Cloud Computing Promises:

Fact or Fiction
Chris Czarnecki
En-lighten Technology Ltd.
1-800-843-8733
www.learningtree.com
2010 Learning Tree International. All Rights Reserved.
Productivity throuQh Education
US1005 Cloud Computing White Paper


Introduction ............................................. 1
1. Cloud Computing Technology
Is Revolutionary ................................. 2
2. All Software Applications Delivered over
the Internet Are Cloud Computing ........ 3
3. Cloud Computing Removes the Need
for an Internal IT Department ............ 4
4. Applications Can Be Moved
without Change to the Cloud ............. 5
5. The Cloud Will Always
Save Money on IT ............................... 6
6. Cloud Computing Resolves
Performance Problems ....................... 7
7. All Software Should Be
Moved to the Cloud ............................ 7
8. It Is Easy to Switch Cloud
Computing Vendors ........................... 8
9. Cloud Computing Is Not Secure ......... 9
10. Moving to Cloud Computing
Just Requires a Credit Card
Its Computing as a Utility .............. 10
Conclusion ............................................. 10
About Learning Tree International .........11
About the Author ...................................11
Introduction
Cloud computing is currently making information
technology headlines, and vendors are aggressively
promoting the many benets it can provide organisations.
These benets appear so compelling that on the surface
it seems all IT can and should be moved into the cloud.
Upon closer inspection, however, for every benet cited,
questions can also be raised. This White Paper addresses
the claims and questions that are often raised in relation to
cloud computing and provides a clear view of what the
cloud canand cantdeliver in reality.
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
1 Cloud Computing
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1. Cloud Computing Technology Is Revolutionary
Cloud computing itself is not a technology. It is the combination and
integration of a number of technologies, none of which are new. Rather,
cloud computing can be considered an evolutionary stage based on the
maturity of a number of technologies. Key technologies that have facilitated
cloud computing include:
High-spooo nolvorks
lxlronoly povorlul ano lov-cosl conpulo povor ano nonory
Virlualisalion lochnologyprocossors, nonory ano nolvorks
Sollvaro lhal nanagos largo-scalo virlualisoo syslons
Slabilily ano vioo accoplanco ol lho lnlornol, incluoing nobilo
Internet usage
The progress of the above technologies has coincided with a period where
global economic conditions have forced organisations to streamline and
naxiniso cosl olhcioncios, lhoroloro, businoss nooos havo orivon lho
evolution of IT delivery into what is now called cloud computing rather than
it being a new revolutionary technology.
2
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Cloud Computing
Business needs have driven the
evolution of IT delivery.
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2. All Software Applications Delivered
over the Internet Are Cloud Computing
Sollvaro applicalions havo boon oolivoroo ovor lho lnlornol lor nany yoars.
Vonoors using lhis nooo ol oolivory havo, unlil roconlly, boon knovn as
Applicalion Sorvico lrovioors (ASl). 1ho hnancial noool lor lhis nooo ol
sollvaro oolivory is lypically lho sano as on-pronisos sollvaroannual
liconso loos. Cuslonors ol ASl sollvaro bonohl lron a rooucoo on-pronisos
IT infrastructure and a reduced requirement of administrative support.
High-spooo lnlornol connoclions ano lov-cosl nachinos running brovsors
are all that is required. With all the publicity surrounding cloud computing
looay, nany ASls aro narkoling lhonsolvos as clouo conpuling provioors,
even though much of this marketing is only a ploy to increase sales by
promising cloud computing while the companies arent actually changing
their mode of service delivery.
