Hybrid IT Governance: Automation is Key

Watson Crowdsources Cloud Computing

By G C Network | October 20, 2016

Recently I’ve been doing quite a bit of analysis work using the IBM Watson cognitive business platform. The really exciting thing about this opportunity is the way data can seem…

New Horizons® Delivers CloudMASTER®

By G C Network | October 17, 2016

For over 30 years, New Horizons has provided more than 30 million students with industry-leading technical training that delivers the most relevant and intuitive computer courses and certifications. They are…

See You At RSA Conference 2017!

By G C Network | October 11, 2016

JUST ANNOUNCED!! I am personally excited to be delivering the (ISC)² CCSP Two-Day Crash Course at RSA Conference 2017! “The current state of cybersecurity means there are many opportunities for the…

#KnowYourData: The Key to Business

By G C Network | October 7, 2016

Last week’s Strata-Hadoop conference in New York, NY was showcase of how big data is redefining business. Every company, every demonstration and every conversation highlighted how data is driving the…

A New Chapter: “Cloud Musings en español”

By G C Network | October 5, 2016

Since May 2010, “Cloud Musings” has demonstrated, educated and celebrated the use of advanced technology in business. Specific subjects are sometimes varied, but cloud computing and cybersecurity seem to have…

Military Tips On Business Resiliency

By G C Network | September 28, 2016

Photo credit: Shutterstock A steel bar is resistant to stress and is capable of maintaining its form while bearing large loads. While steel is also known as one of the…

Meet Ameet Bakshi: The Insurance CloudMASTER®

By G C Network | September 25, 2016

Powered by Singapore-based Big Data start-up Crayon Data, BigData-MadeSimple.com tapped the insurance industry as being at the forefront of integrating cloud technology into their digital eco system. As stated in…

Understand The Language Of Data: Strata+Hadoop World and TAP

By G C Network | September 19, 2016

Our world is driven by data.  It may speak in whispers, but it can also scream insight and information to those that understand it’s language. This is why I’ll be…

Transformative Training for Hybrid Cloud

By G C Network | September 13, 2016

Figure 1- Shawn Bolan, Technical Training Manager, New Horizons of Nebraska, https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-bolan-96b8a9103 In a recent CloudTech article multi-cloud, or hybrid cloud, strategy was heralded as “…transformative for businesses, allowing them…

Surviving the coming “Hackerpocalypse”

By G C Network | September 6, 2016

Photo credit: Shutterstock With all the excellent training available on television today, we are all now well prepared to deal with the coming Zombie Apocalypse.  Our failure as a society…


As cloud computing continues to grow in importance, enterprises are now facing a new realization.  In their almost rampant embrace of cost savings associated with public cloud, many are just now understanding the information technology governance challenge posed by vastly different traditional and cloud computing operational models.  Often referred to as hybrid IT, supporting both models has left many executives trying to cope with a lack of hybrid IT operational experience.  Challenges can also include security concerns, financial management changes and even dramatic cultural changes.   
This myriad of challenges translate into enterprise risk across multiple levels, namely:

  • Organizational management and governance;
  • Accelerating business process speed and scope;
  • Expanding business partner ecosystem; and
  • Broadening enterprise information system user base.

To be successful, organizations should explicitly address these risks with a focused risk management strategy.  This strategy should not only address holistic activities that integrate across the business, but also on coordinated activities for overseeing and controlling high impact and high probability risks.  Some areas may even warrant organizational policy and governance enhancements include:

  •  Delegation of management decision authority to those responsible for everyday interactions with the organizations business ecosystems and IT supply chain
  • Establishment and communication of cloud ecosystem related risk tolerance through Service-Level Agreements (SLA), including delegated authority on decisions that impact the risk tolerance;
  • Near real-time monitoring, recognition, and understanding, of information security risks arising from the operation and/or use of the information system leveraging the cloud ecosystem; and
  • Organizational accountability around incidents, threats, risk management decisions, and solutions.

Figure 1: Risk Management Framework (NIST SP 800-37 Rev. 1)
Specificity around security processes, business resilience and financial management are paramount.  The dynamic and agile nature of modern business also demands using a relatively high degree of
automation in supporting multiple business functions including:

  • Customer demands for multi-channel and multi-device interaction;
  • Expanding dynamic global IT requirements;
  • Operational business decision support;
  • Enforcement of organizational governance;
  • Operational flexibility through business ecosystem API; and
  • Internal demands to deliver on the promise of IT-as-a-Service.

When automating governance and control, organization should, as much as possible, enhance:

  • The discovery and documentation of existing public cloud resources;
  • The enforcement of data and access management security policies;
  • Monitoring and reporting of all governance processes;
  • Cost controls and budget management processes; and
  • Evaluation and selection of application “cloud readiness”.

Companies that fail to automate these key processes, will not realize the operational efficiencies and agility of hybrid IT platforms.  They will also fall behind their competition, eventually to the point of irrelevance.
Exemplary of a successful transition was when a leading, Fortune 500 nutrition, health and wellness company decided to migrate applications from two end-of-life data centers.  During their initial evaluation, the enterprise found that moving to a Hybrid IT model — a mix of private cloud, public cloud and physical assets — would help them solve problems that were hindering their competitiveness.  With the expertise of a top system integrator, the enterprise transitioned to a cloud brokerage solution. This solution automated their IT governance by tying planning, consumption, delivery, and management seamlessly across public, private, virtual, hosted, and on and off premises resources. Gravitant’s cloudMatrix solution was identified as the only purpose-built solution for Hybrid IT.  Using this solution, the enterprise enhanced IT governance, reduced operational risk and transformed its IT services model from a high-cost, inflexible physical data center model into a next generation, pay-per-use model.
In accomplishing this transformation, cloudMatrix provided:

  • A seeded catalog of the industry’s leading cloud infrastructure providers, out-of-the-box without the overhead of custom integration.
  • A marketplace where consumers can select and compare provider services, or add their own IT-approved services for purchasing and provisioning.  Consumers can use a common workflow with full approval processes that are executed in terms of minutes not weeks.
  • Reporting and Monitoring that includes multi-provider consolidated billing estimates, actuals, and usage projections for accuracy and cost assignment.
  • A visual designer that includes sync-and-discover capabilities to pull all assets (VMs) into a single, architectural view and management standard.
  • Integration with service management and ticketing systems through an API framework.

In only six months, the enterprise was able to move its workloads from the existing data centers, to a Hybrid IT (private, public and physical) delivery model and provide self-service IT to business units with cost and usage transparency.  IT cost, which had previously categorized as a general percentage of overall IT spend assignment, is now available by virtual data center, service/application, and usage — permitting reporting and governance at a “cost-per-business unit” level.

 

( This content is being syndicated through multiple channels. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of GovCloud Network, GovCloud Network Partners or any other corporation or organization.)

Cloud Musings

( Thank you. If you enjoyed this article, get free updates by email or RSS – © Copyright Kevin L. Jackson 2015)

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

G C Network