cloud Computing

One goal of the Cloud Best Practices Network is to help build

start-up and innovation success around the world, attracting

investment capital and helping to create more new jobs, through

a specific focus on Enterprise Cloud Computing.

To advise governments and other teams looking to build these

types of economy-boosting programs we have assembled the

world`s leading team on the topic, including:

Jon Pyke - author of the book Enterprise Cloud

Computing, and original founder of BPM concepts and

technologies.

Eric Pulier – CEO of ServiceMesh and Founder of the Enterprise Cloud

Leadership Council.

Amongst many others of our world-leading Technology Strategy Board.

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Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Enterprise Cloud Computing ...................................................................................................... 1

About............................................................................................................................................... 3

Procurement Commercialization ................................................................................................ 3

Canada Cloud Roadmap ............................................................................................................. 3

Best Practices Service Innovation Program ................................................................................ 4

Cloud 2.0 – Cloud as Overlay Architecture .................................................................................... 5

Cloud and Social Business Architecture ..................................................................................... 5

Cloud SOA – Overlay Architecture ............................................................................................ 6

Legacy Transformation 2.0 ..................................................................................................... 6

Hybrid SaaS ................................................................................................................................ 6

Catalyst Project - EHealth Cloud SOA ....................................................................................... 7

EDaaS: E-Discovery from the Cloud .............................................................................................. 8

Managing Government Records ................................................................................................. 8

Cloud Best Practices – Legal and IT security ............................................................................. 9

Hybrid SaaS – Modular Service Offerings ................................................................................. 9

EDaaS Innovations.................................................................................................................... 10

About the Author .......................................................................................................................... 11

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About Procurement Commercialization

The Cloud Best Practices Network provides a directory of Cloud expertise achieved by

cataloguing innovations in this field from across a variety of sources, most notably the

Cloud Computing reference models defined by NIST, as well as similar materials from

other governments and open standards groups.

Additionally we have conducted an extensive analysis of government procurement

expressed in the form of RFPs, which provide insights into what IT teams are buying today

in addition to these models that address where it is going tomorrow.

This combination provides the mechanisms for identifying the technology trends and then

how their market opportunities can be defined in real-world terms, a function we call

‘Procurement Commercialization’.

Canada Cloud Roadmap

A great example of this effect can be seen through the Canadian Government`s strategy for

Cloud Computing, their ‘Canada Cloud Roadmap’.

In June 2010 the Canadian Federal Government Public Works CIO delivered this 18-page

PDF presentation, which describes a roadmap plan for their adoption of Cloud

Computing, acting as a template blueprint for an overall enterprise architecture and

strategy for Cloud computing.

It provides a framework which builds on the NIST foundation of the Community

Cloud design, and identifies how it can be localized to the Canadian IT estate, achieving a

multi-tenant application environment for their breadth of enterprise applications, like

Oracle, SAP and Microsoft, used for their core business processes like PAY, and also their

common IT requirements, like email and collaboration.

We link the the different parts of this program to a number of Cloud Best Practice

programs:

Hybrid SaaS – A multi-tenant application environment for their breadth of

enterprise applications, like Oracle, SAP and Microsoft, used for their core business

processes like PAY, and also their common IT requirements, like email and

collaboration.

Platform as a Service - Database Solutions, Virtual Firewalls, Process

Automation, Cloud Provisioning Services, Cloud Peering, Virtual Storage Service,

Virtual Compute Service.

Virtual Office - A set of shared applications for automating modern office working

including Cloud Desktop, Document Management, Web 2.0 collaboration both

internally with staff & partners, and externally with citizens via a multitude of

social media channels.

Cloud Security Zones – A logical architecture for segregating ‘Cloud Security

Zones’, linking each Cloud area (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) to a security infrastructure

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component, and describing how the computing environments will be integrated

with their wide area networks and access control systems, through a Cloud Services

Access Layer and a Cloud Peering Layer.

Trusted Cloud Identity - Authorization and Authentication Services, Federated

Identity Management

Best Practices Service Innovation Program

These standards frameworks offer far more than just academic descriptions of what Cloud

Computing is, instead they also offer the means for accelerating new product development.

Indeed in a recent Whitehouse publication, Cloud Best Practices for Acquiring IT as a

Service (44-page PDF) they describe how:

“Federal agencies should request that cloud service providers categorize their services using

the NIST Cloud Computing Reference Architecture. This can be accomplished by the

vendor’s “mapping” of services to the reference architecture, and presenting this “mapping”

along with the vendor’s customized marketing and technical information. The reference

architecture mapping provides a common and consistent frame of reference to compare

vendor offerings when evaluating and procuring cloud services.”

