Cloud Computing

Over the past decade cloud computing technologies have matured and expanded rapidly throughout the industry. Cloud computing has achieved a demonstrable cost benefit to organizations based upon the reduction of computing costs achieved through resource pooling and dynamic allocation of compute resources. Cloud transition allows organizations to decrease IT costs while improving operational availability and providing a high degree of scalability to respond to fluctuating pattern of demand. In addition, adoption of cloud computing technology allows organizations to rapidly evolve new capabilities to meet the ever-changing needs of their business. Whether you are considering migrating to one of the many private cloud service providers or constituting a private on premise cloud, our engineers have the expertise necessary to effectively and strategically transition your applications and systems. Our proven transition process is derived from managing a multitude of successful projects and considers the nuance of your most complex business applications.

If you are planning a cloud transition for your organization some key considerations include:

• Development of a Quantitative Resource Demand Baseline: Accurate cost estimation for cloud hosting services or cloud infrastructure procurement is based upon a clear understanding of existing patterns of demand, as well as projection of future demand patterns. Capacity planning should consider current and planned initiatives that will be introduced into the production environment.
• Managing the Degree of Change: The relative timeline associated with cloud transition often has a ripple effect across the labor resources of an organization affecting the ability to implement new IT initiatives. To manage the impact of cloud transition activities, rapid constitution of a development environment in the cloud is highly recommended. This approach significantly decreases the impact associated with cloud transition by enabling proof of concept for the new cloud design, in parallel with demonstration of the build process that enables design evolution.
• Design for Scalability: The ability to rapidly adapt to changing patterns of demand for system resources will often require implementation of new techniques to ensure that each tier of your architecture is capable of flexibly scaling while maintaining a stable performance baseline. Cloud computing introduces the concept of functional isolation to the design process. During transition, services of the As-Is Architecture are decoupled and isolated in independent stacks. Stacks are comprised of the operating system, application services, and applications. Stacks form the components which are used when scaling in response to increased demand patterns. Design patterns that utilize techniques such as service coordination, resource pooling, and load balancing must be deployed to provide stability as application services scale.
• Labor Force Re-Training Strategies: Cloud transition introduces new skill requirements for the existing workforce. Understanding how the current roles within an organization map to future roles required to support your new cloud design. Re-training existing staff to adapt to technology change is a much more cost-effective strategy than staff turnover. Identifying training plans to evolve staff expertise is a crucial element to managing the risk of cloud transition.