Cloud Computing Knowledge Circle Vol 1 Issue 1
The Clouds of Success Contents On Cloud 9...................... 2 Understanding Cloud Computing........... 4 Cloud Adoption in the Indian Industry................5 Keeping it Real............... 7
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CIO
Insights
On Cloud
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The journey from dedicated IT infrastructure to IT on the Cloud has been much talked-about in recent times. From saving Capex to battling Opex, CIOs have much to contemplate before they take the flight to the clouds. Amidst a landscape that is clearly fast evolving and potentially transformative, Vijayashanker, Vice President - IT and Managed Services, Symphony Services, India, shares his experience.
Symphony Service’s success story on extracting the most from the Cloud CIOs worldwide are grappling with rising Data Center spends. Besides, they have to contend with licenses, upgrades, legacy systems, and technology that becomes fast obsolete. Cloud computing has brought the muchneeded respite. What is India’s story on Cloud computing? How keen are CIOs here to try it out, we ask Vijayashanker?
Early advantage Symphony Services, with a 3500-plus workforce, is a market leader in product engineering, right from product development to delivery. Having deployed the Cloud model successfully, it also offers services to Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) it works with, helping enterprises virtualize their applications on the Microsoft Azure or Amazon platforms.
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The Cloud advantage Symphony’s Cloud usage is for both, enterprise applications and services to customers. Using it at every stage of the Product Development Lifecycle, from development to testing, today Vijayashanker vouches for the efficacy of the Cloud on short-term projects. “Earlier for load testing, performance testing, and such short-duration requirements, we had to buy capacity, incurring Capex. Today, we just go to the Cloud and request for storage, computing power, etc. It’s all available to you and takes a maximum of one hour to set up,” he adds, clearing the clouds of doubt among IT decision makers, who are still undecided about the change to the Cloud. “We have Azure, Rackspace, Amazon, Oracle, IBM, so many private Clouds too. We use Cloud computing extensively and
it has given us a phenomenal advantage, adding a lot of value at low cost.”
Slowly but surely Even as Cloud usage in India is steadily on the rise, one finds that adoption has been slow. Vijayashanker attributes this to the bandwidth prices in India, which still impede full-throttle adoption. Having successfully monitored his organization’s journey to the Cloud, he feels that it is only a matter of time before the Cloud becomes a rage in India. “Cloud computing is a disruptive model,” he predicts, as he foresees the Cloud as a pathbreaking innovation. He attributes part of its popularity to the fact that “ISVs don’t want to miss the bandwagon. This will give rise to a whole lot of new companies who perished before their time from the burden of Capital expenditure”
Symphony’s foray into usage of the Cloud, has been for both, enterprise apps and services to customers. A step at a time In an age where benchmarks such as IT Opex per capita are closely linked with IT’s performance, a Cloud model would certainly enhance IT’s reputation. What then are the key adoption issues that CIOs should be aware of? “There has been a lot of concern over security and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). What happens if the cloud goes down? In your own Data Center, the fix is in your control; with a Cloud you don’t know the cause of the drop in service. Therefore, it is advisable to proceed one step at a time.” Another attribute that marks Symphony’s success with Cloud computing is the hybrid model of adoption, where a portion of the enterprise applications still lie with the Data Center and only those that are light in terms of legacy are migrated to the Cloud – the cost of migrating and remodeling mission critical applications is just too high and Vijayashanker advises against this. “A small organisation may leverage the Cloud 100 percent but for a medium organization, a hybrid model works well.” Despite the direct gains from reduction in Data Center load and hence power savings, a hybrid model could present challenges such as a single signon authentication for every user.
Symphony has seen a way out of this concern by using Microsoft Azure, which enables single signon. Additionally, the organization ironed out concerns of global connectivity speeds by connecting to the nearest Data Center in the APAC region.
Reaping rewards with Microsoft Azure Symphony’s foremost partner in using applications based on the Cloud and providing the same to their customers, has been Microsoft, allowing the
organization to reap the benefits of Platform as a Service (PaaS). Symphony has today, built significant expertise on the Azure platform, where it is able to leverage not just enterprise applications on Microsoft, but also ensure support on Java. In terms of other benefits, Symphony has gained from the services provided by Microsoft on Azure, “I don’t need to maintain
Strategic Insights 1. Cloud computing is a transformative model that is fast-emerging as a game changer. 2. Adoption will increase with the continued reduction in bandwidth prices. 3. Concerns center around security, legacy integration, single sign-on, and SLAs. 4. Hybrid model is the best way forward. 5. Microsoft Azure brings in added advantages of single sign-on and easier maintenance. 6. Pay-as-you-go model provides easy scalability and agility.
databases, infrastructure, OS maintenance, patch updates, antivirus – everything is managed by platform service provider. I concentrate on the product and how best I can deliver value in the service I provide to the end customer or employee,” he adds, claiming that the Cloud has eradicated any previous issues of scalability and agility, with a pay-as-you-go model. In Symphony’s case, it has clearly been a win-win for them and the vendors. Their vendors have brought in the ability to switch between releases, absorbed license costs, and eradicated the pain areas of maintenance. Symphony on the other hand, has leveraged the Cloud (Azure) for many of its ISV customers too. “It’s all a matter of trust – the vendor has a reputation and customer base to protect. Security and service promise naturally come first!” he closes with his assuring message to the CIO community.
