SMARTER STRATEGIES

Next Cloud Trend? Self-Service

Dennis McCafferty | Date: 12-21-09 | Comments

IBM, which sees ordering managed services off the cloud resembling ordering food from a vending machine, designs enterprise-grade offerings to optimize workloads best-suited for the cloud.

What will be the next big "game changing" trend in cloud computing? The transition to a totally self-service, automated approach, with solutions tailored to individual business problems. Indeed, ordering managed services off the cloud would resemble ordering food from a vending machine. Or something similarly as simple as that, says Ed Abrams, vice president of marketing for general business for IBM.

�It�s about a total freedom of choice,� Abrams says. �It�s about ease of adoption, and the readily available ability to find and leverage applications that customers are looking for. A self-service concept really appeals to our customers. They can consume whatever they want when they need it, and when they need more, they can come right back. And if they�re finished, they can move on to something else.�

In the cloud, tech needs such as software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and other managed services are provided on a "pay as you use" basis, reducing costs substantially by avoiding heavy capital and operational costs. Vendors are getting more adept at providing Internet-based cloud computing solutions that fit the distinct objectives of these customers�especially those in midsize markets where cost is a constant factor. The solutions are not only open-sourced, but secure. They�re often reliable and flexible to business needs and take less time to launch.

So far, the use of the cloud most often works on a hybrid basis among these customers, operating in both a public and private capacity. Much of the driving force here involves security concerns, Abrams says. But this too should evolve within a relatively short time.

�We�re seeing the midmarket customer who is going to the cloud for mission-critical applications,� he says. �What they used to put on a server within their private enterprise, they�re seeking in the cloud. But when it comes to the hard data that�s the core of their business, they still want to keep that within the privacy of their own network. They go to the cloud for insight, but need the data to �stay local.� Once they get more comfortable with how the cloud works and the high level of security there, we think over time they�ll go to a pure cloud system.�

To take advantage, IBM has launched enterprise-grade offerings designed to optimize workloads best-suited for the cloud, addressing demand for business analytics, collaboration, development and test, storage and virtualized desktops. They include products such as IBM System Storage, IBM Mashup Center, Comprehensive Data Protection Solution Express, LotusLive Engage and LotusLive Meetings, Express Remote Managed Infrastructure Services, IBM Express Retail Solution, IBM Medical Devices Solution for Oracle Accelerate, and BladeCenter Express servers with IBM POWER6. Overall, there are 150 cloud-based "Express" offerings from IBM, and another 10 to 15 will roll out in 2010. Companies can purchase standardized services on the IBM cloud, private cloud services behind a company�s firewall and preintegrated optimized systems.

One IBM customer, Collaboration Matters, a United Kingdom-based software/collaboration consultancy, uses LotusLive to provide secure, cloud-based collaboration services such as file sharing, Web conferencing, instant messaging and social networking. This allows its teams to work with any needed co-worker, client or vendor, no matter where they are. The company is using file sharing to share documents, screen shots and other information formats, reducing the need for e-mail or phone "fishing expeditions" when one member of a team needs to find a document. The company estimates that it's saving 20 percent on project costs with reduced travel expenses (no need for as much air/hotel fare, since collaboration takes place in the cloud). And normally eight-week project cycles have been cut by five to 10 days.

�This is an example of a midsized company that picked one area of the cloud and experimented with whether it could be successful, without putting the business at risk,� Abrams says. �Then, there was tremendous, measurable success. Now, Collaboration Matters is seeking additional ways to expand its use of the cloud.