Network Communications News (NCN) November 2016 | Page 24

S P E C I A L F E AT U R E

cloud computing & virtualisation

Cloud Bursting!
Richard Blanford of Fordway explains how to find the right
cloud solution, taking a look at infrastructure and technology.

F

or most organisations these
days the question is not whether
to adopt cloud, but when is the
right time and what services
to move. Like any other major
infrastructure change, it needs
to be driven by a compelling
event, such as a move to new
premises, a need to refresh existing
infrastructure, the end of an outsourcing
contract or a major organisational
change. If you have recently made a
big investment in your data centre,
wholesale migration to cloud is probably
not for you at the moment.

Understand the journey
The first step is analysis: organisations
need to fully understand their capabilities
(start point) and their strategic goals
(end point). A business and IT alignment
review ensures that you have accurately
defined the service levels required for
the key operational processes that
IT supports in your organisation and
understand their cost, performance and
availability implications.
One of the key characteristics of
cloud is that it provides standardised,
commodity services that are used in
a standard fashion using standard

processes. You may need to adapt
or modify your current IT operational
processes to maximise the benefit of
using cloud services. In the main, most
cloud providers follow ITIL processes
and offer user self-service for some or
all elements of the service, so it is likely
that your existing incident processes can
easily be adapted.

Design your
cloud environment
The next stage is design, mapping and
aligning the journey against the business

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01/11/2016 15:00