My Game of Thrones Takes on Cloud Computing

Winter is coming… In the form of Hybrid Cloud.

For years, we have been told that cloud computing will be Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, our data centers will become obsolete and our people will only work within the walls of our castles. But just as extinct dragons have seemed to make a comeback, so has the need for computing that embraces private and public resources – Hybrid Cloud.

What we thought…A rush to judgment where data centers should go the way of the mainframe seem to be premature. Initial beliefs were if we virtualize computing, we could deploy it anywhere. The cloud – public or hosted – seemed to be a viable solution to lower cost, minimize maintenance, and reduce IT headcount. Logical thinking? Well, not so fast, say the Wildlings…

What we learned…Funny thing happened on the way to the public cloud. Thinking the “cloud” would cut into the three aforementioned problems, such as a Valyrian sword through a White Walker, several credible constraints preventing full cloud adoption were discovered through cloud assessments and market trends. As these constraints vary per customer segmentation and vertical market, executive leadership has been forced to weigh each constraint and decide whether or not there are significant justifications in changing to the cloud. From my personal customer assessment experiences, I can detail three (3) most impactful constraints:

1. Not everyone has or can virtualize. Virtualization of workloads is critical to the cost model of cloud. Unfortunately, a large number of customers still have application workloads that will not perform well in a virtualized environment – resulting in the customer not achieving 100% adoption.
2. Regulatory and Security Constraints. We own the data, the data owns us. Organizations need to be diligent in protecting critical data at all costs…..or suffer consciences of embarrassment or worse, at the hands of ransom artists. Shame, shame, shame…
3. Sometimes, the cost model just doesn’t add up. Understandably, we can apply additional security controls and deploy dedicated compute resources/connectivity to public cloud to minimize cloud concerns, but at what cost? Overbuilding in the cloud introduces cost and complexity – two of the main reasons for going cloud in the first place.

Winter is here… delivered by the trusted IT vendors and partners we have known all along. When it comes to sensible IT strategy, hybrid cloud, the true King of the North is one for consideration. A hybrid cloud, from vendors and partners who have the vision to ease data center footprint and permit private workloads for customer requirements as needed, is ideal. A hybrid environment can reduce costs while providing choices for workloads based on their dependencies. Hybrid cloud is typically offered in subscription cost models that are clear and concise – rather than public cloud costs that escalate uncontrollably over time with little warning to executive staff.

Citrix and Citrix Cloud… A Proud House in Order
From all the vendors I’ve engaged with in my 20 plus years in IT, I recognize Citrix as a leader of change when change needs to happen. Once again, Citrix, with Citrix Cloud, brings forth a solution that offers choice and stability….choice of how to deploy, choice of how to license, and choice of how to adopt a true hybrid solution to meet customer demands in moving various workloads to cloud. While many vendors struggle with moving from on-premise-based solution selling to consumption IT, Citrix Cloud has won the day by introducing a true market differentiator for hybrid computing.

In addition to successful core solutions of XenApp and XenDesktop, Citrix also stands alone by offering secure connectivity infrastructure products to minimize the challenge of computing in disparate locations (public and private) with users being truly mobile and secure. Any, any, any…any cloud for those who have been around as long as I.

So, ask yourself. Are you with the right vendor and solution provider partner who has the vision for hybrid cloud or are you sitting, waiting for battle only to see your castle to be sacked?  Share your thoughts and join the conversation via Twitter at #intrablog!

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