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You’ve heard of downsizing and rightsizing, so how about Cloudsizing?  Or, as properly defined, Cloudsizing  is:

The improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of an organization through the selective use of computing resources that are delivered over the Internet.

Simple but powerful, and fairly obvious, considering all that’s been written about Cloud Computing recently. 

However, what is not obvious is how you approach Cloud Computing, or how you get started.  Thus, we’ve created a process that introduces your enterprise to both the notion of Cloud Computing and how to drive your enterprises in that direction, and to do so through understanding and not just following the hype.  You can and need to get started right now.

What’s a Cloud?

First, Cloud Computing seems simple but many define it in very different ways.  One of the best definitions can be found here on Wikipedia:

“Cloud Computing means Internet ('Cloud') based development and use of computer technology ('Computing'). It is a style of computing where IT-related capabilities are provided ‘as a service,’ allowing users to access technology-enabled services ‘in the cloud’ without knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them.”

“Cloud Computing is a general concept that incorporates software as a service, Web 2.0 and other recent, well-known technology trends, where the common theme is reliance on the Internet for satisfying the computing needs of the users. For example, Google Apps provides common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data is stored on the servers.”

Thus, the concept is to leverage computing resources that you don’t own nor maintain, and thus you can lower the cost of computing through economies of scale.  Moreover, you’re able to leverage computing resources that provide more prebuilt component parts, and therefore you avoid having to build everything from scratch.

A good use case would be a data service to provide credit check information.  You can both host that data yourself and build the interface using traditional technology.  Or, you can leverage one of dozens of service providers in the Cloud that are able to provide you with the required information through the use of a Web API.  Typically this would be a REST-based Web service, but it could also be a traditional API, or RSS. 

The difference is in cost and speed-to-market.  In the build-it-and-host-it-yourself scenario, you’ll pay about 10 times as much than if you find that same functionality and information in the Cloud, no matter how long you use it.  Moreover, it takes 10 times as long to get the thing up and running.  Considering maintenance costs, humans you’ll need, and the fact that you’re not in that business, the whole could thing becomes even more compelling.

Okay, now that we understand the value, how the heck do you figure out what needs to be in the Cloud and what needs to be local to the enterprise?   As with all things related to enterprise computing, it depends upon your enterprise.  However, there are steps you can take to figure out your requirements. 

At David S. Linthicum LLC, we provide core strategy services for those enterprises looking to move into the Cloud, including:

• Assessing the value of Cloud Computing for your particular enterprise, including creating a business case.

• Creating a strategy and plan to prepare your existing IT resources to leverage Internet-delivered resources.

• Evaluating Cloud Computing resources for fit-to-purpose.

• Testing and acceptance, including performance and security.

For more information on how Cloud Computing can revolutionize your business, or for a free consultation, please inquire here.

Copyright © 2008  David S. Linthicum   david@davidlinthicum.com