liko ASl, clouo conpuling oolivors sollvaro across lho lnlornol. 1ho lorn
lor lhis is Sollvaro as a Sorvico (SaaS). ul is SaaS any oilloronl lron ASl`
1ho ansvor nosl oohniloly is yos. SaaS has a nunbor ol koy characlorislics
lhal oislinguish il lron ASl inplononlalions, incluoing:
SaaS is inslanlanoously soll-provisionoono solup is roquiroo, lho
software is immediately available
SaaS is olaslically scalablocapacily vill aulonalically ao|usl in
response to varying loads
SaaS is paynonl noool proporlional lo usago, allhough sono SaaS is
free to use, e.g., Google Apps
Conlrasl lhis lo nany ASl ollorings vhoro lho lolloving apply:
Sollvaro runs on a hxoo-capacily sorvor lhal can oxporionco
overload during periods of high usage
lrovisioning roquiros oialoguo vilh salos roprosonlalivos ano a
commissioning period before software is available
laynonl noool is lypically an annual liconso basoo on a hxoo
number of users
3
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Cloud Computing
Cloud computing delivers scalable
software across the Internet.
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3. Cloud Computing Removes the Need
for an Internal IT Department
no ol lho na|or bonohls ascriboo lo clouo conpuling is rooucoo cosls. ln
particular, a reduction in IT administration requirements resulting in either
smaller IT departments or no IT support at all. To consider this in more
oolail roquiros oxaninalion ol vhich l1 sorvicos can bo oolivoroo via lho
clouo. larlior, vo oohnoo SaaS. ln aooilion lo SaaS, conpuling plallorns
can also bo oolivoroo lron lho clouo. llallorns incorporalo lho oxoculion
environment for applications as well as the tools used to develop the
applications. A typical platform may be comprised of an operating system,
a database, server software and application software. The delivery model for
lhis lypo ol sorvico is knovn as llallorn as a Sorvico (laaS), ano oxanplos
incluoo Microsoll Azuro ano lho Cooglo App lngino.
1ho clouo can also oolivor lnlraslrucluro as a Sorvico (laaS). Wilh laaS,
sorvors, nolvorks ano loao balancors can bo inslanlanoously soll-provi-
sionoo lron lho clouo on a pay-por-uso basis. An oxanplo ol lhis kino ol
provioor is Anazon. laaS roquiros on-pronisos nolvork ano oovolopnonl
nachinos, ano lho aoninislralivo lasks aro sinilar lo on-pronisos hosling.
The only difference is the physical hardware being administered is
off premises.
The diagram below shows the three delivery models of the cloud. The
anounl ol on-pronisos l1 supporl ano skill roquiroo by an organisalion
increases proportionately from top to bottom.
Wholhor or nol an organisalion can roouco ils l1 ooparlnonl
depends on the level of services being used from the cloud
SaaSroquiros on-pronisos nolvorks ano lov-povor, lov-cosl
machines
laaSroquiros on-pronisos nolvork ano oovolopnonl nachinos,
and fewer administrative server tasks
4
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Cloud Computing
The IT department cannot be
completely eliminated.
Sotwar as a Srvic

Platorm as a Srvic

lnrastructur as a Srvic

lncraso aoministrativ
ruirmnts
lncraso on-prmiss
skill ruirmnts
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Cloud Computing
In summary, the requirements placed on the IT department and any
associated administrative support depend on the types of services being
leveraged from the cloud. One thing that is clear, however, is that the IT
department cannot be completely eliminated.
4. Applications Can Be Moved without Change to the Cloud
A connon nisconcoplion is lhal in-houso applicalions can bo novoo
without change to the cloud. This is potentially possible, but it depends on
lho nolivalion lor lho nigralion. b|oclivos lor lranslorring an on-pronisos
hosted application to the cloud include:
A. Rooucing applicalion-hosling cosls
. Making uso ol lho lransparonl scalabilily ol lho clouo
C. Leveraging the scalable storage of the cloud
All ol lhoso can bo achiovoo lhrough approprialo ooploynonl ol laaS or
laaS. Rooucing applicalion-hosling cosls is achiovablo vilhoul applicalion
modication as long as a cloud vendor provides server images that can host
lho applicalion. As an oxanplo, consioor a Microsoll .Nl1 Wob applicalion
using a SQl Sorvor oalabaso. 1his coulo bo novoo lo Anazon lC2, vhich
provioos soll-provisionoo sorvors lhal can oxoculo such applicalions. ln such
a case, the application can be moved without modication. This is similar
lo oulsourcing applicalion-hosling lo a lhiro-parly provioor bul vilh lho
na|or aovanlago lhal lho sorvor(s) can bo inslanlanoously provisionoo
ano paynonl is by ClL hour conparoo lo a provisioning lino (lypically
ono or lvo oays) ano an annual conlracl. A clouo onvironnonl can also
be congured to make use of the elastic scalability of the cloud, with more
servers being added and removed automatically to meet variations in
applicalion loao ano salislying ob|oclivo .