This ‘mapping’ that they describe is the core process conducted for Vendor members of the

CBPN, via our Solutions Integrator program.

For example one of the key areas that NIST highlights is offline replication. In short when

you find yourself in a location with no wireless Internet access, what use are your Cloud-

based applications then?

The specific NIST term is:

“8.1.2 Off-line Data Synchronization - Access to documents stored in clouds is

problematic when subscribers do not have network connectivity. The ability to

synchronize documents and process data, while the subscriber is offline and with

documents stored in a cloud, is desirable, especially for SaaS clouds. Accomplishing

such synchronization may require version control, group collaboration, and other

synchronization capabilities within a cloud.”

Vendors provide good implementation examples of these principles, and so the two go

hand in hand. For example one toolset for the Microsoft Cloud world is Colligo. They

provide client software that enables you to work on documents etc while offline, which are

then synchronized with Cloud services like Office 365 when you are connected, meeting

these NIST requirements and therefore providing a compliance-enabling technology

component.

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Cloud 2.0 – Cloud as Overlay Architecture As many experts will point out, Cloud Computing is not one new technology but rather a

collection of new and existing ones brought together under a utility delivery model.

Cloud and Social Business Architecture

The first and most important of these is ‘Social Business Architecture‘ – How to design

applications to become more integrated with the world of social media.

While we often talk of the big industry battle taking place around Cloud as the main theme,

it’s actually the field of ‘Social Business’ where key players stand to win or lose mind-

share and therefore market share.

IBM, Microsoft, Cisco and Salesforce.com are all staking major bets, they all have major

product lines, in the field of ‘Social Collaboration’, and it’s these cool and sexy features

that are going to act as the catalyst for inspiring end-user demand that drives adoption of

the underlying Cloud services.

For example the Microsoft offering is the

combination of their Sharepoint

collaboration software with their Unified

Communications product set.

They also have groovy little tools like the

`Social Connector‘, to integrate your social

networks like Linkedin directly into your

email.

To gain a quick overview for IBM and

also a good introduction into the open

standards that define a common set of

Social Business best practices, check out

this IBM paper - Technical Strategy for

Social Business (9-page PDF).

This provides a good overview of key technologies and standards that make define Social

Business, which the vendors then implement. For example for ‘Activity Streams‘ you can

see these implemented in:

Salesforce.com Chatter – This provides the core Facebook-type interactivity between

colleagues that is the foundation for Social Business.

For Microsoft their Sharepoint toolset offers a plethora of similar CMS-based

features, like this one, and also highlighting a key point it’s also built into their UC

client too, linked to Sharepoint. You can see a demo of it in this video, at sequence

1.35 mins.

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Cloud SOA – Overlay Architecture

Leveraging the Cloud as an integrating layer more so than an operational platform can be

thought of as an “overlay architecture” approach to business transformation.

This means that in design terms legacy systems are not migrated to run in Clouds but

instead Cloud-based applications are used to extend them in situ, which can be achieved in

a number of different ways:

Cloud SOA - Vendors like Fiorana you can get a taste for some well thought out

approaches to blending Cloud and Service Oriented Architecture.

Open Data Warehousing - By using providers like Socrata, governments can build

portals that aggregates all of their back-end data, i.e. a data warehousing approach,

and then makes it available via an Open Data API.

Enterprise Search Connectors - Utilizing software like Microsoft FAST, you can

interrogate your back-end systems via a Search engine.

At one level all of these models enable you to modernize and extend the value of your

existing legacy systems without replacing them, by building another layer of apps on top

that use the underlying data.

Also in all cases developers can build on top of APIs, so it`s an ecosystem-enablement

process too; where you then differentiate between them is the type and goals of that

specific project, as each lends itself to scenarios for apps sharing data or for people

searching for data, and permutations thereof.

Legacy Transformation 2.0

It’s been described that migrating legacy systems to the Cloud is like root canal surgery,

which is understandable when you consider all of those DEC, IBM and other mainframe

type systems.

Ultimately you can migrate these apps but what is the net benefit? In contrast deployment

of new Cloud-centric applications already running the Cloud, which then connect these

apps to new web and mobile interfaces, is an easier route with more bang for your buck.

For organizations that currently run a ’1.0′ web site, these new apps can be overlaid across

them to achieve the new 2.0 modernization that is desired, keeping the original code and

logic in place but still transforming the business model.

