Cloud 9: Nine Reasons to Take the Cloud Seriously_White Paper

WHITE PAPER
Cloud 9
NINE REASONS TO TAKE
THE CLOUD SERIOUSLY

OCTOBER 2010

www.encanvas.com

WHITE PAPER | Cloud 9: Nine Reasons to Take the Cloud Seriously

Contents

Overview......................................................................................................... 3

Introduction .................................................................................................... 4

The 9 Good Reasons ........................................................................................ 6

Conclusion .................................................................................................... 11

Contact information ...................................................................................... 12

© 2010 Encanvas Inc. 2


Overview

The IT industry has put its Private sector businesses and Government departments around the world are under
marketing machine behind pressure to achieve the improbable - deliver improvements in the quality of services
cloud computing making it
to citizens while finding sizeable cashable efficiency savings. Cloud computing is a
one of the biggest IT hype
curves ever. So does the paradigm shift in the way information management systems are architected and is
cloud have a silver lining? heralded as the saviour of IT budgets. So what are the practical operational
advantages of Cloud technology?

This paper examines nine very good reasons why it makes sense to take cloud
computing seriously.



Introduction
What is the cloud?
The cloud is used in computing context as a metaphor for a virtualized computing
Cloud computing versus web
server hosting – what’s the system that is seemingly always available to users anywhere and at any time.
difference? Instead of procuring and maintaining web server platforms internally,
organizations and individuals are able to procure their computing resources on a
pay-for-use basis.

The essential difference between virtualized cloud computing infrastructures and
traditional web hosting is the ability of this new genre of platforms to pool
resources between different tenants and applications (so-called multi-tenant
applications). A componentization of hosting resource building blocks means that
if one tenant requires more computing capacity while another wants less, the
platform is able to bring its capacity to bear as required. This means that
utilization of computing resources is optimized while the experience for tenants is
that applications can seemingly scale forever without thoughts or concerns over
processing capacity, memory capacity or other such non-trivial matters that
whilst important are not core to their business.
With the cloud comes a new bag of technologies
Discussions on cloud computing inherit topics related to the advancement of
web-based technologies that have occurred over recent years such as the
emergence of Web 2.0 applications and AJAX web programming that enable
more fluid user interface experiences. Adoption of programming innovations and
smarter ways of using known technologies – finding better ways to create
applications, deploy applications, secure applications etc. – means that cloud
computing is no longer simply about infrastructure and hosting, it represents a
collection of new technology-led approaches.



The fundamental pillars of cloud computing are:
Infrastructure as a Service Delivering the multi-tenant hosting environment
and providing appropriate levels of backup,
storage, security provisioning, processing capacity,
resource pooling etc. – supplied to tenants on a
pay-for-use basis. Examples include Amazon EC2,
theRackspaceCloud and Microsoft Azure.

Platform-as-a-Service Applications platforms are a new concept in
computing. They are software platforms that
manage the life-cycle of applications design,
deployment and operation in a single integrated
platform that are charged to customers on a pay-
for-use basis. Examples include Salesforce.com’s
Force.com, Encanvas Secure&Live, Microsoft Azure
AppFabric and Google AppEngine.
Software-as-a-Service These are applications delivered to customers on
the cloud in the form of a service made available
on a pay-for-use basis. There are a number of
organizations that now provide SaaS platforms that
house a number of applications. Examples include
iGoogle, Zoho, Squork, Salesforce and 37signals.

Types of cloud
A cloud for every occasion… In a little over a year since the beginning of its hype-curve , the IT industry has
begun to make sense of definitions of what a cloud i. Types of cloud have
emerged all of which are using the same platform architectures but are providing
deployment options geared to suit differing user communities. These are:
Public Cloud Cloud platforms that share their resources with
public tenants where tenant might be an individual
or organizations.

Private Cloud Cloud platforms that are provided by a cloud
service provider for the exclusive use of an
organization for their community of tenants.

Custom Cloud A custom cloud is a platform based on cloud
technologies deployed by an organization itself
rather than hosted by a third party. This scenario is
more prevalent in highly secure environments such
as defence and government installations where the
likelihood of third parties accessing data is of too
great a risk to consider.



