In a cloud-powered world, the business with the most flexible and seamless access to multiple clouds will have the advantage. But in this highly competitive and fast-growing environment, interfaces and technologies will change fast, and over time vested interests and channel agreements will tend to limit choice. So choose carefully. A guaranteed cloud-neutral platform with a commitment to diverse cloud delivery mechanisms is a vital starting point.

 

Patrick van der Wilt, Commercial Director, EvoSwitch

Stacks of Services

Hybrid architectures use a stack of cloud services, not a single cloud. For instance, most businesses will probably need an IaaS vendor to manage infrastructure, a range of SaaS offerings for automating workflows, and a PaaS provider for, say, the development environment.  But what if some of these businesses are locked into a contract with a single cloud provider, or with a limited range of partner vendors?

Guaranteeing Neutrality

A genuinely open cloud platform should offer low cost, flexible interconnection to a marketplace of network and cloud service providers in which the platform operator has no vested interest. This is the service we offer as EvoSwitch OpenCloud.  But platforms should evolve with services, and as hybrid cloud becomes the norm for enterprises of all sizes, we will continue to develop and promote mixed access to the cloud, bringing the best the market has to offer under one roof and creating a win-win situation for service providers, developers and consumers.

The CIO’s Nightmare

This is the nightmare that infrastructure leaders fear: Being tied to a service with all the costs that implies, while the competition takes advantage of newer, better offerings. To avoid this scenario, a wait-and-see approach which ensures maximum room to manoeuvre should be used. Here are three things to bear in mind:

  1. Avoid environments built on vested interests: these would include Network-owned data centers, where alternative network selection can be limited. Also System Integrator-owned facilities, which may have good network choice but limit the choice of cloud, hosting and infrastructure providers.
  1. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket: buy components rather than complete packages. While this may be more complex initially, the agility it gives your business is one of the most valuable benefits of the cloud, and there are a growing number of effective cloud orchestration services
  1. Resist long-term tie-ins: insist on short -term contracts with your cloud and connectivity providers. New management interfaces and process-related services will change quickly, and you should be well-placed to move on them quickly.

Further Reading

EvoSwitch Commercial Director Patrick van der Wilt has more than 13 years of commercial experience in the data center market, having worked with TelecityGroup and IO.  The success of his sales and marketing strategies is dependent on profound market understanding and insights into the implications of the latest commercial trends. View full bio