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Cloud Ecosystem Members Create a Win-Win-Win for Disaster Prevention

Published: May 16 2012, 08:38 AM | no comments
by Jeffrey Abbott

Redundancy is one of those necessary evils. It's necessary in the modern world for not-so-uncommon scenarios of unplanned, and often unavoidable circumstances. For example, I've been waiting for my new DSLR camera from Nikon for two years and counting. But there were tragic natural and unnatural disasters in Japan (tsunami and nuclear meltdown). Among countless bigger issues, it halted development, production and delivery of my camera to my home in Boston (yes, I got off easy). Nikon then turned to its backup plan... Thailand. Then, catastrophic floods dealt another major blow to my 36.3MP camera. (Before sending me hate mail...  I know that the losses, expenses, and recovery related to these disasters are beyond comprehension or calculation). In our global economy, disasters anywhere can affect people everywhere. And this is why redundancy is more necessary than ever.

However, redundancy is evil because it feels duplicative, wasteful, and often, there is no payoff... like insurance. So what can businesses do to protect themselves from disasters while reducing the expense and effort that gets passed down to customers in the form of higher prices?

One example is within the huge and growing world of data centers and pubic cloud services. Two seemingly competing companies, which are both participating members of the Cloud Commons Ecosystem, have partnered in a true win-win-win scenario. One, StratITsphere is in Houston, and the other, ScaleMatrix, is in California. Both have robust data centers that provide cloud services and infrastructure to business customers. Instead of each of them having to develop independent (and possibly inferior) secondary plans for disasters, they have chosen to cross-leverage the world-class facilities that they have already created. ScaleMatirix will act as the backup for StratITsphere and vice versa. They're accomplishing this by investing in a 10Gbps transport ring between the two centers. In addition, each company will set up dedicated, secured equipment in the other's facility.

Instead of massive investments that would be passed down to end user customers as costs, ScaleMatrix and StratITsphere gain competitive advantages in their regions and retain the ability to keep customers satisfied. This type of collaboration is achieved through open-mindedness and partnerships that develop through participation in industry ecosystems such as the Cloud Commons Ecosystem. This is a prime example of how redundancy is necessary, but not evil. There is huge potential in online communities and industry ecosystems to stimulate win-win-win scenarios such as this. I look forward to more success stories from those who are willing to tip their hands and talk about their problems with the people who understand them best.

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By: Jeffrey Abbott
Jeffrey Abbott ( @JeffreyAbbott ) is a Senior Product Marketing Manager for Cloud Commons at CA Technologies. In this role, Jeff focuses on industry trends and IT management challenges to position the company’s cloud solutions to viable market segments. When he’s not thinking about clouds, Jeff is often...
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Investing in Private Cloud, Top Gun, and the New CA Process Automation 4.0 Release

Published: May 15 2012, 10:48 AM | no comments
by Steve DuBravac

What do the movie Top Gun, surveys about why companies are investing in private clouds, and the new CA Process Automation 4.0 release all have in common? 

All three insist on the need for speed! 

If you have ever seen Top Gun, you will probably remember the scene where Tom Cruise's character Maverick says to his navigator, Goose, "I feel the need..." and then in unison they say, "the need for speed!"

And, if you read Tom Bittman's blog in February titled "Private Cloud and Hot Tubs," you'll recall his intriguing statistic that when attendees to the December 2011 Gartner Data Center Conference  were asked, "What is your main driver in moving to private clouds?" 21% said "cost" and a whopping 59% said "agility".

And...CA Process Automation 4.0 with its new UI, its improved integration capabilities, its support for dynamic forms, and for a host of other reasons is really fast at getting enterprise grade automation into production and with less risk.  And when I say, "really fast" I mean compare us with our competitors, because we are "really fast" at getting you time to value when it comes to designing and deploying enterprise grade processes.

