Reaching Cloud Nine

News Article -- April 20, 2012

by Chris Maxwell
Director Magazine

It's no secret that switching your IT to the cloud can save you money. But a crowded marketplace and industry jargon are making it ever more difficult for businesses to choose the right provider, say our experts. Here are their tips for finding the best service for you.

They say that every cloud has a silver lining, and – when it comes to cloud computing – the potential to line your pockets with the silver you've saved by using cloud services is well documented. But while many business leaders are aware of the benefits of switching elements of IT infrastructure to the cloud, a large number are still hesitating to do so. A global survey of 6,000 businesses by data back-up and recovery specialists Acronis found that 30 per cent cited a lack of trust in cloud providers as a barrier to switching IT services, while 56 per cent feared for the safety of their data in the event of a disaster.

The problem, say experts, is a boom in new cloud operators – and the spread of industry jargon. "The word cloud is interpreted in different ways, abused and often strikes fear into people," says Alan Hardiman, EMEA director of cloud for CSC, a supplier to the UK government.

Daniel Lowe, managing director of Six Degrees Managed Data, a cloud provider to well-known companies such as Arriva Trains, agrees: "As an industry we're bad at explaining terms," he says. "People want to make their product unique, but making up new terminology is not the way to do it. It's detrimental to our industry and the understanding of what customers want."

Mark Heraghty, managing director of Virgin Media Business, also shares the frustration. "Most are already signed up to the benefits of the cloud," he says. "But constant jargon and complicated advice has created a real barrier for people."

It's clear, then, that if you're one of those business leaders feeling a little baffled about what cloud really is and what it could do for your company, you're not alone. Therefore, the advice from our experts to beat cloud confusion is to go back to basics, clear your mind of anything you've heard before and focus on what your organisation really needs. Here are their five top tips for getting started...

1 Define cloud for yourself

In the spirit of simplicity that our experts demand, let's start at the beginning. Cloud is the term used to describe the supply of IT infrastructure and services over the internet. It is called cloud because of the cloud-shaped diagram drawn to illustrate the flow of services.

Instead of buying expensive servers and running a server room in your office, for example, you might consider renting server space from a cloud operator which has its own server data centre – and access your files held there over the web. And instead of purchasing a software application and installing it on your machines, you could pay a subscription to access it on the web.

Clouds can be 'public' – in that they supply these services to anyone via their public sites on the internet (such as Apple's iCloud or Microsoft's SkyDrive). Or they can be 'private' – in that the services are hosted from a data centre and accessible only by a limited number of paying customers.

Beyond these basics you'll hear all kinds of variations and extra terms – hybrid cloud, for example, describes a private cloud that can temporarily have services from the public cloud added on, perhaps to briefly increase capacity during particularly busy times. And it is in this evolution of terms that users become confused.

So stop there, say experts, and just focus on your business, making cloud exactly what you want it to be. "Think 'what do I need?' and 'how can I get my business functions delivered?'" says Lowe. "If the aim is, 'It's time to upgrade my server system, but that's expensive and I'd like someone else to operate this from now on', then look for someone to do that, and then get them to prove to you that they can do what you want."

Hardiman agrees: "See it as buying something useful for your business. Think of it as a business tool, rather than a technology tool, that allows you to flex up and flex down as you need to."

2 Start small – and build up

Your competitors are hesitating, too – few businesses give all their IT infrastructure over to cloud overnight, and few are switching as quickly as they say they will. In 2010, companies in the Acronis survey claimed they would boost their cloud-based infrastructure by 87 per cent in 2011. But in reality they increased it by 19 per cent. This careful approach is understandable and the right one for business, says Hardiman. "What we ask people to do is pick an example of something that they want to move to the cloud and start small – don't try to boil the ocean in one go," he says.

"We're working with a large European automobile manufacturer. They were in the process of launching a new model of car and wanted to set up a web-based application that allowed customers to design their own car online. It was a quick turnaround – they couldn't anticipate how many hits there would be and they were concerned that their own web-based infrastructure would not cope. So that moved across [to be hosted in the cloud] and launched in January. Since then, they have said 'we've also got this requirement and this...' and now we've got a trajectory planned with them of three or four projects."

Hardiman's colleague Mark Davis – marketing services director for CSC in the UK – adds: "We've found that a good starting point is to shift email into the cloud, cutting the costs of managing it." One client to benefit is Royal Mail Group (RMG), which had found frustration with its email system Lotus Notes, as it limited staff inbox sizes. "We constantly had to email people when we were on Lotus Notes, telling them to reduce storage," says Adrian Steel, former head of RMG infrastructure management. "Some people used to have to do a phenomenal amount of housekeeping, but now they are much more productive."