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Back to
Basics
Did you
Know?
Understanding Cloud Computing
l IDC
Making Cloud Computing Less “Cloudy” SAAS allows users to run online applications. Off-the-shelf applications are accessed over the Internet. The vendors own the applications and the users pay a fixed subscription fees. Great for generic applications, but not for customized, complex applications for large enterprises. PAAS allows users to create their own cloud applications. Basically, provides an environment and set of tools to allow the creation
l Merrill
IAAS allows users to run any applications they want to on cloud hardware of their choice. Existing applications can be run on the vendor’s cloud hardware, potentially replacing a company’s data center infrastructure.
Lynch estimates the market at $160B by 2011. l AMI
research estimates that SMB cloud spending will reach $100B by 2014.
Software Applications
Runtimes
Runtimes
Security and Integration
Security and Integration
Security and Integration
Databases
Databases
Servers
Servers
You manage
Applications
Runtimes
Server HW Storage Networking
Managed by vendor
Virtualization
Virtualization Server HW
Databases Servers Virtualization Server HW
Storage
Storage
Networking
Networking
Managed by vendor
(as a Service)
Managed by vendor
(as a Service)
Applications
You manage
estimates the cloud market at $150B by 2013.
Platform
(as a Service)
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l Gartner
of new web applications. More risk of vendor lock-in because applications cannot be moved easily between platforms.
Infrastructure
estimates public Cloud Computing spends to be $16B in 2010, growing to $56B by 2014.
The Boston Consulting Group conducted a study on cloud (IaaS/PaaS) adoption in the Indian industry, sponsored by Microsoft. Presented here are the industry-specific challenges, drivers and adoption trends for Manufacturing and Media & Entertainment.
Analyst
Speak
Cloud Adoption in the Indian Industry Compiled by The Boston Consulting Group
Manufacturing
Vertical specific apps and hybrid public/private clouds can help firms grow while reducing costs Industry priorities driving cloud adoption
Industry pain points addressed by IaaS/PaaS
The Indian manufacturing sector is poised to grow significantly due to low labor costs and the large domestic market
Global competition: need to source supplies and complete with global firms as well as other emerging markets Increased collaboration: increasing collaboration with suppliers, customers and partners (e.g. design, supply chain) as well as backward and forward integration Digitization of distribution: customers moving online to find information about products (buying still not widespread) Reduced CapEx: allowing firms to increase capabilities without large capital expenditure
IT a likely lever to increase sector productivity l Customer/market facing applications: the internet is becoming a stronger distribution channel with firms looking t build their brands and increase reach l Internal collaboration: large, vertically integrated firms can leverage IT to connect employees and increase productivity l Supply chain optimization: improved systems necessary for integrating with global partners as outsourcing increases l Predicting demand: firms looking to leverage data and better understand changes in customer demand Global slow down tightened access to capital, causing firms to look for ways to do more with less l IaaS/PaaS reduces capital investment and paves way for increased process and system digitization
Cloud value drivers Improved collaboration with customers and employees around the globe l Increased elasticity & agility l Reliability and availability l Cost reduction l
Adoption trends/ examples Due to perceived pain points; core apps may not move to entirely to public
IaaS/PaaS Security/privacy l Reliability, especially in tier 2, 3 & 4 cities l
Increased integration and collaboration needs will create hybrid IaaS/PaaS demand Examples of manufacturers adopting IaaS/PaaS: l Large Asian auto manufacturer using PaaS for deploying US website for marketing campaign l Manufacturing services firm using PaaS to host energy tracking application and store large amounts of data
In summary Cloud computing paves the way for manufacturing firms as they seek to leverage IT to contain labor costs while tapping a growing domestic market. Bringing multiple advantages of agility, reliability, increased collaboration, and cost reduction, the Cloud is today being used as IaaS and PaaS by manufacturing firms.
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Media and Entertainment
IaaS/PaaS reduces barriers to digitization allowing converged creation/distribution of content
Industry priorities driving cloud adoption
Expensive infrastructure necessary due to need of sizing for peak use
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Two mega-trends paving way for IaaS/PaaS adoption
Cloud value drivers
Convergence l Traditional media (e.g. cinema, print) converging into new media (e.g. internet, mobile) l Investments to increase new media content underway l Large investments in 3G underway that will accelerate adoption
Reduction in piracy with web delivery l Instant global infrastructure l Scalability l Reliability and availability l Increased elasticity & agility
Digitalization of media l >80% of content expected to be digitized by 2012; generating significant storage and computing needs l Media distribution platforms and networks becoming key element of competitive advantage as on-demand develops into a major distribution channel Indian entertainment content gaining global attention; accelerating growth and the need for global distribution
IT services spending increasing as technology use becomes strategic l Digitization of content creation and delivery l Lack necessary IT skills
l
Adoption trends/ examples
l Desire to focus on creative/ content
Examples of firms adopting IaaS/PaaS: l Indian animation firm used cloud computing to render feature length film l Large US newspaper developed content management application on PaaS, used for both creation and delivery l Media focused software firm built application to handle transcoding on PaaS platform
In summary Fast emerging trends in the media and entertainment industry, are accelerating the need for global distribution. Scalability, instant global reach, and increased elasticity and agility are the need of the hour. Given these trends, the media is rapidly adopting IaaS and PaaS for digitization and distribution of content.
