Creating Business Agility with Cloud Computing

Hi, my name's Rob Duffy and I work for mindSHIFT Technologies. Today I would like to give you a quick overview of cloud computing and how it can make your business more agile so that you can respond faster to your customers and market demands. To really understand how cloud computing can help your business you must first look at the issues facing system admins as they try and manage a non-cloud infrastructure. So let's get started. Most of us work in a building that might look like this one. Somewhere within that building there's a room full of servers that run the line of business applications for the business. Most businesses have, at the very least, an email server, a database server and other general app servers. These are physical devices that have to be ordered from a manufacturer, delivered, installed and then managed on a daily basis. The problem with this kind of deployment is that every time a department wants to add a new application or service, the sys admin needs to buy another server and install it. This can take weeks, often leading to frustration of end users that want to get their project moving and not wait weeks for a server to be delivered. Also, each server creates more management and maintenance overhead for the IT department. As if this was not difficult enough, the IT department has another difficult problem to deal with when creating new services. They need to anticipate what the demand will be for a new service and then order the correct hardware to meet that need. What if the anticipated demand never materializes? You're left with wasted resources. Or, what if the demand exceeds your projections? Your resources won't be able to meet your demand, forcing you to try and purchase more servers in a race to catch up. Even if you can guess correctly, and your demand follows your expected curve up and to the right, you still have to purchase servers that exceed that demand. And, when demand catches up, you need to purchase another server to stay ahead. This is a process that never ends. What this leads to is wasted resources. You're buying servers that exceed your demand and paying for resources you do not need. This is a very difficult situation that the IT department must try and manage. Deploying hardware in this way adds a lot of time to projects, preventing your business from keeping up with competitors. It forces your IT staff to spend too much time maintaining hardware and not enough time helping to grow your business. And, lastly, purchasing servers takes away capital from other projects that might help the business grow faster. Until very recently, for most IT departments, this was a way of life and there was not much they could to about it. That is until cloud computing came along and changed the way people can deploy their infrastructure. Cloud computing allows companies to offload their computing infrastructure to a cloud service provider, like mindSHIFT, in the same way that they offload their electrical power generation to the utility company. Cloud service providers, or CSPs, have a very large cluster of servers that can be shared with their customers. You connect to a CSP over the internet via secured VPN connection. Once connected, you are able to build virtual servers within the CSP environment. A virtual server uses the same operating system and behaves in every way like a physical server. But, since it's provisioned with software, it can be built and ready for use within minutes. You can also add or subtract resources to the server as your demand grows or shrinks, allowing you to keep up with demand in real time and never having to purchase more than you need. With a CSP like mindSHIFT, you only pay for what you use. You can try out lots of projects without the fear of losing money. You can start off very small and if things don't work out and demand never materializes, you can simple delete the server and you no longer have to pay for it. The best part for system administrators is the CSP manages the hardware. So they can have as many servers as they need without adding maintenance overhead. One concern about the cloud is security. However, a cloud infrastructure like mindSHIFT's is built from a security first perspective. Multiple clients can exist within our cloud and still be very secure. The software that runs and manages the cloud has strict security policies that allow for Company A to exist next to Company B with complete separation. Company A never knows that Company B is there and cannot access them whatsoever. Likewise, Company B never knows about Company C. At mindSHIFT, these security policies have been thoroughly tested and rigorously maintained through third party audits. Cloud computing is an acceptable form of computing within HIPAA, SOX or PCI regulations. Now, with cloud computing, you can create a secure, reliable infrastructure that scales with your demand. You no longer have to purchase extra resources that may not get used. You can also feel confident in trying out new things because you can simply shut down a server and stop paying for it if the demand never materializes. Using the cloud changes the dynamics for your IT department. You can use your budget smarter, paying for only what you need and moving cost from a capital expense to an operating expense. This allows your company to be more agile and move faster to meet market and customer needs by trying out lots of new things. Even though you are trying new things and adding lots of servers, your system administrators are not going to get bogged down managing hardware and can concentrate on building new services that are going to help the company grow. mindSHIFT Technologies has been providing cloud services since we started business in 2000. Our solution was built to provide enterprise class solutions in cloud scale to small to medium-size businesses. We partner with the best vendors in cloud technology. Companies like VMware, EMC and Cisco to deliver the most flexible, secure and stable cloud possible. If you have any questions or needs concerning the cloud, please give us a call.