Our customers have told us that speed is important, too. I talked with a customer a few months back who said CA Technologies delivered in days what our competitors were taking weeks to do. And, I will point out that our ability to manage risk seems several releases ahead of competitors.

So let's start with the new UI. The new UI makes process flows easier to author and edit and it makes them quicker to deploy. The new UI offers an advanced design environment, which, among other things, provides navigation support so you can zoom in on the activities (or steps) of a process you care about, without losing track of where you are in the overall process. 

CA Technologies recognizes that the real value of IT Process Automation (ITPA) comes when you automate complete end-to-end IT processes. Because of this, we made sure that the new navigation support never lets you worry about missing the forest because you are too close to the trees, or having a hard time seeing the trees when you were trying to understand the scope of the forest.

Because we realize that IT Process Automation is becoming pervasive, we did something pretty cool to the architecture of the UI. We made it 100% browser-based and embeddable. This lets IT move beyond the legacy model of only letting a small subset of IT staff see the benefits of process automation. Now the actual UI of CA Process Automation can be embedded into other IT management tools or even an end user oriented tool such as a self-help portal  - and we did it without losing the fine grain security features that have distinguished previous releases of CA Process Automation.

 

We're also excited about the new integration capabilities. They clearly add value because at the end of the day, if integration is hard and takes time, then that friction erodes the value of an IT orchestration tool. With the 4.0 release, we have improved the already strong integration capabilities that were part of the previous 3.1 release. For example, with 3.1 we supported SOAP-based Web services and with 4.0 we support RESTful Web services as well. In 3.1 it was easy to wrap your existing scripts into a custom operator so you could chain together scripts and use data to drive what scripts were executed when and with what parameters; now, with 4.0, we also support the ability to embed JAR files so you can use Java applications in much the same way.

It is also worth noting that while CA Process Automation is relatively inexpensive to maintain, we haven't rested on our laurels. With this release we have added a new operations dashboarding capability so operators can quickly visualize the status of their processes and then double click to obtain different views and more details.

Lastly, there is more out-of-the-box content than ever before to help IT staff jump start their process flow designs; the release also includes increased support for community development through Cloud Commons. For those of you unfamiliar with Cloud Commons it is a development community where self-organizing teams can come together in an open source model to build integrations or process flows that are important to them, as well as an online marketplace where companies can sell their proprietary solutions that run on CA Process Automation. I encourage you to visit and see what different community teams are developing as well as what products are available from CA Technologies and our partners.

There are many other capabilities added to CA Process Automation 4.0 and I encourage folks interested in learning more to check out the updated solution brief, ask your sales rep for information, and check out today's press release. 

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By: Steve DuBravac
Stephen DuBravac is a software industry veteran with experience in cloud strategy, capacity management, IT asset management (ITAM), process automation (RBA/ITPA), IT financial management (ITFM), Project and Portfolio Management (PPM), Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC: including COBIT and SOX) Software...
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Harnessing the Power of Cloud

Published: May 09 2012, 05:20 PM | no comments
by Denise Dubie

StratITsphere simplifies cloud adoption for customers using its MSP platform.

The old saying, "Too much of a good thing" comes into play when dealing with cloud computing. The flexibility the technology affords can quickly overwhelm IT organizations accustomed to physical data centers and traditional enterprise software delivery models.

Think about it: resources previously kept gated for only the privileged few are now readily available to the many, some of which aren't trained in using, provisioning or managing such resources. Customers want the flexibility cloud promises, but with little expertise, they often move forward without the appropriate controls and perhaps not fully realizing all the benefits. Enter StratITsphere, a next-generation managed service provider (MSP) using cloud to deliver software to its Fortune 1000 energy customers.

"One of the big benefits of the cloud, and one of its biggest drawbacks, is its flexibility. There are so many different solutions and problems that the cloud can solve for your business, but you have to understand where to take your first step. It's almost overwhelming," says Stephen Webster, co-founder of StratITsphere.

