tips for a successful cloud proof-of-concept - rightscale compute 2013

april25-26 sanfrancisco

cloud success starts here

Tips for a Successful Cloud Proof-of-ConceptVijay Tolani, Cloud Solutions Engineer

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Agenda• State of the Cloud

• Cloud POCs: Dos and Don’ts

• Choosing the Right Cloud(s)

• Choosing the Right Application

• Navigating the Technical Hurdles

• Measure the Success of Your Cloud POC

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Conventional Vendor Evaluation Techniques

• Steering Committees to Determine Requirements

• Analyst Reports for Vendor Selection

• RFPs to Filter Qualified Vendors

• POCs for Qualified Vendors

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Today’s Challenge: Business Expectations Have Changed

Instant On

Self Service

Unprecedented Scale

Public &PrivateCloud

Business Expectations

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And The Technology Is Evolving Quickly

Open Sourced

Goes OpenStackLaunched

Adds Australia

Grizzly Released

Apr Jun Aug

Oct Dec

Jan Mar

2012 2013

GALaunched

Cloud Services

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And If You’re Not Careful• You’ll find yourself applying conventional methodologies

to evaluate revolutionary technology:

• By the time Steering Committees determine requirements, needs have changed

• Information coming from analysts provide point-in-time snapshots, but may lack real-time feedback

• RFPs ask questions which are too specific to apply to revolutionary technology

• POCs test for the worst case, while the technology is being built to start with the simplest use case

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Cloud POCs: Dos and Don’ts

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Pick the right approach

A learning experience,not once and done

Cloud POC Mantra

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Pick the Right Approach• Keep it lightweight

• Start simple• Keep it short – 30-60 days

• Accept cloud as it is, don’t try to make it into your data center• Don’t start with the hardest use case• Decide if the architecture meets the needs of the application, not if it matches

your data center

• Treat it as a learning experience• It’s not once and done• Your cloud deployments will evolve• Your expertise and knowledge will evolve

• Consider how you will manage the application over time

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Cloud POCs: Dos and Don’tsChoosing a Cloud

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Choosing a Cloud for POCs

• Public & Private Clouds built on same technologies• OpenStack• CloudStack

• Private Clouds are good choices for applications which require:• High Flexibility & Performance• Increased Security & Compliance• CapEx Procurement Model

• Public Clouds offer more advanced automation than Private Clouds

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Public Clouds Enable Additional Agility• “It’s a marathon, not a sprint”• Don’t sprint directly to the finish line, without training. You’ll hurt

yourself

• Start with something small and show it works• Start with the simplest application, then test more complex

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Cloud POCs: Dos and Don’tsChoosing an Application

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Pick the right application

Cloud is a fit for everyone,not for every application

Cloud POC Mantra

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Pick the Right Application• Keep it real

• Pick a real application for a real project with real expectations• Don’t start with the most complex use case• Low to moderate security/compliance profile

• Focus on where cloud adds value• Speed to deploy, scalable, variable load

• Good options for your first deployment in the cloud• Web Application• Mobile/Social/Collaboration Apps• Big Data• Batch Processing• Dev/Test solutions

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Clouds Are Different• … so don’t treat them like a data center in the sky• Don’t expect to be able to move a VM image to a cloud and have it

work out of the box

• Successful cloud deployments include HA Application Architectures designed to run on ephemeral, commodity infrastructure

• NoSQL Databases vs. High Performance Hardware

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Cloud POCs: Dos and Don’tsNavigating Technical Hurdles

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Next Step: Technical POC

• After proving your application can run on a cloud architecture, consider testing with a Private Cloud

• Test for Performance• Ensure Security & Compliance• Integration with Existing ITSM Processes

• Consider Including More Complex Workloads

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Technical Pitfalls to Watch Out For

• Storage Performance• Consider Striping, Sharding, & NoSQL Architectures

• Shared Storage• Consider OpenNFS

• Software Licensing• Consider Licensing through the MultiCloud Marketplace

• Network Flexibility• Consider Dynamic DNS

• Security & Compliance• Design for Public Clouds

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Cloud POCs: Dos and Don’tsMetrics for Success

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Pick the right metrics

Begin your cloud journey with

the end in mind

Cloud POC Mantra

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Cloud POC Success Metric #1

Business Agility

How quickly can cloud help us

respond to business needs and

opportunities?

Business Opportunity

Market Window

Time to Market

$£¥€

✖

Shadow IT

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Evaluation Criteria• Speed/Ease to:

• Launch new applications or services• Scale applications or services up or down to meet demand• Offer services in new geographies

• Self-service IT• Give control to business users• Give control to developers

• Automation• Automate routine work for Operations

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Cloud POC Success Metric #2

Improve Efficiency

Can cloud make us more efficient with time and money?

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Evaluation Criteria

• Costs• Data Center vs Cloud costs• CapEx vs OpEx• Opportunity costs?

• Time• Time to plan/prepare applications or services• Time to deploy applications or services• Time to manage applications or services

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Cloud POC Success Metric #3

Better Solutions

Can cloud helps us deliver better

solutions that meet customer needs?

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Evaluation Criteria• Can I support new solutions that were difficult before?

• Web• Mobile• Social• Gaming• Big Data• Batch Processing

• Can I support better solutions?• Geographically Available• Highly Scalable• Highly Available

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Summary• Start with a real application that’s a good fit for cloud• Treat it as a learning experience• Use public cloud to evaluate the feasibility of cloud

• Then build a private cloud

• Leverage the strength of cloud – don’t try to recreate your data center

• Measure success based on broad business goals• Agility• Efficiency• Better solutions

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Thinking about a Cloud POC?• Ask about a Cloud Strategy Briefing

• Personalized briefing from the cloud experts for your IT executives and managers:• Real-World Cloud Trends• Strategic Opportunities in the Cloud• 5 Technical Considerations for Cloud• Best Practices for Cloud POCs

Contact RightScale(866) 720-0208

sales@rightscale.comwww.rightscale.com

april25-26 sanfrancisco

cloud success starts here

Questions?