Demystifying IaaS Adoption for Enterprise Applications

Transcription

1 Demystifyig IaaS Adoptio for Eterprise Applicatios Abstract Despite the growig sped o cloud techologies, eterprises worldwide are plagued with this questio, Which amog the may is the best solutio for us? There are o straight aswers, ad very few have embarked o this jourey, cofidet of the cloud solutio chose for their eviromet. For the majority, a possible approach would be to parter with techology specialists to fid the most suited cloud service suite. This paper discusses how a Ifrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model of cloud computig could be a viable optio for mid-size eterprises o their path to cloud adoptio. Most busiesses may disrupt their applicatio eviromet movig to a model like Software as a Service (SaaS). With IaaS, however, you ca migrate stable applicatios to a private cloud eviromet ad experiece immediate beefits. We have laid out a pragmatic approach for eterprises across idustries that will accelerate their jourey toward cloud adoptio.

2 Cofrotig the Fear of the Ukow Cosidered oe of the major disruptios i the IT idustry, cloud computig makes IT ifrastructure, software platforms, ad applicatios available, roud-the-clock, ad with much ease. However, like ay other ew techology adoptio, this also comes with a host of challeges, such as high costs, umerous subscriptio models, lack of a holistic support service, ad so o. Which is why orgaizatios must address these cocers before takig the pluge: What is the right cloud solutio for a certai busiess eviromet? What is the right time to do the trasitio? Will this disrupt busiess cotiuity? Are the projected beefits (commercial or operatioal) real? With these questios, you may thik risks far outweigh the beefits. However, the umbers pait a differet picture. Garter predicted that the highest growth i the public cloud services market i 2017 will come from IaaS, projected to reach 1 $34.6 billio. The problem, therefore, does ot lie i the solutio, but the lack of plaig. Perhaps, orgaizatios should the prepare to aswer: Is their curret applicatio ladscape stable? Does it have the required features for esurig seamless operatios? Are the applicatio licese costs optimized? Is IT elasticity eeded for the eterprise applicatio ladscape? I other words, will ifrastructure requiremets fluctuate frequetly or will they be stable with some eed for data growth? Does the applicatio ladscape chage so dyamically that o-demad provisioig is eeded? These may provide the ecessary ratioale for adoptig IaaS with miimum disruptio ad risks, especially if the aswers for the first two queries are affirmative.

3 Trasitioig with the Right Approach It is clear, eterprises across idustries are at the tippig poit whe it comes to buildig ad ivestig i 'cloud first' strategies. As public cloud services mature, most compaies are operatig i a hybrid IT ecosystem, while maitaiig their 2 traditioal, o-premises hostig eviromets. For those still o the verge of makig a decisio, it is importat to esure: Perfect timig specifically, whe the curret o-premises ifrastructure is scheduled for a refresh. Fiacially, it makes sese to pla for the migratio at least six moths before the refresh cycle because oce the ivestmet is doe i ew ifrastructure, you will have to wait for some three to five years util the ext refresh cycle. A right-sized eviromet that is, provisio oly what is required. Techology specialists will aalyze ad recommed appropriate compute ad storage for workloads. As some software product vedors have differet licesig models depedig o the hostig eviromet, it's critical to aalyze this aspect to optimize the cost. A exteded etwork to the private cloud eviromet. This will help avoid cocers regardig applicatio performace owig to badwidth issues post migratio, as well as elimiate risks related to etwork security. As the migratio process is resource itesive, a separate high badwidth lik betwee the source ad destiatio data ceters will be ideal to esure busiess-as-usual (BAU) activities. This esures volumes of data from the source to the destiatio is trasferred seamlessly withi a short timeframe. Based o heuristics, for trasferrig eight terabytes of data per day, two 1-gbps dedicated liks are recommeded (four terabytes per lik). Replicatio mechaism leveragig the tools offered by product vedors to replicate data from oe eviromet to the other. This becomes simpler whe the storage ad compute products utilized are the same o both source ad destiatio sides. However, whe the two sides are differet, the process must iclude a proof of cocept to demostrate the applicatio. This is a critical exercise, ad its vital techology vedors are cosulted for selectig the right tools. Ivetory ad applicatio groupig whe migratig applicatios from oe data ceter to aother. Ideally, this data should be available i a cofiguratio maagemet database (CMDB). Ufortuately, groud realities are differet. Most