StratITsphere built its virtual private data center on the CA AppLogic cloud platform and coupled that with specific CA software to provide software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings to its customers. The brilliant twist is that while StratITsphere is using cloud technologies to deliver software in a SaaS model; it is doing so in such a way that mimics or resembles what its customers are "used to" in terms of enterprise software. The combination makes enables the MSP to help customers make the most out of their IT assets.

MSPs like StratITsphere take on the role of the experienced tour guide for their customers' journey to the cloud. They make it their business to develop a platform and provide services tailored to their clients' needs, which in StratITsphere's case focuses squarely on the niche energy industry. Their unique understanding of that vertical industry and their ability to delivery enterprise-grade software (thanks in part to CA Technologies) as a service makes it possible for their customers to reap the benefits of cloud computing without suffering through some of the roadblocks.

How does your IT organization embrace cloud computing? Would partnering with an MSP help your IT organization reap more rewards from the technology platform? Please let me know via Twitter @DDubie.

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By: Denise Dubie
Denise Dubie is New Media Principal in CA Technologies Thought Leadership Group. Prior to joining the company in 2010, Dubie spent 12 years of her career at Network World, an IDG company, covering the IT management industry and all its players (including CA Technologies and competitors) as well as high...
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Are you thinking about Workload Automation strategically?

Published: May 04 2012, 05:21 PM | no comments
by Umair Khan

Is it just me? Or has there been a lot of buzz in the workload space lately? Well, let's look at what's been happening with customers. Keeping the usual marketing data aside, I've been focusing on the ultimate indication of an emerging trend -- customer demand. We experienced increased demand in the past year with over 60 new customers signing up and more than 200 adding additional capacity for CA Workload Automation.

While looking at these sales numbers, I was curious about which strategic initiatives, from a customer's prospective, were driving the need for investment (or additional investment) in our workload automation solution.  If customers are spending money in this tight economy then they must believe that workload automation is very strategic, right? As I looked at the strong demand over this past year, I saw three common themes that appear to be driving it:

Cloud Adoption:

As more and more organizations look to adopt cloud computing, they realize the need to simplify and modernize their workload environments. Cloud computing gives clients another arrow in their quiver to efficiently and reliably process business critical workloads. But in order to truly leverage cloud computing, they have to consolidate workloads across platforms and applications into an enterprise class solution that dynamically drives the infrastructure according to business needs and priorities. We had quite a few new and existing customers consolidating and upgrading their workload environments to best leverage cloud computing.

Operational Transformation and Cost Reduction Programs:

Business Demands from IT have never been higher but there hasn't been a proportionate increase in budgets. IT is expected to do more with less and be more "agile". Essentially, they need to do more with less. As a result we have seen customers start a lot of transformational programs where they are consolidating and upgrading multiple job scheduling tools into an enterprise wide workload automation solution. In addition more and more customers are beginning to understand the power of workload and process automation and are beginning to leverage the two together to drive operational efficiencies. For this reason, we saw great traction around the process automation power packs for workload that we launched last year.

Building Better Customer Experiences:

Attracting and retaining customers is right up there on the list of business priorities of CIO's. With a continued budget crunch, businesses are looking to transform business processes in order to deliver truly differentiated customer experiences. Sometimes we tend to forget the true potential of workload automation in this regard. Workload Automation is connected to many business processes that directly impact the customer such as billing, claim processing and pricing updates ─ to name a few. As part of these broader initiatives, customers are looking to invest in a workload automation solution that improves uptime and enhances flexibility in customer centric processes.

