What does this mean for the vision on IT infrastructure, investments, and daily management? In this article, our CTO Larik-Jan looks at the various aspects of the Cloud: from management to the risks involved in consuming it.
Popularity of cloud services
Access to applications is taken for granted by users. Every consumer has a smartphone full of applications that can be installed and used with just a few taps. In a business context, people expect these business applications to be just as easy to use. However, there are a few differences here: applications contain company data that must be protected, which means that in addition to accessibility, security plays an incredibly important role. Furthermore, many applications that are part of a company's core services are not 'cloud-born', meaning these applications cannot be easily accessed in the same way as applications linked to a Software as a Service proposition. As a result, many companies are tied to legacy business software, and the management of that software is also linked to owning their own IT infrastructure.
Nevertheless, we see high acceptance of business Cloud services, with Microsoft 365 being the most well-known example. Productivity solutions that we have known for years from Microsoft Office are being made available via the Microsoft Cloud and embraced on a massive scale. In the Covid year of 2020, we saw that, for example, Microsoft Teams grew from 20 million to 115 million users. Why? Because of the ease of consumption: where a few years ago Microsoft Office software could only be installed on a local device with a license, it can now be used via a pay-per-use subscription model. This means no large investments are required, and it is easy to scale up or down based on the number of users in a monthly model: IT as a Service.
But what about those applications that cannot be purchased as a service from the Cloud? The Cloud can be a good solution for this, and with the pull from the Microsoft Cloud, a clear trend toward the public Cloud is visible. The commercial, IT as a Service model is fundamentally attractive, but it very often leads to debate. Matters such as daily management, 'owning' the data, and even a simple cost comparison are not easy to make if you take everything into account regarding the operation of Cloud IT.
but what exactly is the cloud?
"We have a Cloud-first strategy" is a frequently heard quote among management and boards of organizations. The choice for such a strategy is very often driven by costs. Large investments in hardware, hosting, and software are no longer necessary, making it a lot easier to balance the budget. This commercial argument is very clear, but what is less clear is the definition of 'Cloud-first' and specifically the definition of 'Cloud'. It would be better to state that IT is being purchased as a service model: pay-per-use and available on demand. However, the subject of the Cloud is often a discussion that must be determined and filled in by the IT director or manager. Which Cloud options are actually available? We distinguish between a number of types of Clouds, the core definitions of which are determined by Private and Public Clouds.
private cloud
The Private Cloud is a Cloud that is not simply accessible to everyone. Access is generally not determined by a set of standard services that can be purchased on demand with a credit card; there is much more customization involved. You often see that the underlying technology is similar to that of the public Cloud, but that the services are more often offered in custom solutions. Also, a Private Cloud is not necessarily accessed via the internet. At Fundaments, we offer such a Private Cloud—from the user's perspective—where, in addition to standard infrastructure services, it is also possible to realize a custom Cloud via a pay-per-use model; very useful when those business-critical applications have specific hardware requirements, or when there is a licensing model with certain rules. In fact, the Private Cloud is characterized much more by 'technical customization' and a 'commercial model.' This results in a higher degree of customer intimacy—a characteristic with features that we will highlight further on in this article.
public cloud
The Public Cloud is primarily characterized by public access via the internet. From a service perspective, the public cloud is focused on the ability to consume services online—over the internet. This requires an internet connection. Furthermore, pay-as-you-go consumption is the standard. Another standard is the set of services available; these are determined and provided by the public cloud provider. The most well-known public cloud providers are Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. In addition, there are emerging players such as Oracle Cloud, IBM Cloud, Alibaba, and Tencent Cloud. Beyond providing services over the internet, all these public providers are known as hyperscalers: due to their scale and global coverage, they are exceptionally well-suited for solutions where applications and services require a vast range of resources and locations.
hybrid & multi cloud
Beyond the two primary categories, combinations of different clouds can also be created. Hybrid variants involve deploying a cloud platform across multiple locations: for example, a portion of VMware Cloud at a company site linked to a segment with a cloud provider like Fundaments. This also applies to connecting a company site to a public cloud, such as a VMware vSphere solution linked to a VMware on AWS solution. A key characteristic is that the technology used to manage the cloud remains consistent and independent of the underlying cloud infrastructure. This trend is highly effective for bridging gaps, allowing traditional applications that cannot be hosted in the public cloud to still leverage public cloud infrastructure. Looking ahead, this will likely be a temporary solution; the future lies primarily in adopting Multi-Cloud: distributing the entire application landscape across various clouds. This ensures that each application 'lands' in the most suitable cloud, with the focus shifting toward managing these different clouds in terms of costs, as well as data security—both for storage and data exchange.
