Thoughts on Cloud Computing Integration

Many companies initially underestimate the challenges of integrating data across applications and services, especially in hybrid computing environments. Accommodating these third-party environments with information managed in the data center requires a lot of work on the part of the IT organisation.

They often assume they already have the tools and expertise required to manage the integration process because of prior experience with integration in their data centers of server rooms. However, with enough time and programming staff, companies can create custom coded connections between internal and cloud applications in which keeping a custom solution up to date can take a lot of ongoing maintenance. 

By leveraging new sets of integration platforms and best practices, companies can overcome these integration challenges when deploying their cloud computing strategies. Overall, you will need a common and standardised way to link your applications. For creating this standardised approach to integrating data across internal data center applications and public and private clouds, there are five main requirements:

1. Connectivity: You need to be able to connect many different types of applications and data - SaaS applications, custom web applications, on-premises applications, private cloud applications, databases - quickly and easily without requiring a lot of ongoing maintenance. You also need to consider different types of integration, including data migration, process integration or some unique new type of integration which may include taking data from an internal application 
2. Transformation: In a cloud environment, you may need to ensure that your on premises accounting system is consistent with your cloud sales management system. Your staff is most likely familiar with the data format specifications in your on premises applications but they wouldn’t have the same level of understanding of the specifics of data in your SaaS applications
3. Business logic: The systems that include the data you value include business logic and processes that control the way data is managed. Therefore, you can’t simply connect data elements together without a deep understanding of how these systems behave from a business process perspective
4. Management: Data doesn’t live in isolation, no matter what type of data you are working with, it lives on specific hardware platforms, leverages specific storage environments, and connect with third party services (payment services, credit verification, partner commerce systems and so on). These elements become part of the way you manage the flow of data between your applications in the data center and in the cloud. 
5. Security: You need to understand that the movement of data needs to be monitored and the data protected at the various steps in any process that links workloads together. Often, the data you want to move between work loads is the data that is most valuable to hackers

All in all, companies have to assess the below key priorities when implementing a holistic cloud computing strategy to better guide their focus when integrating cloud computing to their core business operations to realise existing and potential value from this long term business investment:

1. What’s the role of technology infrastructure in your business?
2. Is my company a highly regulated industry?
3. How do I assess how well I service my customers today and how could this be different? Do I have the right technology in place to meet unanptipciated needs?
4. How much value am I getting from existing tech environment?
5. Am i under pressure to reduce capital expenses?
6. Do I have plans to introduce new innovative technology in the next 12 to 18 months?
7. Is my company looking for new partners and business approaches? Will our current technology support these new initiatives?
8. Is the business under pressure from large companies entering my market? Are there technologies to make us more agile?