3 Ask these security questions...

Once you've identified something to move into the cloud, and a potential provider, it's time to ask security questions, says Davis: "There are four things: What physical security measures have they got around the data centre facility? What are their guarantees that they will segregate your data from everyone else's? What authorisation and identity controls are there so you know who accessed what, and when? And fourth, what are their techniques for scanning data for viruses, and for efficient back-up and restore processes? You'll quickly find out if an organisation can't deal with those issues."

Hardiman adds: "Transparency over the actual location where your data and processing is taking place is also needed. A lot of cloud providers just say 'it's somewhere in Europe'. Some countries have tighter data privacy laws than others, so it's significant. Insist on a specific address." It's an approach also taken by Six Degrees, says Lowe: "We own our own data centres, so we're able to say [to potential clients] 'here's the land, we own that, here are the buildings, we own those, here is the equipment, we own that as well, and here's the security team, they're our employees'. It's really important."

4 Exploit free trials

While the large and increasing number of cloud providers means a need to ask careful security questions, the competition for your business has its advantages. "I'd say don't just rely on PowerPoint from providers, try the cloud out – it's the best way to gain confidence and understand it," says Hardiman. "Most suppliers, including ourselves, will offer free trials – so take advantage of that. Find a workload, move it on [to cloud], take full advantage of the free trial period and get as much out of it as you can. Then most people will be convinced that their needs can be satisfied."

5 Understand your deal

Finally, when you do take the plunge and sign up for a cloud service, study the terms and conditions carefully. "I went to an interesting conference about the pitfalls of transacting in the cloud," says Hardiman. "It discussed how people often, when installing software, click the 'I accept' box of Ts and Cs without reading them. Make sure you understand what's behind it. Are you clear as to whether you or the provider is responsible for backing up data in case of a problem? Do they offer any monetary compensation for problems, rather than just free time from their technicians?"

If this considered approach is taken, says Hardiman, there is nothing for businesses to fear in the cloud. "The internet was scary 20 years ago, too – there were fears about using credit cards over it and so on, and that's different now, of course," he says.

Virgin's Heraghty agrees: "Depending on how you use it, cloud computing can start saving money, make IT easier and free the business to do what it wants to do far faster than conventional ways of running IT," he says. "Rather than being a hazy promise, it's real, but first you need to pick the right path through the hype." D

For more information visit

www.6dg.co.uk
www.csc.com/uk
www.re-systems.co.uk
www.acronis.co.uk
www.virginmediabusiness.co.uk

Why we switched to the cloud...

RE: Systems, a provider of software for transport companies and sporting events, has placed part of its operation in the cloud with Six Degrees. Technical director Jonathan McLachlan explains.."We originally hosted locally out of our offices in Bakewell, Derbyshire. But we've been working with Six Degrees since our larger contracts came to fruition. We needed a facility with redundant connectivity and the ability to provide a 24/7 service.

"Redundant connectivity means not relying on one provider – if you have your internet from BT and someone chops through the lines, it will fail over to another provider, and then another. It's a service Six Degrees provided in a more cost-effective way than we could have achieved as an individual company.

"Their data centre also has generator back-up, so if power is lost to your servers, the generators kick in and can keep the system going for over 80 hours. Then there are considerations like the cost of air conditioning to the servers, the provision of 24/7 manned security – all things that come at a premium if you're trying to do them on your own.

"Another advantage is flexibility. We need to be able to offer peaks of capacity to our clients – if there's going to be an event in January, for example, we can reach an agreement with Six Degrees to achieve that bandwidth, which can then perhaps drop off again in February. We haven't got to have an ongoing revenue stream that constantly meets that peak.

"We're also benefiting from performance gains because Six Degrees are investing in high- performance equipment, the kind that would incur considerable cost to a business on their own.

"We do still maintain some of our own servers, which have high-speed connectivity, redundancy and so on, but we don't host any of our mission-critical systems here now. In the near future, I think we will move to a predominantly cloud/virtual environment."

 

Ahead in the cloud
Five terms you may hear, and what they mean...
Software as a Service (SaaS) Applications you can subscribe to online from cloud suppliers.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Servers, storage and security measures which you can access remotely from your supplier.
Service-level agreement (SLA) Your contract with the supplier, setting down the terms and conditions of the service it will give you.
Data centre A building housing computer servers and systems.
Redundant connectivity Elements of the cloud that don't rely on each other for their operation. If one is lost, the other will provide instant cover.

April 2012: Director Magazine