Today we hear from Gregory Smith, Senior Product Architect, Cloud Computing
Many companies have a virtualized infrastructure, but in reality, a virtualized data center is not the same as a private cloud. Most virtualized data centers lack the automation and processes to manage them as private clouds.
In the ‘90s when Fortune 500 companies implemented VMware’s virtual infrastructures, their equipment became more efficient and cost-effective, but because most companies kept the same practices, policies, procedures and methods in place, IT’s ability to respond to user needs did not change much.
For example, provisioning did not get simplified or faster. For most it still involves a string of people to purchase the hardware, deliver the hardware, lay down the company image, create the user account, update the asset management system, obtain the login information and load the appropriate software (a list of applications that may or may not exist on paper).
Even when they added VCloud Director or VCenter Orchestrator, IT added them on top of the environment to track the current policies more exactly. Nothing streamlined or improved the procedures and processes.
A private cloud offered by a trusted vendor is designed from the ground up to support the most efficient processes for the user in addition to the most efficient use of resources. A private cloud contains intelligent software for requesting resources and having those resources allocated rapidly. It also should come with a service level agreement (SLA) that specifies a certain level of availability and/or performance, with penalties for default. Few companies have this type of guarantee or recourse.
A private cloud also comes with actual prices (i.e., chargebacks) for services. This enables a company to see the exact cost of resources used by a particular business unit, not just estimated costs based on a formula or a cost model that must be revamped every year as hardware depreciates and is refreshed and expanded.
Could a Fortune 500 company bring in the expertise to build request, allocation, and chargeback software; revamp its procedures, and run as efficiently as a private cloud? Yes, but virtually no CFO would foot the bill for that upgrade. Especially when he or she could leverage the investment a cloud provider has already made—and save costs while he does it.