Enterprise Cloud Services: Managing the evolution of enterprise IT

It’s about the business model, not just the infrastructure.

Enterprise cloud computing is rapidly transitioning from the early-adopter phase to a mainstream technology that no organization can afford to ignore. Most organizations lack the internal talent to plan and execute a cloud strategy, so they turn to outside consultants to provide crucial assessment and architecture services.

However, many consultants view cloud computing as primarily an infrastructure issue. They focus the “what” and “how” of cloud computing rather than the “why”—the core objectives that the organization needs to achieve. Their proposed solutions are driven by technological considerations, not business imperatives.

TorreyPoint is different. While our company is heavily staffed with technologists and engineers, our core value proposition revolves around delivering business value. When it comes to the cloud, TorreyPoint consultants invest time to understand where you want to go, then design a cloud strategy that gets you there.

The TorreyPoint Enterprise Cloud Services solution helps enterprises, government agencies, and educational institutions implement a cloud computing architecture that achieves today’s strategic goals and offers an evolution path to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

The word “cloud” encompasses a range of possibilities.

One of the most challenging—and frustrating—aspects of cloud computing is the wide range of realizations of the basic concept. Some organizations implement a private cloud that exposes core business applications to employees, partners, and vendors over a tightly controlled, internally managed infrastructure. Other choose a public cloud model in which resources are dynamically provisioned on a self-service basis from a third-party provider. Still others opt for a hybrid model that comprises aspects of both public and private clouds.

While there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution to enterprise cloud computing, TorreyPoint believes that applying a common proven methodology is a prudent starting point. Our Enterprise Cloud Services solution includes these steps:

• Define the desired benefits: Before you move key applications and business processes to the cloud, it pays to define what you hope to accomplish. Typical goals included lower operating costs, streamlined management, easier provisioning of applications, improved reliability and enhanced scalability.
• Identify challenges specific to your business and industry. Security is a top concern for many government organizations and high-tech industries, while financial services firms and healthcare institutions look to compliance as a major focus. TorreyPoint can help articulate these challenges so that they guide key decisions on architecture and implementation.
• Choose a cloud business model and architecture. As noted earlier, the range of cloud options is daunting—public or private, Software as a Service (SaaS) or Platform as a Service (PaaS), internal versus external management. TorreyPoint can walk you through the pros and cons of each model, and help you decide which is best for your situation. Our architects work closely with your staff to design your cloud architecture.
• Run a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis. Once these top-level decisions are in place, our engineering consultants will construct a detailed cost/benefit analysis of the proposed cloud infrastructure. This analysis not only validates the basic direction but also provides a yardstick for evaluating the cloud system once it is deployed and operational.
• Assess the existing infrastructure. Many of the core capabilities needed for cloud computing—in particular, virtualization—are already commonplace in the typical organization. Others, such as dynamic resource allocation, must be implemented from scratch. TorreyPoint conducts a detailed gap analysis of the organization’s cloud readiness to drive the design and implementation process.
• Develop detailed requirements. A crucial part of implementing enterprise cloud services is the development of detailed requirements to guide the procurement and implementation processes.
• Manage vendor negotiations and procurement. TorreyPoint can drive the entire procurement process, from issuing the Request for Proposals (RFPs) to supervising the delivery and quality assurance of the individual components. Our strong relationships with key suppliers help us negotiate favorable pricing and delivery terms.
• Migrate and integrate cloud services. We collaborate closely with internal staff and other vendors to ensure an orderly and non-disruptive migration to the cloud architecture. In most cases, a phased deployment offers the optimum approach to deploying and integrating cloud services with existing applications and processes.
• Train internal staff and transfer knowledge. As the final step in the cloud deployment project, TorreyPoint provides training and knowledge transfer to enable internal staff to take over full operation of the cloud system.

TorreyPoint can help your organization realize the full potential of cloud computing—without overloading your internal staff.

While each organization targets its own objectives for cloud computing, the TorreyPoint solution offers a set of common benefits such as:

• Lower infrastructure costs: Leverage the capital investments made by your service providers.
• Preserve internal resources: Keep IT staff focused on business-critical applications and processes, and outsource platform and infrastructure.
• Adapt to changing load demands: Buy additional computing resources using self-service portals without building dedicated infrastructure.
• Provide redundancy and ensure business continuity: Contract with service providers for guaranteed availability of resources in case a natural disaster impacts the availability of local data center resources.
• Avoid overloading internal staff: Contract with TorreyPoint for cloud planning and implementation.

The move to the cloud can be deceptively complex. Without proper planning and careful execution, the process can be expensive and disruptive and, worse, fail to meet the organization’s goals. Working with a partner like TorreyPoint that has a track record of successful cloud deployments can ease the process and ensure success.