What other strategic initiatives should workload automation be part of? Are you looking at workload automation strategically yet? Here is a great new whitepaper “IT Optimization Through Workload Automation” by Torsten Volk  (EMA Research) on how you could harness the true power of workload automation.
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By: Umair Khan
Umair Khan is Principal Product Marketing Manager for Workload Automation at CA Technologies. He has over five years of experience working for various technology companies across the globe. Umair is a recent graduate of HULT International Business School (Cambridge, Mass.) where he earned an M.B.A. in...
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Challenges of Cloud Automation and Adoption

Published: May 03 2012, 09:09 AM | no comments
by Keith Allen

One of the challenges with the private cloud and cloud automation is a definition and understanding of ‘what is' a private cloud and the scope of a cloud automation solution. This creates the ‘cloud hype' challenge, where everyone claims their solution is a cloud solution, creating business indecisiveness and delaying budget dollars for cloud implementations.

Cloud automation is a foundation for orchestration, but the two terms might be incorrectly interchanged - automation is processes programmed for repeatable tasks while orchestration joins dissimilar automated processes together using workflows.  Customers are willing to wait for returns on their current virtualization investments before spending more on automation - even while many claim that automation is a top initiative for private cloud implementation.

Businesses already at an advanced level of maturity with virtualization don't need to be convinced of the benefits of either virtualization or private cloud. Conversely true, I've spoken with many businesses that admit they don't have a comprehensive cloud strategy, and while they consider it a top priority, it is mired in challenges:

Organizational Cloud IQ/Common Vision

Businesses considering cloud automation may struggle with the long-term vision for their cloud strategies. Most are convinced they want to expand their private cloud investments, but are unclear on how to proceed. Not having a vision leads to incremental investments (project-by-project), as opposed to large scale adoption of private clouds as a model for IT service delivery.

Common IT Service Delivery/Managed Service Delivery

So where do CIOs and CTOs go next with their virtualization and automation needs?  While some early adopters have limited implementations of private clouds, many organizations are still in the formulation phase. Organizational thinking has evolved with the adoption of virtualization for common rapid change environments - such as simple development/testing, pre-production, and a desire to extend similar models to production -- forming the foundation of current private clouds/IaaS thinking.

Vendor Lock-in

While most organizations intend to avoid single vendor strategies, many are budgeting and implementing just that in the short term after initially dabbling with the complexities and additional OPEX of a multi-vendor strategy. Most organizations are currently committed to VMware as the hypervisor of choice for the time being as early cloud implementation projects drive adoption of private cloud within the organization.

Protecting and Maximizing Existing Investments

Loud and clear feedback from most companies is that rip and replace is not a choice they want their cloud vendors to present. Any offering, unless it offers very compelling reasons for a change in strategy or tools/solutions, must leverage the current investments in tools/software/solutions as well as the investments in people skills developed within the organization. It is therefore imperative that cloud automation decisions and investments present a path to build upon existing infrastructure.

Predictability of Implementations - The "let's try and see approach"

For businesses that are in the process of embarking on a new implementation of a private cloud, a key decision criterion for vendor and/or partner selection is predictability in terms of time and costs of implementation.  Essentially, this means that businesses are looking for solutions and not willing to invest in a vendor strategy that involves ‘building it on site'.

Fast Time-to-Value

For businesses setting up new private cloud infrastructures, mainly related to self-service delivery of infrastructure and applications, the vendor selection process also includes a rapid and predictable implementation timeframe.  Many companies that are cloud laggards (for any number of reasons) have compelling impetus to get an initial rollout of cloud on tight schedules.

While businesses continue to find ways to reduce costs and improve flexibility by adapting to virtualization strategies, holistic cloud automation solutions are required to fully realize the benefits of their cloud investments. As businesses sharpen their virtualization skillsets, they'll need to carefully rethink policies and procedures based on dynamic shifts happening with management, hosting, and infrastructures.  Virtualization strategies developed using cloud automation will serve to maximize IT agility and protect the business, resulting in overall operational business efficiency.

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By: Keith Allen
Keith Allen (@landru11) first joined CA Technologies in 2000 as an experienced senior systems administrator where he worked on redesigning and implementing mission critical IT business services for CA Technologies worldwide. He is currently a product manager focused on driving development of new VCE...
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