A Path to Hybrid Cloud

Vivek Kundra to Speak at NRO Showcase

By G C Network | June 8, 2009

On the 17 & 18 June, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) will present the premiere Innovative Solutions Showcase. Titled “Unleashing the Crowd in the Cloud: Igniting the Innovation Insurgency“, this event…

Secure Cloud Computing on Federal News Radio

By G C Network | June 1, 2009

Last week the Trezza Media Group, Flyzik Group and Federal News Radio combined to produce an outstanding Federal Executive Forum on Secure Cloud Computing. Moderated by Jim Flyzik, panelist included:…

My Meeting with Mr. Vivek Kundra

By G C Network | May 29, 2009

Earlier this week I had the distinct pleasure and opportunity to have a private meeting with Mr. Vivek Kundra. Although my time with him and Mr. Gary Washington (OMB/Egov &IT Internal…

Comments for Mr. Kundra (Thank you for the input!)

By G C Network | May 25, 2009

A little over a week ago I put out a request to my readers to help me with my meeting with Vivek Kundra.  The response has been awesome!! thank you…

Congratulations to Roger Baker !!

By G C Network | May 23, 2009

My congratulations goes out to Roger Baker !  I first met Roger a little over a year ago when he interviewed me for my present job at Dataline. At that…

NDU (IRM) and DoD CIO (NII) Co-Hosting Cloud Computing and Cyber Security Symposia

By G C Network | May 20, 2009

I’m proud to announce two important coming events. The Information Resources Management (IRM) College and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks and Information Integration)/DOD CIO are co-hosting…

Please Help Me Plan My Meeting With Mr. Vivek Kundra !!

By G C Network | May 18, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, I was offered a chance to meet Mr. Vivek Kundra at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in downtown Washington, DC. Needless to say, I was…

President Obama’s 2010 Budget Highlights Cloud Computing

By G C Network | May 12, 2009

President Obama’s 2010 Budget (pp. 157-158) has highlighted cloud computing as a key tool for improving innovation, efficiency and effectiveness in Federal IT. ” Cloud-computing is a convenient, on-demand model…

Federal Cloud Computing Heating Up !

By G C Network | May 7, 2009

As fellow blogger Reuven Cohen mentions in his post, Federal cloud computing is indeed heating up: Vivek Kundra held a US Federal Government Cloud Computing Summit yesterday The Federal CIO…

USA.gov “Flips the switch” to Cloud Computing

By G C Network | May 4, 2009

Last weekend, USA.gov shifted to a cloud computing platform. This move is expected to reduce infrastructure expenses by 90% and drastically improve flexibility. “‘We are flipping the switch tomorrow to…

Cloud computing is now an operational reality across every industry.  Organizations that fail to leverage this economic, operational and technology consumption model are merely consigning themselves to irrelevance.  The rapid acceleration of cloud adoption has now ignited a push for the Hybrid Cloud/Hybrid IT model in which enterprises simultaneously consumes information technology services from private clouds, public clouds, community clouds and traditional data center sources. While most see this as a reasonable evolutionary path, others see staying with a single provider or a slow, gradual transition as a more prudent path. I strongly disagree with the latter.
A casual observation of the information technology marketplace reveals that data is continuing to grow at an exponential pace. We have also moved from the management of structured data, through joint analysis of structured and unstructured data into an environment where real-time analysis and reporting of streaming data is essential. We are also in an environment of stricter data management regulations and national data sovereignty laws that, if violated, introduce the possibility of punishing remedies and fines. This rapid progression has also driven an exponential increase in required (and desired) information technology services. Cloud service providers meet this need through the innovative creation and deployment of API accessible, immediately consumable, data manipulation services. Enterprise IT organizations have shown themselves to be incapable of matching the blistering increase in number and breadth of these broader marketplace services.  It’s not cost-effective or even desirable for them to even try.
Business owners, on the other hand, see these new services as necessary competitive tools.  They can’t wait for the required internal governance processes or IT investment decisions. This tension has been the cause of internal conflict between IT and business and also the underlying cause of Shadow IT, a tendency to stealthily procure and use cloud services without internal IT knowledge or approval. The organizational business goal must be accomplished and to meet this imperative, enterprise IT must drive a radical shift from legacy ideas and culture towards embracing the Hybrid Cloud/Hybrid IT model.
Enterprise IT management must face reality.  The development and rapid execution of a business supportive IT strategy require a meaningful conversation between IT and business leaders on targeted new business opportunities and any associated differentiating business strategies.  IT leadership must then select the appropriate IT service mix and sources for each necessary business process. This multi-vendor, multi-source selection process should point to the needed Hybrid Cloud/Hybrid IT target end state. The path towards realizing that target should go through at least two pilot processes. One through which success delivers IT operational efficiency and savings and a second that promises new revenue streams for the business. Ideally executed in parallel, this approach will:
  • Train and educate your IT team on the cloud model and required business processes;
  • Build much-neededrapport and collaboration between the business team and IT team;
  • Accelerate attainment of the Hybrid Cloud/Hybrid IT target end state; and
  • Effectively move the organization down the necessary digital transformation path.
Enterprises that have been successful in completing this transformative process include:
  • CarMax a Fortune® 500 company with more than 175 stores across the US and over 6 million cars sold
  • IHG – one of the world’s leading hotel companies, with more than 375,000 people working across almost 100 countries to deliver True Hospitality for everyone; and
  • Smithfield Foods – the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer, committed to providing good food in a responsible way.
In completing their path to hybrid cloud, Smithfield Foods realized:
  • Application response time drop from 600ms to 70 ms;
  • No unplanned IT outages;
  • Increased visibility into business key performance indicators;
  • A transition from a reactive to a predictive decision making culture;
  • A 60% reduction in required IT resources; and
  • The desired enablement of business innovation.

To learn more about starting your company’s path towards the hybrid cloud, take a look at the Microsoft Office Modern Workplace episode on Hybrid Cloud.  In it, Corporate Vice President of Azure Marketing at Microsoft, Julia White, and Tim Crawford from AVOA address how organizations can build the right cloud strategy for the business and its impact on digital transformation.

 

This post was sponsored by Microsoft.

 

Cloud Musings

( Thank you. If you enjoyed this article, get free updates by email or RSS – © Copyright Kevin L. Jackson 2016-2018)

Follow me at https://Twitter.com/Kevin_Jackson
Posted in

G C Network