Cloud bursting

Writing for CBR, Brian Murray, principle consultant at IT services firm 2e2, makes the case that when it comes to cloud computing CIOs should reach for the skies nevertheless keep their feet on the ground

In 2012, one trend is highly noticeable: more and more organisations are looking to cloud computing as the at once big step in their IT strategies. In Gartner's most recent worldwide CIO survey, cloud was the third most-important research priority for CIOs in 2012, beaten only by mobile research and business intelligence, during IDC predicted that businesses would maintain their interest in the cloud in spite of increasingly conservative IT budgets in 2012.

However, the attractiveness of the cloud for businesses can often cause organisations to take the plunge without first testing the water.

An external cloud service will as well allow the IT department to switch the costs of that service from up-front capex to an often more easily manageable ongoing opex. This can be particularly useful for specialist services just as in-memory computing, data replication and mobile applications, which can be hugely resource-intensive for the IT department to set up and maintain in-house.

However, cloud services are not a 'get out of jail free' card: as with any form of outsourcing, if a business cannot effectively manage a service in-house at the time placing it in the hands of an external supplier will not magically make everything run smoothly.

What its resources are

At all times IT departments need to know specifically what its resources are, what applications they are running, what parts of the business they service and specifically how and why they are used. Only at the time can they better manage their own IT resource to cope with peaks in demand.

Lastly, the IT department needs to ensure the rest of the business understands both the value and cost of the services it provides. Unless there is an understanding of IT costs across the business there is a danger they will spiral out of control when cloud models are adopted.

Organisation's ultimate aims for the cloud

Regardless of an organisation's ultimate aims for the cloud, taking this level of control of its data centre infrastructure should be of prime importance. Without taking these steps a business will in the best case be wasting money on inefficient, non-optimised infrastructure, during at worst it could be setting itself up for a very visible, very painful fall.