The 9 Good Reasons
1. Clouds cost less
The obvious benefit of cloud computing are associated with infrastructure savings
when compared to traditional in-sourcing of hosting for business applications.

For organizations that insource their information systems hosting, it means
largely removing (not off-setting) costs such as:

 No on-site hosting hardware and software
o Associated procurement costs
o Configuration costs
o Maintenance costs
o Power costs
o Upgrade costs
o Disaster recovery and backup provisioning
 No associated staff costs
o Recruitment
o Salary and benefits
o Training and technical qualifications
o Succession
o Associated risks brought about by dependencies on staff skills
(people leaving or sick that possess essential knowledge of how
hosting platforms are configured and how they operate…)
 No facility related costs
o Physical office space
o Site security
o Site heating and lighting

In addition to cost reductions, virtual hosting brings additional advantages of
reducing risk by:

 Removing knowledge bleed (particularly implicit knowledge – the
knowledge people carry around in their heads)
 Removing risk of a fire or natural disaster that destroys the hosting site
Cloud computing gives  Removing risk of loss of data due to external attack, mistakes or
organizations of any size interventions
access to the latest
technology for their Adopting a cloud computing service can mean that organizations inherit
information management technology leadership and competencies they could scarcely afford for their
systems. In this way it
democratizes IT. business directly but benefit from the economies of scale enjoyed by vendors to
pursue excellence in IT hosting approaches with the revenues to fund innovation
at a faster pace.



Is Cloud Computing good news for organizations that use external hosting?
While the rewards of moving
to cloud computer are fewer Arguments for cloud hosting services are compelling when compared to
for already virtualized traditional in-sourcing. But what about organizations that have already migrated
operations, there are still
economic advantages to be to hosted service provision? How do the economic benefits of the cloud stack up
realized. then?
For organizations that are already to some extent ‘virtual’ it comes down to scale
of economies and the agility of cloud computing to enable EVEN more
virtualization.
The cloud enables the outsourcing of more applications and greater optimisation
of shared resources so that organizations have the opportunity to port more
applications to a hosted model, and they’re able to call on more resources as they
need them (on-demand) without having to anticipate a ceiling in capacity brought
about by the capacity limits of the hosted environment. For organizations that
have already adopted hosting services then, the economies are not as clear-cut
but the scope for economies is greater.
2. Clouds are easier to manage
Once applications are up and running on the cloud, day-to-day governance and
management is easier.

Modern cloud computing platform offer very sophisticated administration
dashboards and performance intelligence to enable tenants to easily understand
their utilization.

Porting to the cloud normally reduces the number of technology vendors and
partners required to support the enterprise. This means associated costs of
managing vendor relationships are reduced.
3. Clouds help to make corporate IT cost less and are easier to budget
Through cloud computing, organizations are lowering their total IT costs to less
than 1% of total business income (so if you’re spending more than that on IT it’s
worth considering. Adopting cloud services means tenants don’t pay for what
Cloud computing removes
the need for just-in-case they don’t use. Traditional internally hosted solutions have meant in the past that
processing power. organizations have had to buy much more processing capacity than they really
need on a day-to-day basis ‘just-in-case’ of growth and to cope with peaks and
troughs in demand. It’s also been difficult for IT managers to configure their
hosting applications in such a way that applications are able to share available
processor, memory and storage between applications and between departments.
This has meant organizations are housing, powering and maintaining many more
servers and much higher levels of capacity than they need with many assets being
heavily under-utilized. And when growth occurs, the incremental cost of
additional computing capacity is already known and can be built into budgeting
models.



4. Clouds are greener
Removing internal hosting delivers savings in power consumption resulting from
server power usage, site lighting etc. In addition to these obvious economies,
cloud computing means that information management is accessible to workers
wherever they are located because cloud architectures only typically require
workers to have a computing device with a browser.