4 compaies seldom have a complete, updated CMDB. For such cases, a IT architect familiar with the eterprise ecosystem ca collaborate with differet applicatio teams to create a comprehesive ivetory. Oce doe, applicatios move groups ca be created easily with appropriate sequecig. Testig to alleviate stakeholder apprehesios about applicatios ot fuctioig as-is post migratio. Furthermore, this process will be i phases, with the Developmet ad QA eviromets beig migrated before Productio. Testig the applicatios i these eviromets, especially QA which is quasi-productio, ca address cocers cetered o esurig miimum busiess disruptio. Hece, applicatios ad busiess teams must ivest time o testig, focusig o itegratio ad performace rather tha the fuctioal aspects. O that ote, all risk-averse stakeholders will still worry about applicatios fuctioig i the ew productio eviromet. I our experiece, the most commo questio has bee: What is the rollback pla to go back to the origial eviromet? As part of the usual process followed by plaig teams, a detailed pla ca be preseted that highlights how the cofiguratio chages ca be reverted to the source eviromet. However, this is far from reality. Oce the ew productio eviromet is switched o, there is o goig back. I case of issues, these are geerally fixed i the ew eviromet itself. This is usually because of the complexities i cofigurig itegratio poits, IP addresses, security, ad so o, are too may to seamlessly switch back to the older eviromet. This might be why testig before go-live becomes critical, with o scope for a rollback. Such trasformatio projects, therefore, must be approved ad backed by executive madates to esure all stakeholders are o the same page. Of course, this etire migratio pla is icomplete without factorig i the operatioal aspects post go-live. At the very least, this must comprise a moitorig system ad reportig of key metrics. A cloud maagemet portal for ease of provisioig of ifrastructure ad for publishig regular reports o utilizatio ad showback metrics must be istituted. All these may ot be available o the first day after go-live, but there must be a pla i place to have these up ad ruig i a reasoable timeframe.

5 Some immediate beefits, like the oes listed below, ca be demostrated almost withi a quarter of go-live: Capex to Opex coversio with overall TCO reductio Preservig the ivestmet made i software applicatio liceses Improved performace, with right-sizig ad ew ifrastructure Showback data to report the applicatio-wise usage of ifrastructure Experiece of migratig to a exteral data ceter so that future cloud strategy ca be thought through judiciously. Coclusio IaaS ad a private cloud ca be a perfect lauch pad for eterprises to get over the fear of ukows. Thereafter, the right cloud model must be chose judiciously, which i most cases is a hybrid model. We believe that if the aspects that we have outlied here are give due attetio, the there should be o reaso for such a migratio to be usuccessful. Refereces [1] Garter., Press Release: Garter Says Worldwide Public Cloud Services Market to Grow 18 Percet i 2017 (February 2017), accessed November 14, 2017, [2] Garter., 2017 Plaig Guide for Cloud Computig (October 2016), accessed November 14, 2017, 8/2017_plaig_guide_for_cloud.pdf

6 About The Author Navi Verma Cotact Visit the HiTech page o hitech.marketig@tcs.com Subscribe to TCS White Papers TCS.com RSS: Feedburer: About Tata Cosultacy Services Ltd (TCS) Tata Cosultacy Services is a IT services, cosultig ad busiess solutios orgaizatio that delivers real results to global busiess, esurig a level of certaity o other firm ca match. TCS offers a cosultig-led, itegrated portfolio of IT ad IT-eabled, ifrastructure, egieerig ad assurace services. This is delivered through its uique Global Network Delivery ModelTM, recogized as the bechmark of excellece i software developmet. A part of the Tata Group, Idia s largest idustrial coglomerate, TCS has a global footprit ad is listed o the Natioal Stock Exchage ad Bombay Stock Exchage i Idia. For more iformatio, visit us at All cotet / iformatio preset here is the exclusive property of Tata Cosultacy Services Limited (TCS). The cotet / iformatio cotaied here is correct at the time of publishig. No material from here may be copied, modified, reproduced, republished, uploaded, trasmitted, posted or distributed i ay form without prior writte permissio from TCS. Uauthorized use of the cotet / iformatio appearig here may violate copyright, trademark ad other applicable laws, ad could result i crimial or civil pealties. Copyright 2017 Tata Cosultacy Services Limited TCS Desig Services I M I 12 I 17 Navi Verma is the Cliet Parter of two large accouts withi the HiTech busiess uit at Tata Cosultacy Services (TCS). He is resposible for reveue growth, service delivery ad operatios, ad customer relatioship maagemet i these accouts. With over 20 years of experiece i the IT idustry, Verma has played several key roles across accout maagemet, cosultig, delivery, program maagemet, ad pre-sales i differet domais icludig HiTech, Travel ad Trasportatio, as well as Healthcare. He holds a Master's degree i Computer Applicatios from the Istitute of Maagemet Techology, Ghaziabad, Idia, ad has completed the Tata Group Executive Leadership course from the Ross School of Busiess, Michiga, USA.