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HP calls for cloud governance


Johannesburg, 01 Jun 2010

Internal cloud strategies deployed in an enterprise are doomed to fail without proper automation, security, and governance policies to back them up.

This is according to Clive Brindley, solutions architect, HP Software and Solutions SA. He argues that large enterprises choosing to set up internal clouds generally lack the building blocks to make it effective.

“Enterprises need to look at the cloud holistically by determining which services will be delivered on a cloud infrastructure,” says Brindley.

“We've released a set of services to help customers adopt the cloud and to determine what their sourcing decisions, governance and risk challenges are. IT needs to underpin the services needed for the business.”

HP has rolled out the HP Cloud Service Automation solution, as part of a larger software strategy it's driving this year, to enable organisations to accelerate the deployment of private and public clouds.

According to HP, its cloud initiative provides software using the HP Cloud Assure platform, consulting services, and third-party integrations to manage the entire life cycle of the cloud.

The tech giant says many companies tend to take a leap of faith into the cloud to get relief from business pressure. However, organisations underestimate the amount of effort needed to deploy and manage applications in the private cloud. This results in unexpected time delays and results in huge costs, according to Brindley.

“Cloud is not just about virtualisation; it's about automation, because if you are providing an on-demand environment, there's no way you will survive if you don't have an automated system,” says Brindley.

“Cloud is now forcing IT leaders to do what they were supposed to be doing a year ago. The service-centric approach, whether its application or infrastructure, is paramount to the business.

“Customers talk about building a cloud strategy, but it has to start at the executive boardroom. If an organisation jumps in head-first, it will be in a world of pain.”

He adds: “CIOs are going to be looking at their cloud strategy more cautiously based on the hype that virtualisation and SOA brought. They will be looking at showing value in return on investment and delivering business value.”

According to global research firm, Gartner, by 2012, around 20% of businesses will own no IT assets. The firm adds that cloud computing is in the top three priorities of CIOs to slash rising infrastructure costs.

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