During the last several years we've seen cloud computing shift the way IT delivers business services by introducing a dynamic IT supply chain that delivers services that ultimately help make a company more competitive. At the heart of this dramatic shift lies "cloud choice": the myriad IT options that cloud computing makes possible spanning traditional, cloud and hybrid application environments, as well as the private, public or hybrid cloud alternatives that support them.

As organizations think about cloud choice, there are many options and considerations that come to mind, but in my view, there are a few choices that must be made from the start:

To cloud or not to cloud - that is the question

Cloud computing and its supporting virtualization technologies have ushered in a new era of computing, but is the cloud right for every organization? Is it right for all applications and services, or just some of them? And how do you know which ones? Whether to use cloud computing or not is not unlike the choices IT has faced with new technology over the years. IT pros must consider many criteria that factor into a decision like this such as control, security and compliance. In some cases, cloud may be a perfect fit, but in others it may not. Going with a SaaS provider for email or CRM might be fine for a business, but putting financial data in the cloud may not.

What type of cloud is best for me? Or asked differently: Who controls my cloud?

Once an organization chooses to take advantage of the cloud, a bigger choice is ahead - what type of cloud to use? The application or data planned for cloud use and how much control an organization wants over that data helps drive this decision. If the application is the least bit sensitive and more control is needed, the choice might be a private cloud. If the need is for an unpredictable amount of raw compute power or an application that you're just testing out, public cloud infrastructure might be a good match. And as those patterns become more predictable, you might be best suited for a hybrid of the two - owning the base IT requirements, but renting what you need for the peaks.

I made my choice, but have changed my mind - now what?

Perhaps the ultimate choice offered by cloud is the multiple vendors to choose from - particularly with a public cloud for infrastructure-as-a-service. This brings choice to the table in a couple of ways. For example, what if you choose an IaaS vendor, but a year later decide you want to switch to a different IaaS vendor. How can you easily and confidently make a successful switch? Or what if you've deployed a private cloud for an application that because of a spike in interest or seasonality needs a little boost in supporting IT resources? Can you easily "burst" that application to a public infrastructure for some additional compute power?

All these business needs drive cloud choice and put organizations at decision points when it comes to how they deliver services.

Cloud options are positive. They present new alternatives for how IT delivers services to the business that provide agility, sustainability and cost-savings. However, these options have added a new level of complexity to IT, which is why management and security need to be at the forefront of any cloud decision.

When I joined CA Technologies 13 months ago, we had made a commitment to provide the management and security solutions our customers need to quickly deploy business services with the cost-efficiencies offered by cloud. We are delivering on that commitment today with our announcements of a number of new and updated products and solutions to address the complexity surrounding cloud choice. Please visit our news page for more information. 

This is just one view of the opportunities for cloud choice. Jay Fry, one of our cloud leaders at CA Technologies, previously blogged on the issue of cloud choice in, "Looking forward or backward? Cloud makes you decide what IT wants to be known for." Several of our other bloggers have also posted to provide additional information about today's announcements. Check out our Cloud Storm Chasers, Virtualization & Automation, and Service Management blogs.