the business case behind cloud computing - the risks and rewards

THE BUSINESS CASE BEHIND CLOUD COMPUTING

EMA - Fresh TechnologyJames ValentineApril 27th 2010

Commercial in confidence | Copyright© 2010 Fronde Systems Group Limited

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Agenda

What exactly is cloud computing?The “Cloud Continuum”The Risks and Rewards of the cloudDetermining what parts of your business can operate in the cloud

About Fronde

NZ based IT services company IT Systems integrator and mobile

products company Focus on Cloud Computing:

Google Enterprise PartnerMicrosoft Gold PartnerSalesforce.com PartnerAnd more…

Commercial in confidence | Copyright © 2009 Fronde Systems Group Limited

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Cloud Computing Definition #1

Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet.

Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.

Wikipedia


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Cloud Computing Definition #2

1. The service is accessible via a web browser or web services API.

2. Zero capital expenditure is required to get started.

3. You pay only for what you use as you use it.

Cloud Application Architectures, O’Reilly – George Reese


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Cloud ComputingA simple analogy


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What is all the fuss about?Cloud Computing


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“The Cloud Continuum”

THE CLOUD CONTINUUM

SaaS PaaS IaaS Traditional

Google App EngineGoogle Apps

SalesForce.com / Force.com

Amazon EC2

Virtualisation“Tin”

Microsoft Azure

Xero

Microsoft BPOS

Hosted Email

Data-centre Hosting


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Software-as-a-Service

Typically Line of Business applications (e.g. CRM, mail, collaboration, HR, accounting)

Usually a $ per user per month charging model.

Centralized feature updating – no patches and upgrades / features available to all users immediately.


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Software-as-a-Service cont.

Gives small businesses / start-ups access to enterprise grade software.

Either limited customisation or customisation is completely proprietary to the solution.

A number of providers offer both SaaS and installed versions of their software


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Using Software-as-a-ServiceCase Study: Fronde!


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Comparing Costs of On-Premise and SaaSOn PremiseUp front Licence FeeCustomisation & ConfigurationHardware purchase and InstallationHosting costsOff-site BackupsHigh Availability / ReplicationUpgradesSupport and maintenance

SaaSMonthly “Subscription”Customisation & ConfigurationEnd user supportBandwidth Costs


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Business Value – not just Cost

Make IT efforts add value to your organisation

Allow your organisation to act at Enterprise scale

Allow your organisation to expand seamlessly


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Business Value – not just Cost

Reduce security and compliance costs

No upgrades – ever. Improve service availability and

reliability Transition from CapEx to OpEx

The case against cloud computing?

Risk: Legal, regulatory, and business

Connectivity and bandwidth Security and privacy Difficulty of managing cloud

applications


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The case against cloud computing?

Current enterprise apps can't be migrated conveniently

Lack of Service Level Agreement Lack of cost advantage for cloud

computing


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Considerations for moving an application to the cloud?

Does it add value or innovation to your business?

Does it need to be easily available to a geographically dispersed or highly mobile workforce?

Are you facing a software upgrade or hardware refresh?


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Considerations for moving an application to the cloud?

Is it something that will start small and grow? Start large and shrink?

Does it have fluctuations in demand?

Are you experiencing availability or reliability issues that are affecting business productivity?


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Future Trends

Emergence of local “private cloud” and “government cloud” offerings

“Cloud Enabled” versions of existing software to complement on premise offerings

Platform as a Service frameworks and offerings to mature.


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Future Trends cont.

Second cable into NZ to further improve latency and performance of cloud applications

Device / access independence


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Call to Action

Identify IT “complexity knots” in your organisation and see if cloud computing could eliminate them.

Look at the time your IT resources are spending on activities that are non-“value add”.


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Questions?


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[email protected]