5 pillars of cloud computing

Cloud computing is getting tons of press these days. Everyone has a different perspective and
understanding of the technology, and there are myriad variations on the definition of the
cloud. Some define cloud computing as the intersection of grid, virtualization, SaaS, and
utility computing models. others describe it as a pool of abstracted, highly scalable, and
managed compute infrastructure capable of hosting end-customer applications and billed by
consumption. We prefer the explanation by Gartner: “A style of computing where massively
scalable IT-enabled capabilities are delivered ‘as a service’ to externel customers using
Internet technologies”

These are, in my opinion, the core principles, or pillars, that uniquely define cloud computing:

Pillar 1: Dynamic Computing Infrastructure

Cloud computing requires a dynamic computing infrastructure. The foundation for the
dynamic infrastructure is a standardized, scalable, and secure physical infrastructure. There
should be levels of redundancy to ensure high levels of availability, but mostly it must be easy
to extend as usage growth demands it, without requiring architecture rework. Next, it must be
virtualized. Today, virtualized environments leverage server virtualization (typically from
VMware, Microsoft, or Xen) as the basis for running services. These services need to be
easily provisioned and de-provisioned via software automation. These service workloads need
to be moved from one physical server to another as capacity demands increase or decrease.
Finally, this infrastructure should be highly utilized, whether provided by an external cloud
provider like Firm Automatisering, or an internal IT department. The infrastructure must
deliver business value over and above the investment.

A dynamic computing infrastructure is critical to effectively supporting the elastic nature of

service provisioning and de-provisioning as requested by users while maintaining high levels
of reliability and security. The consolidation provided by virtualization, coupled with
provisioning automation, creates a high level of utilization and reuse, ultimately yielding a
very effective use of capital equipment

Pillar 2: IT Service-Centric Approach

Cloud computing is IT (or business) service-centric. This is in stark contrast to more
traditional system- or server- centric models. In most cases, users of the cloud generally want
to run some business service or application for a specific, timely purpose; they don't want to
get bogged down in the system and network administration of the environment. They would
prefer to quickly and easily access a dedicated instance of an application or service. By
abstracting away the server-centric view of the infrastructure, system users can easily access
powerful pre-defined computing environments designed specifically around their service.

An IT Service Centric approach enables user adoption and business agility - the easier and
faster a user can perform an administrative task the more expedient the business moves,
reducing costs or driving revenue.
Pillar 3: Self-Service Based Usage Model
Interacting with the cloud requires some level of user self-service. Best of breed self-service
provides users the ability to upload, build, deploy, schedule, manage, and report on their
business services on demand. Self-service cloud offerings must provide easy-to-use, intuitive
user interfaces that equip users to productively manage the service delivery lifecycle.

The benefit of self service from the users' perspective is a level of empowerment and
independence that yields significant business agility. One benefit often overlooked from the
service provider's or IT team's perspective is that the more self service that can be delegated to
users, the less administrative involvement is necessary. This saves time and money and allows
administrative staff to focus on more strategic, high-valued responsibilities.

Pillar 4: Minimally or Self-Managed Platform

In order for an IT team or a service provider to efficiently provide a cloud for its constituents,
they must leverage a technology platform that is self managed. Best-of-breed clouds enable
self-management via software automation, leveraging the following capabilities:

• A provisioning engine for deploying services and tearing them down recovering
resources for high levels of reuse
• Mechanisms for scheduling and reserving resource capacity
• Capabilities for configuring, managing, and reporting to ensure resources can be
allocated and reallocated to multiple groups of users
• Tools for controlling access to resources and policies for how resources can be used or
operations can be performed

All of these capabilities enable business agility while simultaneously enacting critical and
necessary administrative control. This balance of control and delegation maintains security
and uptime, minimizes the level of IT administrative effort, and keeps operating expenses
low, freeing up resources to focus on higher value projects.

Pillar 5: Consumption-Based Billing

Finally, cloud computing is usage-driven. Consumers pay for only what resources they use
and therefore are charged or billed on a consumption-based model. Cloud computing
platforms must provide mechanisms to capture usage information that enables chargeback
reporting and/or integration with billing systems.

The value here from a user's perspective is the ability for them to pay only for the resources
they use, ultimately helping them keep their costs down.

In summary, all of these five pillars are necessary in producing an enterprise private cloud
capable of achieving compelling business value which includes savings on capital equipment
and operating costs, reduced support costs, and significantly increased business agility. All of
these enable corporations to improve their profit margins and competitiveness in the markets
they serve.