With these basic tools, workers can login to systems from anywhere and
discharge their roles. Commuting to the office is only required when face-to-face
meetings are the only option.
5. The cloud gets applications right-first-time and makes them easier to deploy
Platform as a Service (PaaS) technologies are changing the way organizations
design, deploy and operate their applications. In the case of PaaS technologies
like Encanvas Secure&Live, business analysts are equipped to integrate with data
sources, design and deploy applications without any IT skills deeper than basic
database and process understanding.
Removing the need for programming and the use of so many different application
development tools enables business analysts to work collaboratively with
business sponsors and users to fashion applications precisely for their purpose
without having to procure ready-made applications (that are often overly
specified or difficult to customize) or instigating a high risk and very expensive IT
project that would ordinarily have required a project manager, a number of IT
experts and many days of cross-browser compatibility testing and re-working.
Creating applications is a back-room - as has been the adopted approach for
many decades of corporate IT - is known to result in compromise because the
cost of making changes to original design concepts is so expensive)
Platform-as-a-Service Having created applications using a single integrated design environment, the
solutions enable IT skills to
be embedded into business
process of deploying them is controlled from a similarly uncomplicated
improvement teams to drive dashboard. One business analyst can normally produce as many applications as a
innovation in processes. business function needs, as quickly as they’re needed. This agile applications
design and deployment approach removes the so-called ‘long-tail’ of demand for
business applications from business professionals charged with achieving
business outcomes or running departmental functions who have traditionally
found themselves resorting to self-authored spreadsheet and MS Access style
database because of a lack of access to robust IT and relational database systems.
Adopting PaaS solutions means that information management systems offer the
agility to stay in-tune with organizational needs and IT can drive innovation and
process excellence across the enterprise.



6. The cloud is easier to access
Platform-as-a-Service Applications deployed on Platform-as-a-Service systems like Encanvas
solutions make information
systems accessible 24x7.
Secure&Live are available to workers, partners and customers through secured
Equipped with access to their access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computing device that operates a
social networks, information browser. Organizations do not need to concern themselves with provisioning for
systems and analytical tools,
workers can be as productive hosting support as cloud platforms are maintained by vendors around the clock.
when working remotely as
7. The cloud is easier to use and support
they are in the office.
Developments in Web 2.0 and Rich Internet applications running in web browsers
that adopt AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) programming techniques
mean that PaaS vendors are able to serve up user experiences far superior to
traditional desktop applications. Features such as repeater panels, conditional
panels and action oriented animated transitions enable applications designers to
author ‘single-page’ views instead of multi-page hierarchical menus. Authored
pages provide a very fluid look and feel - as important content flies into view as
needed whereas page elements that are not required remain hidden so not to
confuse the user with information overload. Cloud applications typically adopt a
common design ethos and look-and-feel so users become quickly familiar with
the intuitive design layouts. This reduces training costs.

PaaS solutions like Encanvas Secure&Live are specifically engineered to enable
many hundreds of applications portals from a single integrated administration
cockpit with full governance over user and group authentication, viewing
permissions, data structures, languages and reports. This scale of applications
engineering would not have been possible prior to cloud computing for many
technical reasons – version control, cost of applications design, security
provisioning, testing and tuning overheads, IT skills and resource capacity etc.

Moving to the cloud means that organizations can dramatically reduce their IT
skills dependencies and the cost of IT to service their operations.
8. The cloud makes data and systems easier to share
Many organizations today want to share their data and information systems with
colleagues, industry partners – even customers. Hosting content and systems on
a cloud means that intellectual ownership of content and data remains intact but
applications required for collaboration and cooperation are easier to engineer. In
one case cloud computing technologies are being adopted in the transport and
traffic management sector to create regional (and virtual) traffic control systems
where many different authorities are pooling their data, systems and resources to
deliver regional services at a fraction of the traditional cost. Each organization
participating in the scheme retains their own brand credentials for ‘their space’
on the web while data systems and applications operate in a single common-to-
all platform.



