Unisys believes that cloud computing should be a strategic area of focus for CIOs and senior business leaders due to the overwhelming agility and economic advantages of this new model of IT delivery that touches nearly every aspect of IT. A common framework, however, is essential for all IT service delivery models, including cloud, which addresses governance, security, integration, processes, policies, applications, and architecture within the context of three core areas: Applications, Data Centers, and Management.

We invite you to read the Unisys point of view white paper on Cloud Computing and learn where it can be applied within the enterprise for business advantage.

Cloud computing is a strategic area of focus for CIOs and senior business leaders due to the overwhelming agility and economic advantages of this new model of IT delivery. In fact, due to the significant cost savings compared with traditional IT deployments, many Government agencies, as well as commercial organizations, now have a “cloud-first” mandate when evaluating new IT services. Cloud computing is highly disruptive to traditional data center operations due to its on-demand, pay-per-use, flexible and scalable model for service delivery over the Internet covering the entire IT stack from platforms to infrastructure to applications. This “instant-on” utility model for IT services is very similar to the electrical power grid as we know it today.

In addition to gaining the agility, economic and service benefits of cloud computing, today’s organizations recognize that they will continue to maintain a lot of on-premise infrastructure and will continue to operate existing applications and require methods to integrate them with services in the Cloud. In addition, these organizations typically run a variety of application workloads ranging from business-as-usual, to mission-critical, to highly innovative – each with their own unique requirements for service levels and support. By their nature, these workloads have varying degrees of suitability for cloud or non-cloud deployment models. The future of the data center is therefore a hybrid model – with a combination of internally and externally managed IT resources, some cloud and others more traditional.

By way of Unisys definition, a Hybrid Enterprise is a composition of cloud, non-cloud, internal and external IT service delivery models that remain unique entities but are bound together by an integrated management environment, and common technology, processes and policies to optimize agility, enable data and application portability, and reduce risk.

Since enterprise IT workloads have highly varying requirements, some suited to cloud deployments and others to traditional deployments within the data center and outsourced, we believe that the Data Center of the Future will need to operate not solely in a cloud model, or in a hybrid cloud model comprised of multiple cloud entities, but in a hybrid enterprise model. This hybrid enterprise model will consist of internal and external infrastructure, some deployed as clouds and others more traditionally operated, with a mix of general purpose and specialized functions.

To address the barriers to cloud adoption and enable organizations to truly exploit the benefits of cloud computing, a Hybrid Enterprise framework will be required that comprehensively addresses strategic considerations across applications, data centers and management. This is best done across a model that addresses cloud architecture, management and tools, security, financial models, storage, networks, IT service management and support services.

Within this framework, a workload placement decision model will be required to characterize applications and drive placement decisions so workloads can run on the optimal infrastructure. A consistent approach will be required for building and evaluating data center characteristics – one that meshes with the application modeling – and which optimizes the data center footprint across cloud and non-cloud delivery models, and which minimizes complexity.

Finally, a single management environment will be required that provides a set of controls to manage governance, risk, compliance, services and costs across all infrastructure types.

The rise of cloud computing as a strategic priority in enterprise IT is a given. How companies respond to the opportunities that cloud computing opens up will have an impact on their competitiveness and financial well-being in the future. There are concrete steps that companies can take today to position themselves for long-term success with cloud models, including those that support mission-critical systems and workloads. Companies who are not already moving purposefully to the cloud for economic benefit and with the ultimate goal of creating a hybrid enterprise should strongly consider doing so now in order to lessen their reliance on more inflexible and costly former computing paradigms – including their approaches for applications, data centers and management.

At Unisys, we see cloud computing as an integral part of our Data Center Transformation and Outsourcing portfolio. In addition to cloud computing advisory, design, planning and implementation services, as well as cloud technologies and managed services, we can help you incorporate cloud computing based on our Hybrid Enterprise strategy within your overall plans for data center transformation. We invite you to visit the links to our relevant portfolio solutions:

• Unisys Hybrid Enterprise Strategy
• Advisory Services for Data Center and Cloud Transformation
• Cloud Solutions
• ClearPath Cloud