We have published another paper written by Aidan Finn, the Systems and Infrastructure Manager. This whitepaper looks at Managed Cloud Computing. In it you’ll read about how traditional on-site installations of business applications turned organisations into “accidental IT companies”. By moving IT into the “cloud” and using Software as a Service you can avoid the pitfalls of requiring unwarranted in-house IT infrastructure expertise, decrease costs and increase availability and agility. You’ll see why you need to look at this architecture now whether you’re a service provider or a service consumer. Finally, we look at the differences between Cloud Computing and Managed Cloud Computing for professional solutions.
In the early nineties, IBM, a huge computer supplier and a well known business presence for half a century nearly disappeared. They dominated the computing industry with their cash cow. When you needed a mainframe you called your local IBM salesman and a giant machine would be hauled into your data centre. Something happened in the 1980’s that was to change computing forever. The PC had arrived as an economic way of putting processing power on every user’s desk. Microsoft, a small business at that time, was giving us something called DOS and eventually Windows. Servers to store data and centralised applications started to replace the legacy mainframe. IBM was huge and was clinging to their golden egg laying goose. However, those eggs became few and far between. The market had swung violently towards client/server computing and away from the mainframe. IBM was too large and too slow to change its service. Think of an oil tanker with all that momentum. One of those ships has a breaking distance of 40 miles. IBM was lucky. They had some software products that kept the corporation afloat while they adjusted. It wasn’t easy because as we all know from experience, changing an existing way of delivering services is hard, even more so as the organisation gets bigger.
If you’re an established service delivery that’s based on technology or a software development company using traditional methods to deliver your products then stories like this will concern you. If you are in one of these organisations then hold on tight.
Something has happened to how we deliver software and services. Since the emergence of computing we’ve always relied on the “on-site” model. If a small business wants email and storage they buy a small server with a dedicated operating system, e.g. Microsoft Small Business Server. If a firm needs a CRM solution they purchase software, servers and consulting skills to deploy them. If they want a HR solution they buy the application, servers and consulting skills. The consumer is buying servers and slowly evolving into an IT company. Does your local mechanic, the finance firm or the pharmaceutical really want to become an IT service provider?
The answer to that is a simple no. Entrepreneurs have led the way recently with a new way of providing functionality to consumers. Instead of developing on-site applications and selling those for large once-off amounts, they now sell pre-configured and shared online service on a pay-as-you-go basis. This Software as a Service (SaaS) model is more to the consumers liking.
This document will explore the benefits of SaaS for the consumer and the service provider. We will also look at the foundation and enabler of SaaS. Cloud computing is a term that is floating about on the Internet. Many claim to provide cloud computing infrastructures for service providers to host their applications on. We’ll have a look at managed cloud computing and how it will differentiate SaaS implementations in terms of quality, performance and availability, all of which directly impact brand perception.
You can read more by downloading this whitepaper.
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