9. The cloud is safer
Cloud computing gets more Original strategies for data security have focused on preventing nasty people
corporate information under
the control of the from accessing secured containers of data. The problem with this model in
organization. today’s business environment is that organizations are working more closely with
their customers, supply-chain and industry partners and contracted employees.
In order to maintain coherent security framework and governance over site
access users, user groups and data, a new approach to security has to emerge.
Class-leading cloud computing platforms adopt an inclusive security model which
means data itself is protected rather than the containers of data. Systems like
Encanvas Secure&Live and Microsoft’s AppFabric enable the formation of
federated security models so that users outside of the enterprise firewall can
offered the benefits of controlled viewing and editing permissions for data
sources that remain secure and well governed.
Corporate databases controlled by IT are thought to contain only 60% of
corporate information. The remainder of content is typically held in unstructured
forms like paper, on hard-drives of workers – or worse still in people’s heads. The
ability afforded by PaaS platforms to create applications as they’re needed means
that fewer ‘shadow systems’ are created and maintained by workers on Excel
spreadsheets, Access databases and PowerPoint presentations. This not only
makes data more secure but makes it more re-usable and easier to share.
Another key priority for security professionals is to cascade the responsibility of
managing data security through the enterprise. IT professionals have found
themselves the gate-keepers and trustees of corporate information. The problem
with this approach to security is that IT as a functional entity often has limited
bandwidth to make decisions on security risk and threat. Departmental heads
are normally better placed to judge whether requests for data are valid and they
are also better placed to assess the risk associated with the request. But if
departmental heads are to take on more accountability for the data they make
available, they must have the tools and insights to understand user data
behaviors and easily apply security protocols so not to make mistakes. Modern
Cloud computing platforms PaaS solutions provide administrative cockpits for senior officers to manage data
adopt inclusive security
models that return the governance. It means that IT professionals can pass over the keys to corporate
responsibility for data data to accountable and responsible departmental managers that know their
governance to accountable
systems, user requirements for data and associated levels of risk. This approach
executives…
makes more of the organization aware of security risks and the responsibilities of
every employee to protect corporate information assets and to comply with
regulatory requirements over the use and application of sensitive data.



Conclusion
The idea that IT functions will achieve step-change reductions in operational costs
is unlikely to happen without harmonising the hundreds of software applications
organizations use down to a manageable number. Migrating the many
homemade and spreadsheet systems to a common ‘secure and live’ cloud
architecture presents immediate opportunities for short-term cashable
economies.

Platform-as-a-Service solutions like Encanvas Secure&Live provide a mechanism
to economically serve the long-tail of applications demand that exists within all
organizations today; improving internal customer satisfaction towards IT.

So if you’re looking to make the move to cloud computing, consider taking baby
steps first with situational and departmental applications - and just make sure
you’re able to reach the cloud before you leap!



Contact Information
About the Author

Previously holding a series of Sales and Marketing Management and Directorship
positions in the European IT industry, in 2002 Ian Tomlin co-founded the
International Management Consultancy NDMC Ltd whose portfolio of clients
includes some of the world’s largest public and private sector organizations.
With Nick Lawrie he co-authored ‘Agilization’, a guide to regenerating
competitiveness for Western World companies. Ian Tomlin has authored several
other business books and hundreds of articles on business strategy, IT and
organizational design including ‘Cloud Coffee House’, a guide to the impact of
cloud social networking on business and ‘Social Operating Systems’, an
exploration into the next generation of enterprise computing platform.

About Encanvas
Encanvas® software makes the workplace work better. We bring added value to
the Microsoft® enterprise platform by creating the technologies organizations
need to spend less and receive more from their software investments. We’ve
created the world’s first Integrated Computer-Aided-Applications-Design (CAAD)
Software Platform. Our Secure&Live™ platform enables the near-real-time
design, deployment and operation of applications without coding in workshop
environments all made possible by a single tightly coupled architecture. It
facilitates the massive scaling of portal architectures; so users can communicate,
share information and their applications in real-time while operating in ‘secure
spaces’ that protect systems, data, identity and intellectual property.

Encanvas Inc.
2710 Thomas Avenue, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001 USA.
(Americas) +1 201 777 3398
(Europe) +44 1865 596151
www.encanvas.com

All information of whatever kind and which is contained in this documentation shall be called for the purposes
of this project ‘Confidential Information’ and remains the property of Encanvas Inc. All trademarks and trade
names used within this document are acknowledged as belonging to their respective owners.


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