CLOUD 2014
GUIDE
INSIGHTS FOR
A GREAT MIGRATION
“Cloud computing is set
to become mainstream
computing, period. …the
biggest news for cloud
computing is that it will not
be news. It’s the way we do
computing today.”
RISE ABOVE
THE NOISE
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
(AND WHERE TO FIND IT)
The cloud space is noisy, with competing opinions, statistics and data. There’s plenty of information out there—but knowing what to trust can be a challenge. Here’s a quick look at important cloud computing trends and a short list of trusted resources to help you think through your cloud strategy. You’ll find expert insight about:
Why Business Is Moving to the Cloud What Makes a Great Migration?
The Truth About Cloud Security
WHY BUSINESS
IS MOVING TO
THE CLOUD
“In 2013 enterprises got real about cloud computing. In 2014 we will integrate it into
our existing IT portfolios—whether IT likes it or not.”
—James Staten, Forrester Research
“Cloud Computing Predictions for 2014”
“63% of business leaders
agree that the cloud can make
their entire organization more
business agile and responsive.”
McKinsey Report
“Protecting Information in the Cloud”
“Up to 80% of IT budgets are
tied up in routine maintenance.
Cloud frees up IT executives to
think and act strategically.”
Joe McKendrick, Forbes
“5 Benefits of Cloud Computing You’re Not Likely to See in a Brochure”
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AGILITY,
SCALABILITY
& COMPETITIVE
EDGE
WHY BUSINESS IS
MOVING TO THE CLOUD
CIOs and other IT leaders have good reason to consider the cloud. Many companies choose cloud for the savings it promises. What they find, however, is even more important:
Cloud enables your business to be more agile—and more competitive.
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RETURN ON
INVESTMENT
WHY BUSINESS IS
MOVING TO THE CLOUD
Cloud offers businesses a variety of ways to achieve a positive return on investment (ROI): Shifting capital to operational expenses, paying only for actual consumption and scaling to meet demand enables overall savings and lower total cost of ownership (TCO).
However, a 2013 Gartner survey of more than 2,000 CIOs revealed that enterprises realize only 43% of the business potential of technologies, including cloud computing.
To get the most out of the cloud, smart organizations consult a provider with the expertise necessary to provide a roadmap for achieving ROI and TCO goals.
“68% of IT managers
see greater migration
to the cloud as
bringing equal or
better total cost of
ownership (TCO) to the
organization.”
GigaOm
“2013 Future of Cloud Computing Survey”
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WHAT MAKES
A GREAT
MIGRATION?
“As 2014 dawns, we’re moving into an era of truly mainstream adoption of cloud
IaaS....Organizations that haven’t done at least a cloud IaaS pilot by now,
however informal...are at the trailing edge of adoption.”
—Lydia Leong, Gartner
“The End of the Beginning of Cloud Computing”
“From migrating the
wrong applications to not
understanding governance,
it’s easy to blow things up in
the cloud.”
David Linthicum, InfoWorld
“3 Surefire Ways to Screw Up a
Cloud Deployment”
ASKING
THE RIGHT
QUESTIONS
WHAT MAKES A
GREAT MIGRATION?
While the benefits of cloud adoption are clear, it’s also an incredibly complex undertaking. As Gartner Analyst Richard Watson points out, a cloud migration is not a silver bullet: “All require architects to understand application migration from multiple perspectives and criteria…”
Before starting a migration plan, consider these critical questions:
What business challenges do you want to address through cloud computing?
What are your company’s needs for control, security and accountability?
How will you integrate cloud services with the network?
What are your users doing and what are their needs?
How are you going to use your applications?
What are your performance metrics?
The first step is working with a partner to develop a plan that gets to the heart of your business.
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MOVE THE RIGHT STUFF WHAT MAKES A GREAT MIGRATION?
Most organizations sort their applications into buckets based on security, availability and SLA considerations. Here’s what most businesses are moving.
“59% of applications will be
upgraded or replaced. More than
half of those will move to the public
cloud.”
—Gartner, “User Survey Analysis: Using Cloud Services for Mission-Critical Applications”
“85% of enterprises plan to host
internal back-office applications
(accounting, ERP, supply chain
management, etc.) on
cloud platforms.”
—Forrester, “Private Clouds Will Use Hybrid Infrastructure”
“Executives predict that by 2015,
70% to 75% of their applications will
be hosted in cloud environments that
will enable savings of 30% to 40%
compared with current platforms.”
—McKinsey Report, “Protecting Information in the Cloud”
30 - 40 %
SAVINGS
CLOUD MIGRATION
85 %
OF APPLICATIONS59 %
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ONE CLOUD
DOES NOT
FIT ALL
WHAT MAKES A
GREAT MIGRATION?
Many cloud experts recommend hybrid configurations because they offer the best of both private and public clouds, balancing security needs with mission-critical applications that require 24 x 7 uptime.
For example, a company might use public cloud for web, search engines and application servers, but use private cloud for their database servers.
Experts agree with this approach. Robert Jenkins at CloudSigma predicts 2014 will be the year of the hybrid cloud solution—and he’s not alone. Gartner predicts, “Nearly half of large enterprises will have hybrid cloud deployments by the end of 2017.”
