how it organizations can achieve relevance in the …...white paper | achieving relevance in the age...
TRANSCRIPT
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