Hybrid SaaS

These new architecture models can be achieved through equally innovative delivery

services too.

‘Hybrid SaaS’ is an architecture that combines the NIST-defined Service Model of Hybrid

Cloud with the Delivery Model of SaaS – Software as a Service. The primary motivation

for this scenario is organizations who wish to harness the benefits of SaaS, but without

using public web applications.

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A pertinent example is Government, where due to their data privacy restrictions they

cannot host data outside of their own national boundaries, and therefore many non USA

customers are prevented from using SaaS apps.

Hybrid SaaS are different ways to achieve the same SaaS benefit, but in a manner

compliant with these regulations.

Rather than one specification definition for this, it`s actually intended more as a

generalized concept, because there is actually a number of different ways of achieving this

model. We identify three here:

Hybrid Cloud SaaS - As described in their blog here, Rackforce in Canada connect

to the Alberta Supernet and offer private VPNs between client premises and their

data centres. These could be running locally installed software and provided on a

SaaS basis, like the VMware vApps described.

Salesforce DRO - Salesforce.com are launching new innovations, such as their

‘DRO’ –Data Residency Option, that is also intended to address this same

requirement, through providing on-premise equipment that encrypts data to meet

local standards needs.

Multi-tenant shared service architecture – In the case of ACIS in Canada, they

have created an additional piece of ‘overlay’ software, their SPM module, that

enables a single piece of software, Microsoft FAST in this case, to be used in a

‘multi-tenant’ manner. This means multiple agencies, like many across Ontario, can

all be serviced from the same core stack of software.

Each of these options applies the Hybrid Cloud model in some way to SaaS, offering a

range of options for governments to suit their specific needs.

Catalyst Project - EHealth Cloud SOA

Our work isn`t limited to only reporting on these trends, but also to proactively stimulate

and drive related innovation adoption programs, via ‘Catalyst Projects’.

An example is that we are applying all of these principles to the Canadian eHealth sector

through a catalyst project entitled ‘Cloud VDI for Healthcare’.

The Canadian Healthcare market has defined an SOA framework called the ‘HIAL’ –

Health Information Access Layer, and we will define how this Cloud 2.0 approach can be

applied to help accelerate adoption of new eHealth technologies.

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EDaaS: E-Discovery from the Cloud To illustrate how our approach can be applied to rapidly innovate new Cloud service

offerings, we`ll focus on one specific category of service implementation and how it can be

implemented: EDaaS.

Managing Government Records

The need and specifications for ‘EDaaS’, E-Discovery as a Service, is specified in the NIST

Business Use Case targeting this scenario, and also in broader terms recently announced

Government initiatives for records management.

President Obama recently declared the ‘Managing Government Records‘ initiative , to better

use Cloud technologies to perform Information Management and achieve Open

Government. Canada also recently announced a similar initiative, to build a ‘GC Docs’ portal

that publishes all of their records.

The NIST document details the required service specifications, begun with this high level

introduction and overview:

“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is examining how to implement cloud-based

e-discovery and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) processes for email. The system must

be able to perform discovery in both its in-house email implementation (Lotus Notes) but

also in cloud-based email systems. The system will also be used to manage content for

compliance purposes, and will serve as an archive of FAA messaging content.

The long-run goal is to support four primary functions: e-discovery, electronic records

management, FOIA, and privacy. These four processes have similar needs and

capabilities, including searching business applications, document repositories, email

(including calendar, contacts, tasks, etc.) and instant messages, and distributed storage

(both internal and external) for electronically stored information (ESI) meeting defined

criteria.

The focus of this business use case is the processes and systems required to respond to e-

discovery and FOIA requests as they pertain to email message data and other supporting

data such as calendar entries, tasks, attachments, etc. that are produced and processed

by the FAA’s traditional and cloud email messaging systems.”

This describes the type of key service features that are required:

“FOIA requests: E-discovery software must retain and report metadata within the

archives. For example, email content metadata such as the folder an email resides in, any

attachments to the email, whether the email is a reply to other emails or has been replied

to, must be retained. Notes, contacts, tasks, calendar entries, and attachments need to be

recognized and captured. Searches of both cloud and hosted email systems must be able

to access both the object and any attachments to that object (for example, a search would

need to be able to identify a relevant document attached to a calendar entry).”

And also the key requirements of the Service Delivery Model:

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“Measured service - The e-discovery application would provide metered usage on one or

more dimensions, such as the number of total email storage, total storage used by

archives, etc. Resource usage is monitored and reported to both the provider and the

consumer.”