b|oclivo C roquiros nooihcalion lo lho applicalion cooo baso ano possibly
lho unoorlying archilocluro. Ma|or vonoors incluoing Anazon, Cooglo
and Microsoft all provide scalable storage solutions that require using the
vonoor-spocihc Alls ano only run on lho vonoor's ovn clouo.
Whon oxploiling laaS, an applicalion nusl bo nooihoo or spocihcally
developed for that platform. Microsoft with Azure and Google with the App
lngino, lor oxanplo, havo spocihc roquirononls oolailing hov applicalions
nusl bo packagoo ano vhal lho cooo can oo, so an oxisling cooo baso nay
require modication to meet these requirements. For instance, moving a
.Nl1 Wob applicalion lo Microsoll Azuro roquiros lho cooo lo bo packagoo
as Wob rolos, vhich vill lhon oxoculo in lho Azuro clouo.
An existing code base may require
modication to meet the requirements
of a cloud infrastructure.
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Cloud Computing
5. The Cloud Will Always Save Money on IT
Cost reduction is a primary business motivator for adopting cloud
computing, but quantifying cost savings in building a business case is
nol alvays oasy. Quanlilying cosl savings is rolalivoly oasy lor SaaS bul
boconos incroasingly noro oilhcull vhon il conos lo laaS ano laaS. laaS
and Iaas often have factors that are difcult to measure, such as application
modication time, running pilots, and the cost of training a staff in cloud
computing skills, amongst many others.
The cloud offers nancial savings in more than one way, however. The most
obvious is lho polonlial lo roouco l1 sponoing on oxisling roquirononls.
Another is how it allows a business to be more agile and increases revenue
by provioing lov-cosl, lov-risk soll-provisioning l1. 1his allovs organisa-
lions lo oxploro nov opporlunilios lhal nay havo proviously prosonloo loo
high an investment risk/reward ratio.
ln sunnary, vhon il conos lo saving nonoy on l1, snall- ano nooiun-sizo
organisations can generally benet from leveraging cloud computing.
Larger organisations may not benet nancially from cloud computing
ouo lo lho ocononios ol scalo lhal lhoy can apply lo on-pronisos l1
provisioning. Hovovor, olhor aovanlagos such as on-oonano provisioning
and reduced administration cloud computing may prove benecial to the
business and offset the cost differences.
The cloud offers nancial savings in
more than one way.
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Cloud Computing
6. Cloud Computing Resolves Performance Problems
llaslicily ano a sooningly inhnilo anounl ol conpulo ano slorago capacily
aro ollon louloo as na|or bonohls ol lho clouo, bul vhilo lhoso aro cloarly
signicant benets, they are not measures of application performance. Poor
performance issues are often caused by infrastructure capacity problems
rather than poor application implementation. If an application running on a
server becomes overloaded and all users are affected, then the users suffer
poor response times, plus the application has a performance problem.
Cloud computing can certainly provide solutions to infrastructure capacity
problems due to its elastic scalability, but performance will often vary. The
Cooglo App lngino vill provioo an applicalion vilh all lho conpulo ano
slorago capacily roquiroo, bul il vill nol bo high porlornanco. laaS oolivory
noools such as Cooglo App lngino ano Microsoll Azuro provioo salislac-
lory porlornanco. nly laaS can provioo high porlornanco, ano ovon lhis
isnt always a sure bet.
