Wiring the Cloud
Clive Longbottom, Service Director
Quocirca Comment
The early stirrings of cloud computing are
beginning to take place – with mixed results.
Totally contained cloud services, such as
salesforce.com, Concur and Transversal show
how full service functions held in the cloud can
facilitate processes within a business without the
need for implementing and maintaining costly
hardware platforms – but is this going to be the
case going forward?
Figure 1
In figure 1, the way a composite application
works is outlined. A user, through their access
device, makes a request for a task or for a
process to be dealt with. This will generally be
handled through a trusted partner who will take
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The problems will grow as cloud becomes less
contained. If there is a move toward the
“composite application” – one where different
functions are brought together on the fly to deal
with a process issue – there will be a whole new
raft of issues that will need to be dealt with.
responsibility for identifying and pulling together
the functions that are required to facilitate that
task or process. Some of these functions may
already be available within the user’s own data
centre (through a private cloud, or just through
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a standard function in an existing application),
others may be hosted by the aggregator
themselves; many will not. It may well be that
other providers already pull together multiple
functions to provide a “functional assembly” that
can deal with a bigger part of the task. This has
multiple benefits in that such a provider can
reduce the number of links in a chain, can help
in minimising the number of contracts involved
and may be able to improve response rates by
aggregating functions in a specific manner, for
Figure 2
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example through using providers who are all
hosted within a single co-location facility. The
aggregator will have to negotiate on-the-fly
technical and business contracts with other
providers that it knows and trusts, and ensure
that everything meets the needs of the end
customer.
So far, so good. But now let’s look at the
underlying network issues that raise their ugly
heads in such a scenario.
© 2011 Quocirca Ltd
Figure 2 shows a few of the areas where cloud gracefully to another instance. This will
networking may be an issue. Taking each one in require the maintenance of certain
turn, Quocirca advises the following: network information, however, otherwise
transactions may become confused.
 Functional availability: The internet is,
 Contextuality: as part of failover, there
fortunately and unfortunately, under
is a need for all functions to be fully
multiple ownership. This is fortunate, as
cognisant of what they are doing, and for
it offers a multi-path network capability
this to be made available should any
such that if any one part of the internet
failure occur. Store and forward
goes down, availability tends to remain
messaging is required in the cloud, so
due to the capability for alternative paths
that any break in service provides a
to be taken. This is unfortunate, as it
known state, and that this is one which
means that root cause analysis for
can automatically resume when the
network issues can be, at best, painful.
failure has been addressed. Look for a
The majority of good cloud function
cloud provider who offers a fully audited
providers will use multiple networks to
store and forward capability as part of
ensure high availability – but some may
their service.
only have a single provider, and even if
 Security: A knock on issue from
the internet itself is OK, a break in
providing failover capabilities can be that
service from that single provider can lead
it becomes easier for a chain to be
to the lack of availability of a core
hijacked by a malicious user. If they can
function for the composite application.
inject themselves in to the chain when
Look for providers who have multiple
the failure happens (which will generally
network providers and, where possible,
have been initiated by them anyway),
multiple data centre facilities to ensure
then the process can continue blithely
functional availability. Also, ensure that
unaware that the whole chain has been
you have multiple network providers
compromised in this way. Ensuring that
yourself – a break in your connection will
no part of the chain can be hijacked in
mean no access to any functionality…
this way through the use of full
 Performance: the great imponderable of
contextuality, audit trails and cloud-
the internet. The very capabilities of
based intrusion detection capabilities will
general availability outlined above means
mitigate this issue.
that the performance across the internet
 Information control: as well as
is difficult to guarantee. As a packet of
ensuring that the process chain itself is
data can take any route it wants, it could
not hijacked through functional injection,
take different amounts of time dependent
there is a need to ensure that the
on network conditions. Look for cloud
information in the chain itself cannot be
providers who offer quality and priority of
compromised. Data leak prevention,
service using services such as multi-
content inspection and encryption will
protocol labelling service (MPLS) and
help here. Look for cloud providers who
802.1p/q. Also, look at the use of other
offer these as functions – but remember
tunnelling or direct connecting services,
that the information is yours, and as
such as leased or dedicated lines where
such, the over-reaching responsibility for
core functions are concerned.
it resides with you.
 Failover: allied to the above, should
there be a failure in the chain, what To meet the promise of a fully functional
happens? A good cloud provider will environment, the cloud needs a solid foundation,
have multiple instances of a function and this will be dictated by the network it is
running, and should be able to failover dependent on.

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Second rate cloud providers will be the ones who
give cloud a bad name through poor
performance, availability and security. Through
meeting the above criteria, cloud aggregators
will be able to provide enterprise-class services
through providing certain functions themselves
and using functions from other in a fully
managed and audited manner.

This article first appeared on Computer Weekly,

http://www.computerweekly.com

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 About Quocirca
Quocirca is a primary research and analysis company specialising in the business impact of information technology
and communications (ITC). With world-wide, native language reach, Quocirca provides in-depth insights into the
views of buyers and influencers in large, mid-sized and small organisations. Its analyst team is made up of real-
world practitioners with first-hand experience of ITC delivery who continuously research and track the industry
and its real usage in the markets.

Through researching perceptions, Quocirca uncovers the real hurdles to technology adoption – the personal and
political aspects of an organisation’s environment and the pressures of the need for demonstrable business value in
any implementation. This capability to uncover and report back on the end-user perceptions in the market enables
Quocirca to advise on the realities of technology adoption, not the promises.

Quocirca research is always pragmatic, business orientated and conducted in the context of the bigger picture. ITC
has the ability to transform businesses and the processes that drive them, but often fails to do so. Quocirca’s
mission is to help organisations improve their success rate in process enablement through better levels of
understanding and the adoption of the correct technologies at the correct time.

Quocirca has a pro-active primary research programme, regularly surveying users, purchasers and resellers of ITC
products and services on emerging, evolving and maturing technologies. Over time, Quocirca has built a picture of
long term investment trends, providing invaluable information for the whole of the ITC community.

Quocirca works with global and local providers of ITC products and services to help them deliver on the promise
that ITC holds for business. Quocirca’s clients include Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, O2, T-Mobile, HP, Xerox, EMC,
Symantec and Cisco, along with other large and medium sized vendors, service providers and more specialist
firms.

Full access to all of Quocirca’s public output (reports, articles, presentations, blogs
and videos) can be made at http://www.quocirca.com

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