The clear path to the cloud is hybrid.
PUBLIC CLOUD
seasonality | scalability
PRIVATE CLOUD
PRIVATE CLOUD
compliance | licensing | auditing
database servers
web application
servers search
engines
“Over 60% of Windstream’s
cloud customers have chosen
a hybrid cloud solution.”
Rob Carter, Windstream
“Cloud Computing Choices: For Some Organizations, the Best Answer May Be ‘All of the Above’”
assessment
technology timing planning
data users connectivity
migration
THE RIGHT
APPROACH
WHAT MAKES A GREAT
MIGRATION?
With the amount of complexity in a cloud deployment, there’s no template to follow. Every project is unique because every business is different.
While it’s tempting to jump in and get started with migration, the smarter approach is to begin with a thorough assessment of current technology, legacy applications and business needs. A deliberate, thoughtful process makes your migration go more smoothly.
A stair-step approach often works best.
THE TRUTH
ABOUT CLOUD
SECURITY
“While the vast majority of organizations have deployed cloud computing in some
form, those that don’t make the move to cloud make that choice because of security.
Every survey conducted over the past two years … reflects that security is the
primary cloud adoption concern.”
—“5 Cloud Predictions for 2014,” Cloud Passage
“Nearly 60% of enterprises
believe their cloud providers’
security capabilities are
better than their own.”
“2013 U.S. Cloud Security Survey”
IDC
IT’S BETTER
THAN YOU
THINK
THE TRUTH ABOUT
CLOUD SECURITY
In many cases, the physical security and data protection of a cloud services provider is better than your own on-premises solution.
With a hosted cloud solution, you still decide who has control and access, but you can spend less time managing and monitoring the network. That gives you the freedom—and peace of mind—to focus on your core business.
No matter what, good security begins with a deeper conversation about your business needs with your provider.
FINDING THE RIGHT
RESOURCES & TEAM
“At the end of the day it is all similar technology; what’s different is how the
provider makes the technology work for the customer.”
—Rob Carter, Windstream
REPORTS, BLOG POSTS
AND WHITEPAPERS
FINDING THE RIGHT RESOURCES & TEAM
My One Big Fat Cloud Computing Prediction for 2014 Joe McKendrick, Forbes
Cloud Computing Predictions for 2014 James Staten, Forrester Research Protecting Information in the Cloud McKinsey Report
5 Benefits of Cloud Computing You’re Not Likely to See in a Brochure
Joe McKendrick, Forbes
2013 Future of Cloud Computing Survey GigaOm
The End of the Beginning of Cloud Computing Lydia Leong, Gartner
3 Surefire Ways to Screw Up a Cloud Deployment David Linthicum, InfoWorld
Cloud Computing Choices: For Some Organizations, the Best Answer May Be ‘All of the Above’
Rob Carter, Windstream 5 Cloud Predictions for 2014 Cloud Passage
2013 U.S. Cloud Security Survey IDC
Cost vs. ROI:
Is There Value to Virtualization and Cloud Computing?
Windstream Whitepaper
Public, Private and Hybrid Clouds:
A Cloud for Every Business Need Windstream Whitepaper
Cloud Evangelist’s Reading List Kent Landry, Windstream
MEET YOUR TEAM OF
WINDSTREAM EXPERTS
FINDING THE RIGHT RESOURCES & TEAM
Rob Carter
Cloud Product Marketing Leader
Expertise: cloud computing, data center managed services, business applications, network, voice solutions
MORE >
Duane Barnes
Cloud Solutions Engineering Leader
Expertise: network engineering, data center solutions, cloud computing, security, load balancing, managed services and disaster recovery services MORE >
Rob Fewkes
Cloud IT Engineering Leader
Expertise: hosting services technology, virtualization, storage
MORE >
Kent Landry
Cloud Subject Matter Expert
Expertise: management, marketing and sales for cloud, data center
and managed services MORE >
Talented engineers with a real head for business are rare—but we found them. Pairing our experts with your expertise about your own business is what makes a solution work. If you win, we win.
9 THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN
A CLOUD SERVICE PROVIDER
FINDING THE RIGHT RESOURCES & TEAM
WHAT EXPERTS RECOMMEND WHAT WINDSTREAM BRINGS
One-stop shop
Offers complete mix of public, private and hybrid cloud options 24 x 7 x 365 physical and digital security
HIPAA or Sarbanes-Oxley compliant
Customized solutions
A pioneer and has developed technology over a few years
Experience in a variety of cloud implementations
Strong relationships with other tech vendors in the space Case studies or testimonials
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Single provider for cloud services, including data, network and voice Public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud and cloud storage
24 x 7 physical security and uptime guaranteed by industry-leading SLAs
SSAE16 Compliant Managed Hosting Solutions and 16 certified data centers with PCI DSS and HIPAA compliance standards
Personalized service with fully customized solutions done right the first time
Provider of choice for four out of five Fortune 500 companies with more than 8 years in the cloud business
Over 60% of Windstream clients have a hybrid solution Partners include Cisco, EMC, Microsoft, NetApp and VMware See case studies >
