General28.08.2012

VMware Defines New Operating Model for the Cloud Era

By weich

New Cloud Ops education, transformation and advisory services help unleash

value of cloud through people, process and measurement

VMware and partners create Cloud Ops Forum to collaborate on industry-wide IT approach

Designed to address the operational challenges businesses face in building, operating, staffing and measuring a high-functioning IT organisation, VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualisation and cloud infrastructure, at VMworld® 2012 yesterday announced new Cloud Ops Intellectual Property (IP) and advisory, transformation and education services. VMware’s Cloud Ops IP helps ITtransition to a new operating model for cloud computing that promises to accelerate delivery of new business value and innovation.

Part of the comprehensive cloud solution VMware unveiled today, Cloud Ops drawson VMware’s experience helping hundreds of clients worldwide navigate through the complex decisions around building, running and optimising public and private cloud environments. Through these proven implementations a new operating model has emerged. IT shifts from a reactive, tactical relationship with business, to the role of a strategic partner helping drive innovation and competitive advantage.

“Customers evolving to Cloud Ops are realising significant gains in efficiency, agility and reliability,” said Carl Eschenbach, VMware chief operating officer and co-president. “In fact, we have seen some VMware customers reduce labor operating costs by as much as 25 percent, freeing resources for reinvestment into new services that drive innovation and competitive differentiation.”

VMware is also introducing the Cloud Ops Forum, a group of consulting and integration partners that will collaborate on further definition of this new operating model. Together with VMware, these companies will work to transfer knowledge to the end-customer community to realise the greatest efficiency,reliability and agility benefits from this transition. Launch members of the Cloud Ops Forum include Canopy, Capgemini, CGI, CSC, Dell, Deloitte, EMC, HP, Infosys, T-Systems and VMware. Participation in the Cloud Ops Forum mayexpand to include other industry participants and customers in the future. [Read what launch members are saying about the Cloud Ops Forum].

Consistent with many other generational shifts in IT, the shift to cloud computing is not limited to the technology itself. Cloud Ops and the Cloud Ops Forum take into consideration a modern organisation’s need to include cultural, financial, political and process elements as a part of their overall IT transformation planning – all toward capturing the full benefits of cloud computing.

“The new IT will be agile — not only with technology, but with its people,” said Gartner Vice President of Research, Diane Berry, in the January 2012 report IT Workforce: The Road to 2016 and Beyond. “This requires organisations to move from the traditional approach of ‘managing change’ on a project-by-project basis to building a more mature level of competency termed ‘organisational liquidity.’ The mastery of this skill will enhance the value of IT to the business and, ultimately, will impact the bottom line.”

Together, Cloud Ops and the Cloud Ops Forum address how to build, operate, staff and measure a cloud environment to maximise business innovation and efficiency, with a focus on four key areas:

Processes and Control. As a result of IT’s increasing movement toward a more dynamic and automated cloud approach, many traditional IT processes need to change. To help IT manage this transition, Cloud Ops introduces and outlines capabilities that allow the greatest opportunity for business gains. These include On-Demand Services; Automated Provisioning and Deployment; Proactive Incident and Problem Management; Policy-based Security; Compliance and RiskManagement; and Consumption-based IT Financial Management.

People and Organisation. While secure, flexible and scalable technology is a cornerstone of any successful IT strategy, it’s the people and team structure that deliver on the promise of responsiveness and efficiency. Cloud Ops includes a blueprint for organisational change including the development of a Cloud Center of Excellence, supported by new role-based training and certifications.

Financial Modeling and Measurement. Moving beyond standard performance monitoring, Cloud Ops introduces new cloud-relevant metrics that establish modern parameters for measuring the efficiency, agility and reliability of cloud environments, as well as expanded capabilities of IT Business Management (ITBM) services to guide the transition to service-level financial management of IT.

Software Technology and Architecture. The efficiency, agility and reliability of Cloud Ops requires a flexible, automatable and resilient infrastructure, delivered through VMware’s vision for the software-defined datacenter. The VMware vCloud® Suite 5.1 is the first solution to deliver the software-defined datacenter by integrating VMware’s leading virtualisation, cloud infrastructure and management portfolio into a single SKU, simplifying adoption of cloud era technologies. [Read the VMware vCloud Suite 5.1 press release].

Today’s announcement of Cloud Ops and the Cloud Ops Forum will support IT leaders and their teams as they manage through this unprecedented change. Specifically, the new IP and services will include:

New cloud operations services provide customers with collaborative assistance in analysing, designing and implementing cloud solutions.
New and updated technology consulting services help customers quickly build experience with cloud computing and the industry’s first complete and integrated cloud infrastructure suite, the VMware vCloudSuite.
New Education Offerings and Certifications expand the in-house skills and experience customers need to effectively design, operate and evolve their cloud environment.
VMware Architecture Toolkit (vCAT) 3.0 offers a set of documents designed to help customers construct a cloud solution leveraging technologies, recommended practices and innovative tools proven in real-world enterprise and service provider cloud deployments.

Availability

The new Cloud Ops services and education will be available starting today, with additional offerings made available through 2013. For more information, visit VMware Cloud Computing Solutions here and VMware Cloud Operations Services here.

Additional Resources