There are a number of reasons why this is so. Cloud providers may oversell
their capacity, causing performance problems that are totally out of the
hands of the cloud user. In addition, virtualisation software runs on a
multitenant architecture, and what other tenants are undertaking on that
infrastructure plays a signicant part in performance at any particular
nononl in lino. So vhilo lho clouo provioos lho abilily lo inprovo
performance problems through increased capacity, only satisfactory or
accoplablo porlornanco, ralhor lhan high porlornanco, shoulo bo oxpocloo.
7. All Software Should Be Moved to the Cloud
The attractive benets of the cloud may encourage organisations to try to
move all computing to the cloud. For some organisations, reducing the
on-pronisos l1 lo an absolulo nininun is approprialo. lor olhors, inlornal
IT departments with software development teams are essential as the
bespoke software they develop enables the organisation to gain competitive
advantage.
In considering what software is suitable for cloud delivery, key features
such as soll-provisioning, oll-lho-sholl, pay-por-uso, olaslically scalablo,
and access anywhere are all attractive and can help build a business case for
clouo aooplion. Hovovor, argunonls againsl noving lo lho clouo incluoo
cuslon-buill, on-pronisos sollvaro lhal is accossoo only on lho pronisos
with little or no variation in load or demand. Software should be moved to a cloud if
it benets the organisation.
Moving from one cloud provider
to another is not always a seamless
process.
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Cloud Computing
8. It Is Easy to Switch Cloud Computing Vendors
There are currently no standards in the cloud, so moving from one provider
to another is not a seamless process. In selecting a provider, a number of key
questions need to be asked.
lor SaaS
Hov can l rolriovo ny oala lron lho clouo, ano vhal lornal vill il
bo in`
Do olhor clouo provioors supporl lhis oala lornal`
Do any olhor provioors provioo oquivalonl applicalions`
lor laaS
Do olhor vonoors supporl lho plallorn`
ls lho applicalion lioo lo ny curronl vonoor's plallorn`
Hov nuch vork is roquiroo lo rovork ny applicalion lo nako il
conpaliblo vilh anolhor vonoor's plallorn`
lor laaS
Can anolhor vonoor oasily rocroalo ny inlraslrucluro`
Doos ny applicalion uso vonoor-spocihc inlraslrucluro loaluros`
Hov nuch vork is roquiroo lo rovork ny applicalion lo nako il
conpaliblo vilh anolhor vonoor's inlraslrucluro`
Svilching laaS vonoors can usually bo achiovoo vilh nininal oisruplion.
lor oxanplo, a linux inlraslrucluro on Anazon lC2 can oasily bo roplicaloo
on CoCrio's clouo. Sinilarly, Microsoll lhco livo can roao SaaS oala
stored on Google Apps. The tightest coupling of vendors products, making
il lho nosl oilhcull lo svilch vonoors, is laaS. lor oxanplo, an applicalion
using Microsoll's Azuro is lioo lo Azuro. Sinilarly, an applicalion oovolopoo
lor lorco.con vill only run on lho lorco.con plallorn. Sono laaS ollorings
provide looser couplings, such as Google App engine, but some modica-
tion to code is still required to move to another provider.
Moving from one provider to another
is not a seamless process.
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9. Cloud Computing Is Not Secure
Socurily is vilhoul a ooubl lho nosl oobaloo clouo conpuling lopic, ano il
is not possible to say denitively that cloud computing is or is not secure.
Much depends on the type of service utilised, the service provider and the
service user.
Horo is a sanplo ol lho laclors rolaloo lo socurily lhal shoulo bo consiooroo:
loss ol govornanco1onanls nay nol havo conlrol ovor corlain
issues, yet would still be responsible for their outcomes.
lsolalion lailuroln a nullilonanl onvironnonl, isolaling lonanls
from each other is the responsibility of the cloud provider.