Industry pain points addressed by IaaS/PaaS Rampant piracy: already a major concern, however will be more important with move to digital distribution Low price points: need to match service delivery cost with low willingness to pay for digital content Long production times: need to reduce time for compute-intensive productions
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Download the full report at http://cioresearchcenter.com/2010/12/bcgreport-on-cloud-adoption-in-indian-industry/
Cloud Computing:
Keeping it Real
Reality
Check
A whitepaper by Satish Raghavendran and Raj Sivaraju, Deloitte Consulting It is fascinating to see how largescale distributed computing has resurrected itself in a new avatar as cloud computing. Professional services firms might be tempted to consider this as a new service to offer to clients – or as a technology to embrace internally. John Hagel and Chris Weitz define cloud computing as “a paradigm of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized computing resources are provided
as a service over the Internet.” (Cloud Computing in the Enterprise: Not If, but When and How? The Dbriefs Technology Executives series, October 1, 2009). The compelling reason for cloud computing emerges when businesses scale their operations and require a rapidly expanded IT infrastructure to implement large-scale transaction processing support for a product or service delivery. It is also a revenue opportunity for IT infrastructure providers to offer processing capability to firms that want to aggressively scale. From an internal adoption perspective, it is imperative for
the CIO of a professional services organization to carefully assess the cloud computing solution on fundamental business dimensions, and to arrive at a balanced and meaningful decision for adopting cloud computing instead of being emotionally compelled to hop on the populist bandwagon of enterprise-wide cloud computing. What about collaboration as a driver for the adoption of cloud computing? As professional services firms mature, they ascend the client’s value chain in offering them services that are transformative. The key enabler to drive the transformative initiatives is collaboration across professionals with deep intellectual engagement on the business issue, in order to provide an innovative solution. The infrastructure needed to build a
What about offering cloud computing as a service line? The idea is hard to support. IT infrastructure firms are ideally positioned, given their business model, to offer processing capability to firms that want to aggressively scale without having to invest in IT infrastructure. The market is hyper-competitive with razor-thin margins. In contrast, the asset base for a professional services firm is their deep intellectual equity rather than information processing throughput. Furthermore, client-facing business units may be adversely impacted if IT is focused on revenue generation rather than support. The business case for adopting cloud computing as a service line for mature professional services firm, then, is not compelling. More promising than hardware is the case for investing in thought ware – an area more consistent with the core capabilities of a professional services firm.
It is imperative for the CIO of a professional services organization to carefully assess the cloud computing solution on fundamental business dimensions. collaborative environment may not derive the true benefits of adopting cloud computing models. By and large, the IT infrastructure available to professional services firms at present allows virtual collaboration across time zones and is adequate for their needs. Moreover, the lack of state-of-art, heavy duty processing power offered by cloud computing is not a show stopper for an organization engaged in ideation and innovation.
Organizations that lose focus on this fundamental truth end up walking with their head in the clouds. Raj Sivaraju, Regional Technology Director Deloitte Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. Email: rsivaraju@deloitte.com Satish Raghavendran, Deloitte Research Deloitte Consulting India Pvt. Ltd. Email: sraghavendran@deloitte.com
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Enterpise Cloud Assessment Workshop Microsoft now offers CIOs the opportunity to have a deep-dive session with Cloud consulting experts from leading firms such as KPMG, Mindtree, Persistent Systems, and Wipro, among others. You receive an in-depth assessment of applications in your environment, which are best fit for leveraging the Cloud to streamline your IT infrastructure; and a well-defined roadmap for migration to the Cloud. For Enterprise Cloud Assessment Workshop, please email azurepro@microsoft.com or visit http://www.microsoft.com/india/azure
From the Team at CCKC We hope you’ve found our first edition of the Cloud Computing Knowledge Circle (CCKC) helpful and informative. It is our endeavor to present insights in the area of Cloud computing and demystify the challenges for CIOs.We hope to bring you more examples of how Cloud computing is transforming organizations throughout the country; as well as knowledge that will help you harness Cloud computing. Keep writing to us about what you’d like us to feature. For further information, feedback and suggestions on the Cloud Computing Knowledge Circle, mail cckc@cioindia.org.
Tapan Garg, Founder and CEO, CIO Association of India P1 Gem Wellington, Old Airport Road, Bangalore 560017. E: tapan@cioindia.org W: www.cioindia.org
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