Now that the 'definition of the Cloud' part has been discussed, every Cloud has its own cost model in addition to a technical definition. How do you get a good comparison there? When do you make the right choice to opt for a Cloud-first strategy, and once you have made that choice, how do you compare the different Clouds that are available? In addition to the 'why,' comparing the features and components of the Cloud platform is therefore very important.
why look at the cloud as an it platform?
Many companies talk about costs when looking at the Cloud. Instead of large investments in their own—non-scalable—IT systems, the Cloud is mentioned as a solution here. But is this the right argument? Partly, because moving an IT system from internal IT infrastructure to a Cloud-based solution makes no difference to its usage. Moving that IT system does not in itself constitute a transformation. It is about the flexibility gained by using the Cloud as a tool. For example, what will a company's application landscape look like in five years? Hardly anyone can give a concrete answer to that. And yet, investments in IT hardware are still made daily, based on current demand and an estimate of growth. Not a very realistic assessment in the rapidly changing world of IT. So, the Cloud is primarily used for the flexibility of IT systems, and this provides a basis for doing things differently in the IT domain, for actually starting to think about that digital transformation. For Managed Service Providers, this provides much more breathing room to think about processes and systems that improve satisfaction for the end customer; whether it concerns a chatbot for frequently asked questions, digital order processing, or administrative insight, it is precisely by using the Cloud as an IT platform that time and capacity are created to think about these transformations.
Fair enough, but how do we actually get started with that digital transformation?
That is a very good question. It requires organizational buy-in to be willing to do things differently. It’s about processes and interaction with the end customer: where does an organization want to focus to improve things? If we take customer satisfaction as a general example, you often need systems that provide customer information. This, in turn, requires unlocking internal information. It involves IT systems with a certain level of availability, data exchange over networks, continuity issues, and often data protection—not just regarding access, but also location (where is my customer data stored?). These are very generic issues that lead to choices in IT usage and, consequently, define aspects of Cloud adoption. What can we identify specifically there?
The most common comparison is cost, specifically the cost of basic IT: computing power, storage, and connectivity. However, there are often many other factors involved that are neither included in the costs nor considered in the general understanding of Cloud usage. Here are a few examples.
- Backups: widely used, but often untested. How often is it the case that a backup is made but rarely tested? You only have a backup for one reason: to be able to recover data if the primary process fails. Testing is therefore important, but also highly relevant: is a backup stored in the right place if, for example, there is an outage due to a cyberattack? It wouldn't be the first time a cryptolocker attack also compromised the backup because it was on the same network.
- Disaster Recovery: backup and restore are important, but how long can downtime actually last? With the massive amount of data we are all generating, we are seeing a huge demand for backups. Backups are getting larger, which means recovery takes longer. For those cases where time is truly critical, a continuity plan is essential. Disaster Recovery services provide for this.
- Access protection: to protect Cloud data, you must do everything possible. Internet access should be kept to a minimum, and you need robust firewalls that not only block access but also monitor who is requesting it and react interactively. Furthermore, internet-facing services require extra protection; (D)DoS attacks are an everyday occurrence, so ensure you have protection in place.
- Data protection: how is the data protected? In addition to redundant storage and encryption, the application and the operating system it runs on are of great importance. Having insight into those environments and being able to act on vulnerabilities in applications and operating systems is key.
As you can see, there are many factors to consider when evaluating your IT landscape. The points mentioned are primarily factual: technical components and properties that together form the platform and the application for the end user. Another very important aspect is the point of contact during problems: who do you call when there is an issue with the platform? How quickly can they respond, and what guarantees for solutions are offered? In short, what is the level of support for a service? Ultimately, a Cloud-based service stands or falls on its recovery time during an outage. Often, being able to call a fixed contact person is very reassuring—after all, that’s how it used to be, right? When problems arose, you called IT support and the issue had to be resolved.
Comparing Clouds with existing IT is a complex issue, but it is certainly worth considering if an organization has the desire to undergo a digital transformation. A good partner is crucial. With its wealth of experience in both technology and supporting ISV clients with their platforms, Fundaments is an excellent partner to start a digital transformation journey.