Conplianco risksll a clouo cuslonor has lo nool rogulalory or
inouslry slanoaros, o.g., laynonl Caro lnouslry Dala Socurily
Slanoaro (lCl DSS), lhon lho lailuro ol lho clouo provioor lo nool
the standards compromises the cloud customer.
Managononl inlorlaco conpronisoA lhiro parly nay gain
unauthorised access to applications.
Dala proloclionWhoro is your oala sloroo ano hov is accoss lo il
conlrolloo` Whal procoouros aro in placo lo onsuro conplolo oala
oololion`
Malicious insioorsLllinaloly, sono usors havo lo havo accoss lo
your cloud account, and the trust they are afforded may be broken.
Whilo clouo conpuling prosonls uniquo socurily lhroals, lho na|orily ol
them are general application and infrastructure concerns, which have
provon solulions. 1ho na|or clouo-rolaloo socurily lhroals aro loss ol
governance and those that result from multiple tenancy of cloud resources.
ll lhoso can bo rosolvoo on a caso-by-caso basis, lho clouo ollors a
computing environment at least as safe as noncloud computing systems.
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Cloud Computing
On a case-by-case basis, the cloud
offers a computing environment at least
as safe as noncloud computing systems.
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It is very difcult, if not impossible, to
directly compare what two providers
offer.
10. Moving to Cloud Computing Just Requires
a Credit CardIts Computing as a Utility
Cloud computing is often considered utility computing where only a
credit card is required to sign up and start using the services. From there,
il is a pay-por-uso noool, |usl liko a ulilily al hono. Whilo lhis analogy is
somewhat true, it is not the whole story. Consider the process of selecting
an electricity provider for your home. Factors that customers consider are
prico, ropulalion ol lho vonoor ano conlracl longlh, anong olhors. ul
whichever vendor is selected, electricity is delivered to the home and all
your appliancos vork vilh il. Solocling a clouo provioor is nol so slraighl-
forward. The lack of standards and platforms means it is very difcult, if not
impossible, to directly compare what two providers offer. In many cases,
alternatives may not be available due to such factors as the programming
language an application is developed in, and making a selection often
includes a relatively lengthy pilot process to test the vendors products.
In Conclusion
Many people are still unclear about the advantages and disadvantages
of cloud computing. In addition, vendors often promote it as a panacea
and absolute necessity for competitive advantage. This White Paper has
attempted to clear up some of the confusion surrounding cloud computing
by oxanining lho nain bonohls as voll as consiooring polonlial oravbacks.
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About Learning Tree International
Learning Tree International is a leading global provider
ol highly olloclivo hanos-on lraining lo nanagors ano
inlornalion lochnology prolossionals. Sinco 1974, ovor
65,000 organisations have relied on Learning Tree to
onhanco lho prolossional skills ol noro lhan 2 nillion
employees. Learning Tree develops, markets and delivers
a broao, propriolary library ol inslruclor-loo coursos
locusoo on pooplo ano pro|ocl nanagononl, loaoorship
and business skills, Web development, operating
systems, databases, networking, IT security and software
development. Courses are presented at Learning Tree
loucalion Conlros, localoo globally, on silo al clionl
facilities and are available via Learning Tree AnyWare,
our propriolary livo, onlino inslruclor-loo lraining
delivery option that connects online participants to
actual classrooms. For more information about Learning
Tree products and services, call 1-800-843-8733 or visit
the Learning Tree Web site at www.learningtree.com
About the Author
Chris Czarnecki
cc@en-lighten.co.uk
Chris has ovor 20 yoars' consullancy oxporionco ano is curronlly
C1 lor lho consullancy hrn ln-lighlon 1ochnology llo. Ho
is recognised as one of the UKs leading software architects
vorking prinarily vilh C++ ano }ava. His clionls incluoo
365 lloclrical Croup, lricsson, loicoslor Council ano lho NHS.
Ho also loachos a varioly ol loarning 1roo }ava ano Wob
oovolopnonl coursos. Chris has a lhD in conpulor scionco.
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