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aMy DeCarlo

Dont enter the cloud alone

is there room in the cloud for operators or will integrators dominate? The answer comes down to how successful carriers are in both capitalizing on the strengths of their own infrastructure and in putting together productive partner alliances.

Just the mention of cloud computing can spur passionate provisioning, and allows customers to access cloud content from any debate over everything from how to define it to whether the device model will move the IT industry forward or set it back. Yet even as arguResource pooling: multi-tenant architecture improves efficiency and ments rage about whether cloud computing is a major advance or an reduces costs inherently insecure delivery model, uncertain economic times are driving Rapid elasticity: IT services can be deployed quickly and customers pay businesses attracted by the promise of radical cost only for what they use reductions to take a serious look at where it could fit in Measured service: resource utilization is optimized ...operators are at a their organization. automatically The attraction is obvious. After all, what business NIST also defines three general service models: disadvantage with wouldnt want a lowercost, more flexible IT service Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): The customer can respect to higher level alternative to conventional hosted or insourcing models provision processing, storage, networks and other basic services or cloud that still allows a level of control over deployment? computing resources. The customer does not have any IT professionals are therefore looking at handing over direct control over the underlying cloud environment computing deployments the keys to the kingdom to a third party. But displacebut can administer operating systems, storage, or other that rise above the ment isnt the only concern; IT administrators grapple resources where the customer is able to deploy and foundational IaaS layer with questions about security, transparency, complirun arbitrary software, which can include operating or involve the connection ance, stability and performance. However, serious long systems and applications. term IT budget constraints are forcing even the most Platform as a Service (PaaS): The provider supplies the of multiple clouds. reticent into the on-demand sector. end customers with a hosted environment from which The near-universal appeal of lower-cost technology they can access applications created by the provider services at a time of deep financial cuts is expected to only fuel market and third parties using tools supplied by the provider. growth. Merrill Lynch estimates cloud computing services will generate Software as a Service (SaaS): Clients access application software via USD 95 billion in revenues by 2011. any number of devices through an interface such as a web browser. In This demand for operational expenditure-based services represents the NIST definition, cloud services can be delivered using one of four a tantalizing opportunity for IT providers that are able to deliver highdeployment models: performing managed solutions. However, trepidation about the stability Private Cloud: the cloud infrastructure supports a single customer and security of the cloud puts intense pressure on providers to deliver Public Cloud: multiple customers share the same environment on the promise of the model. Community Cloud: multiple organizations with a common interest share the same cloud infrastructure characterizing the cloud Hybrid Cloud: the cloud infrastructure consists of multiple connected So what does this model involve? There are probably nearly as many clouds that share resources (more about cloud definitions, see definitions of cloud computing today as there are companies selling page 56) products and services in this space. However, the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has produced a comprehensive list the lay of the land of the elements involved. These include: Drawn by the promising growth potential, any number of companies On-demand self-service: automation limits human intervention around are jockeying for position in the cloud from conventional software

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companies to traditional hosting providers. For telecom operators facing declining profit margins for voice services, there is a particular urgency about moving to on-demand service delivery. This pressure is increasing as customers push them to deliver core services using a model that allows for more self-service provisioning and pay-for-use options. However, telecom operators face a myriad of challenges as they look to make their presence known in the cloud, not least that many customers think of them as suppliers of commodity communications services, not solutions that are tightly integrated with key corporate applications. This is unfortunate because operators are particularly well-suited to play a role in the cloud that effectively leverages their network and data center assets, along with the reach these resources give them. Operators also often have an installed base of customers who might be inclined to invest in solutions, such as utility computing, delivered through the cloud. However, operators are at a disadvantage with respect to higherlevel services or cloud computing deployments that rise above the foundational IaaS layer or involve the connection of multiple clouds. Most telecom operators, even those with substantial application hosting skill sets, lack market credibility when it comes to the most ambitious and potentially lucrative cloud services agendas. And it is these that generate the large-scale engagements covering strategic business areas. Enterprise customers are more likely to seek out IT providers with application development and integration expertise, and vertical industry knowledge for help with strategic cloud initiatives. power in numbers This is where partnerships come into play but not superficial marketing relationships. Operators need close collaborations with IT solution providers that marry the application development and integration expertise, and vertical skill set of a traditional integrator with their own scale and networking skill set. Investing in these kinds of alliances can help

amy laRsen decaRlo works as Principal analyst, security and Data Center services at market intelligence firm Current analysis. she applies 17 years experience in covering the It industry to assess the managed It services sector with a particular emphasis on security and data center solutions delivered through the cloud including on demand application, unified communications and collaboration, and managed storage offerings. she can be reached at adecarlo@currentanalysis.com

telecom operators engage better with the market by developing and deploying cloud services quickly. In these relationships, the telecom operator may maintain a lower profile while the integrator partner has the primary role in building the business case for the cloud and helping deploy it. Telecom operators do provide more than simply a set of data center facilities and a pipe to the end user. Operators give customers access to a highly efficient virtual environment through a portal, supplying resources that run the gamut from firewalls and load balancers to the servers themselves. Partners can create particular use cases such as dynamic network provisioning that allow customers to quickly set up and then tear down a cloud environment that can be used to support effective project collaboration or initiatives built around the customers specific corporate objectives. While integrator partners can help a telecom operator establish its credibility in the space, the operator can differentiate itself from rivals on the basis of the flexibility and stability of its service delivery and the breadth of its ISV partner ecosystem. Operators can take a page from the books of Microsoft and Google, which are building up significant networks of software and hardware suppliers, and create a much more high-functioning environment that provides customers (or even partners) with the tools and applications they need for particular tasks. The cloud, after all, is vast. No one company can successfully go it alone in this space.

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