Cloud Hosting 101 and developing a Cloud Operational Model

Introductio

Private and government enterprises have accepted and adopted cloud as an efficient method to provide IT services to support their business and improve their business outcomes and services. Aside from the benefits of consolidating IT services and reducing Capital and Operational Expenditures to run expensive data centers, cloud provides the benefit of scale, agility, on-demand IT capacity augmentation and improved security controls. At its heart, cloud is a truly efficient financial model that in most cases, proves superior for organizations to host their applications and services in the cloud as opposed to the traditional model of running it themselves. By Pooling their resources, Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), benefit from economies of scale, which often but not always translates into reduces costs to their clients.

as legacy data centres are closed, enterprises can migrate their applications to enterprise data centres or modernize their applications using public or private cloud services
The pandemic accelerated the thinking around cloud adoption as demonstrated in the rapid uptake of cloud services that are secure and stable and enhance the adoption of new digital services

 

As IT Stakeholders and decision makers consider cloud adoption, there are few important considerations that must be addressed before a wholesale approach to moving to the cloud.

For institutions such that are bound by privacy and data sovereignty constraints and legislation, they require assurances from CSPs that their data (in transit and at rest) remains within their national borders, likewise, additional security and privacy controls are required to safeguard against data leaks, privacy breaches or access violations. Controlled Access and Security Brokers are often used to ensure clients can audit and monitor their security and privacy controls for compliance.

For new applications, using cloud services is a “no brainer” and there exists many use cases that support it. For existing applications, many variables are involved when deciding on whether to use the cloud. Cost is a key consideration, followed by choosing the right adoption strategy Software, Platform or Infrastructure as a Service (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS.. etc.). Adopting a rational approach and employing a business rationalization process are key for IT decision makers in reviewing their application portfolios and aligning it with the most appropriate hosting model.

Choosing the right service model of cloud hosting services (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS) is rather complex and requires due diligence and cost benefit analysis. Each of the three hosting models requires development and deployment considerations based on where they sit in the “IT stack”. Not to oversimplify, Infrastructure is the plumbing and foundation, Platforms are appliances, and Software as the name indicates, are applications that run on the appliances and on top of the foundation.

 As enterprises consider closing legacy data centres, the options are not simple as choosing whether the cloud will use IaaS, PaaS or SaaS. Each model provides different business benefits, requires a different kind of operation, and has different financial considerations.

Because of its nature and where it sits in the “IT stack”, SaaS is proving to be a simpler operating model, with simplified costing and renewal cost. Most SaaS models operate on the principle of metered services such as utilities, the pay as us use principle and sometimes with start up licensing fees.

SaaS based applications and services can be “uplifted” and “shifted” maintaining their stability and lower cost of ownership
There are cost benefits from moving applications and services under the SaaS model, it eliminates the need to maintain legacy infrastructure that is often very costly and counter intuitive to keep running.

 

Depending on the application, migrating it to the cloud or maintaining it in a privately owned data centre is not an easy decision. If it is an application requires little investment and no expected growth, an owned data centre is the better hosting model. By contrast, developing new applications or if innovation and new business value is a strategic consideration, cloud hosting is a far better choice for modernizing or developing new applications.

As the name indicates, Hybrid Cloud Hosting models offer clients the flexibility between privately hosted solutions or public ones. Two primary drivers for this choice are cost and security posture. Large clients have modernized their procurement strategies to avoid “vendor lock-in” by choosing multiple CSPs with built-in flexible financial models.

Although the cloud and its capabilities remain the preferred choice for modernization, enterprises should always make their decisions according to their business priorities and desired business outcomes.

·       Cloud is underpinned with agility and rapid deployment; Security, privacy, data sovereignty and controlled access, however, key considerations would be redefining roles and responsibilities, and shifting the culture to rely on Cloud Service providers (CSPs) to play a more operational role in hosting IT services

·       cloud hosting must always be encapsulated with a comprehensive and thoughtful Cloud Operating Model or as often referred to as “Target Operating Model” (TOM) that clearly defines an organization’s roles and responsibilities, governance, tools, talent/ skills, financial management, and processes to fully benefit from cloud services

 

There are many industry definitions for TOM, in its simplest form, TOM is a comprehensive set of rules, procedures and policies around people, technology and the processes they use to govern, deploy, maintain, and operate an IT infrastructure

A comprehensive and mature TOM should have mechanisms for self assessment and improvement, provide a baseline for enhanced security controls, privacy legislation, and compliance, as well as means for measuring productivity, operational efficiencies, and managing risk.

IT transformation is fueling business transformation with focus on service excellence, automation, artificial intelligence, data analytics, process renewal all with the objective of improving services to internal and external users and the public at large.

 

Key consideration for developing a TOM

People

·       There is a shrinking ecosystem of new and modern and equipped talent, attracting young talent that are skilled in cloud technologies is challenging. There is also a skill gap associated with legacy IT systems, today’s workforce skills have leaped frogged the technology adoption pace.

·       Focus on collaboration and end user tools that maximize user productivity and ease of use

·       Provide an improved user experience through increased accessibility and “always on” services that can be measured though accessibility improvements and simplified interfaces

·       Focus on service management and users’ experience to make services more cost-effective and achieve greater user satisfaction (internal and external)

·       Pivot technology to fuel career growth; Support modern work arrangements to allow talent to be sourced from anywhere and providing employees a more balanced hybrid work model.

 

Process

Focus on automation and revectoring resources to higher-value roles
Adopt an architecture model that provides higher-quality and rapid assessment of data sets to inform better decisions

·       Align ITSM with cloud service operational and security incidents and ensure related costs are minimized

Accelerate end of life asset sunsetting, the life span of most technology should not be longer than five years.
Implement process and tools to measure alignment with security, privacy, data residency compliancy
Embed KPIs and best practices in all ITSM workflows and outcomes
Speed to solution: ensure business intake process, service adoption, time to in-service are faster than traditional service models.
Experimentation: Leverage proof of concepts (POCs) and operational trials to improve service predictability and operational excellence. POCs lead to better-informed decisions that are evidence-based.

 

Technology

·       Consider a hybrid deployment model: adopt a transitional approach where mission critical applications are hosted in the cloud first. Some application can continue to operate in the traditional data centers. Processes for monitoring, security and identity should continue to co-exist and use a hybrid IT model.

·       Consider Zero Trust Security architecture to enable Cloud edge computing and new access technologies such as 5G and low-Earth-orbit satellites. A key advantage of zero-trust architectures is that no network is trusted which allows for the use of commercially available technologies without large investments and lengthy adoption timelines

·       Consider strong Access Management principles such as Multifactor authentications services and Secure API end devices. Cloud hosting cannot be secured within a network security perimeter of firewalls and screening routers in the way a data centre can.n