8 important questions about enterprise cloud applications

"Companies have been considering whether they will support cloud computing for the past few years," said Frank Gens, chief cloud analyst at IDC. For many companies that have applied the cloud, their attention has shifted to managing the cloud and getting business value from the cloud.

As it transitions from the "Apply Cloud" phase to the "How to apply Cloud" phase, companies are trying to solve some new problems. In terms of infrastructure, do you want to use a public cloud or a private cloud? Which manufacturers are most likely to collaborate, traditional it vendors or emerging cloud companies? which mobile device operating system should be used to access cloud software and what platform should be used to build next-generation cloud applications?

These issues are the focus of discussions at the Cloud Leaders Forum held in the morning of Wednesday. The three-day meeting was held in Santa Clara and hosted by IDC and IDG Enterprises.

There is no doubt that the enterprise will transition to the cloud. A data point: In the CIO Magazine survey, 75% of respondents said they plan to significantly raise cloud spending next year. Half of respondents said they had a "cloud first" strategy for applications and infrastructure. However, there are still some big questions about how to manage the cloud to create real business value. Gens and Idge chief content officer John Gallant described 8 big issues that will dominate the senior IT cloud Symposium next year.

1. What is the right Outlook?

The starting point for developing a cloud strategy is what your business can and should do with the cloud. The cloud is interesting, Gaines said, and not only is it interesting when the chief technology officer is enabling the cloud, but it is also most interesting when the cloud allows the CEO to be excited about what it can do for its business. The cloud can be an entire service architecture that can change it staffing, cost structure, and business processes. Whether it's good or bad, it all depends on how the cloud is deployed.

Gens said the advent of the cloud marked the development of the IT platform. The first platform for enterprise computing was developed around mainframe and terminal mode. The second platform supports Internet and client server mode, dominated by PCs.

Now, we're building a third platform, Gens said. Cloud in the background of this platform. At the same time, the front desk is exceeding the PC, making mobile devices the main access point for the cloud.

2. What is the correct speed of cloud application?

Many organizations have raised questions about how they should actively apply the cloud. The key, Gens says, is to put the issue in the market and see how well the same companies are progressing. Is your industry an early adopters, an early majority or a late majority, and a lagging industry in cloud applications? "People are trying to promote the cloud," Gens said. I think we are in the majority of the market in front of most of the early adopters. "It's important to keep your business in line with your industry," he said.

3. What is the correct pattern for cloud applications?

Gens says there are some basic questions that the top executives of an enterprise management team must consider whether they will move to cloud applications. One of the important differentiating factors is whether to support a common cloud model or a private cloud model. The difference is who manages this cloud. In the private cloud, it users still control cloud management. In the public cloud, it is managed by a provider. Gens says an increasingly common structure is the managed private cloud. This is a dedicated, single tenant cloud infrastructure in a public cloud environment. Various vendors offer this service, including Verizon's Terremark, Amazon Web Services and Rackspace. As connections to the public cloud are improved through VPNs (virtual private networks) and direct Ethernet connections, these managed private clouds will become a more attractive option to leverage the size of the public cloud while implementing private cloud security.

4. What is the right organization for your cloud?

Once you make a cloud migration choice, the next question is how to manage the cloud. Idge chief content Officer John Gallant said 44% of respondents in the CIO survey said their IT department created new jobs after migrating to the cloud. 69% of respondents said their IT departments had rapidly expanded their skills to manage the cloud.

Gens said he saw an opportunity for cloud management tools and services. However, institutions must be willing to give up some of these controls. You need to ask yourself how much value you can get by manipulating and adjusting your system yourself. For many large enterprises, focusing on the value-added business opportunities provided by the cloud is the best use of internal resources.

5. What is the right community for your cloud?

The cloud is creating two areas. The enterprise must decide what type of platform to use in these two areas. One area is access to the cloud's end-user access point via mobile devices, with Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating system currently the main players. HTML5 is an emerging standard, and Microsoft is working to promote its Windows Phone operating system, and rim is looking to maintain the relevance of its BlackBerry operating system by upgrading later this year. Gens said he thought the market would be volatile next year.

The second aspect is the platform for developing enterprise applications that can run in the cloud. The market is forming. The main PAAs (Platform-service) operators so far include Google Appsengine, Microsoft Azure and IBM's SmartCloud PAAs, Gaines said. This decision will determine which type of development your organization's IT department will be developing.

6. Who is the right partner for your cloud strategy?

Beyond PAAs, a broader market is evolving around cloud infrastructure, software, and services. There are relatively new large cloud providers, such as Amazon and Salesforce.com, who work with large business IT departments, as well as the dominant companies in the corporate IT sector, such as IBM, HP, CSC and Accenture. New vendors are familiar with cloud technology, but are building their corporate it reputation. Traditional vendors have traditional relationships with IT departments and will disclose their cloud strategy. Gaines says he is not sure which partner to choose.

7. What is the right destination?

Once a cloud strategy is applied, the question is what the organization is aiming for. This cloud can be a way for technology to better serve the enterprise, making the enterprise more flexible and cost-saving. These solutions are specific to each business. As a result, gens that there are companies that are constantly transitioning to cloud services. These cloud services are targeted at more specific vertical industries. For example, these services include cloud services focused on health care or cloud services focused on the financial services industry.

8. What are these details?

Finally, the technology that drives the whole cloud is the focus of cloud optimization. Getting this network connected to this cloud infrastructure and applications, security control, and management upgrades are all issues to be addressed. Gens says the capital letter "D" has many details. However, he predicts that the success of 80% is to raise the right questions for his specific case.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)