There’s so much hype about cloud computing nowadays, some folks are contemplating addressing the major shortcoming of traditional “clouding” — the fact that data is out there in the Internet and may not be secure. Some thus might be tempted to ask, “why shouldn’t I build my own cloud?”
Well, as the folks at the New Data Center point out, building your own cloud isn’t as straightforward as you think:
An internal, on-premise private cloud is what leading IT organizations have been working toward for years. It begins with data center consolidation, rationalization of OS, hardware and software platforms, and virtualization up and down the stack servers, storage and network, Tobolski says.
Elasticity and pay-as-you-go pricing are guiding principles, which imply standardization, automation and commoditization of IT, he adds.
And it goes way beyond about infrastructure and provisioning resources, Tobolski adds. “It’s about the application build and the user’s experience with IT, too.”
Despite all the hype, we’re at a very early stage when it comes to internal clouds. According to Forrester Research, only 5% of large enterprises globally are even capable of running an internal cloud, with maybe half of those actually having one, says James Staten, principal analyst with the firm.
Definitely some serious impediments. However, it’s not impossible. They offer guidance for those of us brave enough to give it a go.