Five Steps to Effective Cloud Planning Date:   Thursday , September 08, 2011 Jim was debating the architecture of the cloud computing solution for his company. It was clear to him they would need a provisioning engine, a self-service portal, and some mechanism for decommissioning services. But, even before he put pen to graph paper, a few questions were nagging in his mind. Who would all the users of this cloud be? What services would they need — and what options should he provide? How would this cloud interact with his existing systems? Something told him he’d better take a step back and think through these topics before he started drawing. Constraining and defining the role of cloud computing in your organization is a critical first step before designing and building your cloud. You are going to have many groups associated with the cloud effort — producing it, operating it, and consuming it. Identifying all those who will be impacted, whether they are initially engaged or brought in later, will help prevent surprises along the way for all concerned. Consider how the cloud will interact with the rest of the data center environment. Are there shared management tools, Security requirements and Compliance rules? Or is your cloud an island? Now think beyond your data center. Will you be leveraging public cloud resources, as well? As you answer these questions, you will need to define the requirements, outline the different options, identify the costs associated with delivering each option, and create an implementation plan. Key steps to cloud planning include: a) Discovery and assessment b) Service design c) Costing and pricing d) Planning for capacity e) Designing the cloud architecture Cloud Planning – Why Do It? A little IT planning saves millions of dollars and prevents failed projects, unmet expectations, and general frustration. As with any business problem, before uncoiling a single network cable or procuring a single 64-way box, it makes sense to take a step back and consider the best approach to addressing that challenge. In the case of the cloud, that problem is often characterized as “more resources faster” or “less capex on the books” or even “halting the surreptitious use of public cloud resources outside the boundaries of internal IT”. These types of statements imply some defined goals and expectations for your cloud effort. The other primary source of motivation often comes from industry buzz, in which the topic becomes so hot and hyped that individuals in the organization feel “someone better look into what we’re doing with cloud.” This second type of statement usually implies that there are not defined goals for the project. However, if you wish to be successful with your cloud project, those goals should be articulated. A good cloud plan can be created in a few short weeks, with the right people and the right motivations. Armed with a plan, technology decisions will be easier to make, stakeholders will have properly set expectations, and the implementation team will have a strong go-ahead to move forward. Who needs to be involved? Cloud planning not only engages the initial stakeholders in an organization, but also envelops users from across IT and across the business. Gathering stakeholders early in the planning stage will ensure that their goals are properly represented and that you continue to get their support as the project progresses. By considering differing perspectives, you can also hedge against the risk of omitting key requirements that might significantly impact the group. The goal is to set the tone of incremental delivery against the cloud requirements, with collaboration along the way, when needed. Potential cloud stakeholders to consider: a) The cloud architect, if one exists in your organization, charged with designing t »» he cloud environment b) The IT operations team who will look after the cloud once it is operational c) The network team, upon whose resources and skills you will rely to network the cloud d) The storage team, whose storage boxes will be critical to supporting cloud workloads — and for whom demand may grow significantly with this new technology e) The applications team, who are often the de facto “users” of the cloud — unless that premise is examined f) The capacity and performance team, whose job it will be to ensure the cloud performs as well as — or better than — the physical alternative Other individuals within the organization can also shed light on the cloud planning process. These might include representatives from finance (who can help determine how a cloud environment is funded — and how it charges its users) and business representatives (who can help identify projects that could best utilize the cloud). For example, if a bank is looking to increase the transaction capacity of its online systems, the target growth numbers can help inform the capacity decision. While it is important to consider all the stakeholders while designing a cloud, it may not be critical to actually include all of them on an early cloud design team. Some organizations have found success by starting with a small tactical team to build out an initial cloud with future broadening and ongoing development in mind. The initial cloud offering would include only a handful of service offerings, and demonstrate the power of cloud. The small initial team would then strategically expand its membership as it further pursues long-term options. Steps to Effective Cloud Planning Discovery and Assessment: *Identify existing physical and virtual resources and workloads *Map dependencies between VMs and physical machines * Determine the required levels of service critical to supporting the workloads *Identify areas of potential consolidation or greater resource needs *Locate key dependent services and multi-tiered applications Service Design: *Distill various platforms and offerings into a critical subset * Identify key applications and optional services that will be offered for each type of user or role *Determine permissions on provisioning and approval workflows Costing and Pricing: *Establish appropriate tailored costing model for cloud resources * Input appropriate price information — from hardware to software and variable resources *Determine how IT will “bill” the business, if at all, for the cloud usage Planning for Capacity: *Determine required capacity for existing workloads and new resources *Evaluate required buffers to achieve service levels *Identify physical resources to migrate into the cloud environment, and new resource investment requirements *Consider public cloud resources to augment the capacity of the private cloud Designing the Architecture: *Design the new cloud architecture — from servers to storage to network topology *Identify areas where traditional compliance, change management, and other functions could benefit the cloud environment *Modify processes that could hamper the efficiency of the new environment *Create a data center architecture where the cloud is not an island, but an integrated component Cloud computing promises to deliver significant benefits, but the road to designing and building a cloud is not always straightforward. With BMC’s prescriptive approach, you will quickly establish a robust and scalable cloud computing environment that delivers tangible business value with reduced risk. BMC’s Baseline Discovery Audit provides a detailed understanding of your current environment. For each instance, a wide variety of product and business application categories will be discovered (if present in the environment). Working in conjunction with BMC’s Baseline Discovery Audit, a Cloud Solutions Planning Workshop puts your organization on the right path. The author is Information Development Consultant, BMC Software