Cloud Best Practices – Legal and IT security

Other documentation, such as the Whitehouse ITaaS best practices guide, also describes E-

Discovery requirements, and does so as part of an overall framework that also includes IT

security as well as these legal requirements. Download the 44-page PDF here.

Hence it is an entirely comprehensive product area for Cloud Providers, given these are the

primary concerns holding back enterprise cloud adoption.

Other standards organizations input other best practices that can help define how these

services should be configured. For example in their documentation the DMTF describes:

When data storage is considered in the context of clouds, subscribers require the ability

to: (1) provision additional storage capacity on demand, (2) know and restrict the

physical location of the stored data, (3) verify how data was erased, (4) have

access to a documented process for securely disposing of data storage hardware, and

(5) administer access control over data are all challenges when data is hosted by an

external party.“

Hybrid SaaS – Modular Service Offerings

The EDaaS scenario highlights the potential for the Hybrid SaaS approach, and also the

fact that the overall solution set is actually made up of individual components which

themselves are new Cloud services.

Specifically in this case it includes ‘ESaaS’ – Enterprise Search as a Service. This deploys

enterprise-class Search software into a hosted model, and then be used to augment other

services as well as used standalone.

To underpin the core functionality such a service would need, that of responding to FOIA

requests (Freedom of Information Act), it could make use of software such as Microsoft

FAST to cater for the sophisticated search capability needed to find citizen records stored

across email archives, file stores et al.

Opportunities for the standalone service can be quantified through the procurement focus -

In this RFP the Canadian Federal Govt stipulates requirements for a 'HISS' - ‘Hosted

Internet Search Service‘, and this RFP from the Ontario Council of Universities for a

'Discovery System'

Both are looking for a Search technology that can scan huge archives of information and

build an index of all the information within, millions of web pages for the Federal Govt

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and the universities for a system that will build a unified search index across a network of

library resources, including over 29 million articles, 400,000 electronic books, 10,000

numeric data files, and 40 TB of geospatial data.

Services include a shared interlibrary loan system, open URL resolver services, citation

management services, and virtual reference support services, and so the opportunity for

Cloud-hosted service is an ability to provide the required indexing software required, and

crawl these resources, as a service.

The university is calling this a 'discovery system provider', and connecting it with the local

'ILS' (Integrated Library System) so that in can also deliver real-time information about

availability of a local print resource.

This among other areas is where the core capability overlaps with the requirements for

Government too – They also have to maintain indexing systems, predominately for

ensuring compliance with record-keeping legislation, and would find it hugely beneficial to

call upon these same sophisticated tools for their own record libraries.

Then to understand how it can be built upon for a larger EDaaS solution set, we can see

how one of the most potent factors to note about the FAST Search engine is how it’s

programmable, for other developers to build on and enable new services. For example this

case study of Applied Discovery discusses how they’ve baked FAST into their online service

for E-Discovery, highlighting the opportunity

for new SaaS models in this space.

EDaaS Innovations

This solution development process provides a

context for the innovations that our Vendor

partners are driving.

For example Guardtime has invented ‘Keyless

Signatures’ that can play a major role in

securing the integrity of information, the

fundamental requirement for legally

admissible materials.

It can be baked into an EDaaS offering as described here, and then these certified Cloud

apps are then denoted like this, such as cMail cMail, for Certified Email. This same effect

can be applied to other processes, so that financial transactions through to doctors

eReferals could be certified the same way, providing the same compliance benefits for

their respective industry regulations.

It is how this is achieved that really emphasizes the nature of the Cloud disruption, where

Guardtime explain here:

The difference between a 10,000 USD/TB regulatory archiving solution and 50c per month Cloud Storage solution is primarily one of tamper evidence – the rest is software. Historically this has been done in hardware/firmware. Now this can be replicated in your cloud storage solution with software, for a fraction of the cost. Software eats the world!

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About the Author Neil McEvoy is a Cloud Computing entrepreneur who has been pioneering new

innovations in this industry for over fifteen years.

Aged 28 he launched his first company, one of the Europe’s first ASPs (Application

Service Providers), a joint venture with Microsoft to bring hosted CMS systems to small

businesses and funded by the elite of the UK Internet entrepreneur market.

Since then Neil has repeatedly brought new Cloud products and managed services to

market across a spectrum of different industries and product segments, both in Europe and

now more in North America.

Most recently Neil has founded and launched the Cloud Best Practices Network in

Toronto, with plans to expand throughout the nation, the USA, Europe and Asia.

Connect on Linkedin or send an email: neil.mcevoy@l5consulting.net