Where’s the smart money heading? Service Providers of course!

I just read a fascinating financial analyst report on cloud computing from Nomura Research, titled “Sky’s the limit for Cloud Computing”. The detailed report  is aimed at board members such as CEOs, CFOs and M & A.

It  positioned really well exactly what a major impact cloud computing is going to have on corporate IT over the next five years.

Interestingly enough, the authors of the study use the early days of electricity generation, pre-national grids, as direct comparison with what is expected to happen with the way computing is delivered as a service over the next decade.

Here are my key takeaways from the report:

• This is a big shift from mainframe computing to PC client/server.
• Widespread adoption of cloud computing will result in a shift away from on-premise internal IT to external cloud service providers.
• Internal IT will initially resist adoption, citing security and lock-in concerns, but this will be a short-lived battle as the business value of cloud services becomes compelling.
• Cloud service providers will be able to demonstrate considerable operational improvements to CEOs around cost, flexibility and agility.
• Cloud computing is expected to reduce the risk and therefore cost of IT to enterprises.
• Only 15% of companies today use an external service provider.

This report demonstrates how the benefits of cloud computing are being articulated across the corporate, financial and business channels, but most importantly – that this shift in IT delivery is going to go mainstream.

The service provider is and will play an ever increasing role and I guess that’s why the value and smart money is being focused on service providers, not Internal IT.

If Service Providers did cloud software, it would be like this …….

This week is a really important milestone in the development of Flexiant.

It is not only that we are launching a highly important and strategic new version of our software V 2, but also we are launching our new positioning and messaging around “why” Flexiant as a company of cloud orchestration software exists. This new communication is manifesting itself through our new website and fresh content, which for the first time really starts to articulate the value we bring to this still early but strategic shift towards cloud computing and architectures.

We have videos of clients talking about the value we add and why they chose Flexiant. We also have partners talking about why the want to partner with us and how easy it has been to do business. I also give a short video (in my fancy new glasses, for those who already know me and wondering who that guy is). The thrust of it all is why we believe this is the decade of the service provider. We are one of the few companies able to help service providers be successful and adapt to rapid change as the world of external provision of IT and computing hits the big time. (more…)

Service Providers and the decline and fall of the IT empire – Part 2

In part 1 of ‘Service Providers and the decline and fall of the IT empire’, I discussed how cloud computing is often categorised as a disruptive technology and discussed how centralising IT resource and offering it at scale and on an agile basis will make cloud technology to be purchased as a utility, pushing down cost of service.

Now I’d like to focus on what this all means for service providers…

First, let’s consider aggregate demand. The availability of more agile IT resources is going to increase demand from the CIO’s own internal customers. And the fact that IT requirements can increasingly be met using homogeneous service building blocks will increase the likelihood of these being outsourced. So the good news is that this means a huge increase in the demand for cloud services. No wonder Tier 1 Group forecast 68% compound annual growth in this multi-billion dollar market. The bad news is that there will be attrition of non-cloud revenue, as more cost effective cloud services replace non-cloud services. Whilst much cloud take up initially will be new revenue, and legacy services will be protected for a period by sunk costs and migration difficulties, we are already seeing service providers without cloud products losing existing business, as well as new customers. (more…)

Service Providers and the decline and fall of the IT empire – Part 1

Cloud computing is often categorised as a disruptive technology. What does that mean? A disruptive technology is one that does more than change the dynamics of an existing market; rather, it changes the entire structure of the market. For example, the internet is a disruptive technology: by providing a means of locating and accessing content, it has disintermediated traditional content providers such as newspapers, publishers, software distributors and other media, and changed the way content is provided and consumed. Assumptions as to the structure of the content market that held good in the early nineties no longer hold true. Voice over IP technologies are doing the same with voice telephony – lucrative markets for international calling have been decimated first by competitive operators using VoIP technology, and now by that copy of Skype running on your computer.

So, why will cloud technology disrupt the market for IT services? To answer that question it’s instructive to examine how IT services are consumed and provided at the moment. (more...)

Flexiant cloud orchestration to support Parallels Virtuozzo Containers

Flexiant today announced a partnership with CloudWork and Parallels to integrate Flexiant’s cloud orchestration software for on-demand, fully automated provisioning of cloud services with Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, the market leading virtualization solution for hosting and cloud service providers. CloudWork, a Netherlands based provider of cloud solutions hardware and software, and existing partner of both Flexiant and Parallels, will perform the integration of Flexiant’s software into Parallels Virtuozzo Containers.

Customer require agile provisioning of cloud services from their suppliers to stay competitive while controlling costs. Flexiant solves this challenge for service providers by providing a unique cloud orchestration platform to immediately control, build and monitor cloud services. By extending their platform to include virtualization based on Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, Flexiant will meet existing and future customer requirements for both capability and cost-effectiveness.

“Parallels Virtuozzo Containers is uniquely suited to for cloud virtualization, enabling rapid provisioning and real time dynamic scaling,” said John Zanni, Vice president of Service Provider Marketing and Alliances at Parallels. “Extending Flexiant’s cloud orchestration solution to support Parallels Virtuozzo Containers will be a benefit to service providers who seek the agility, freedom and flexibility to scale, deploy and configure cloud services simply and cost-effectively.”

George Knox, CEO of Flexiant, said, “This partnership benefits all businesses involved ensuring that customers have access to a cloud orchestration solution that can provide instant benefit. With access to Parallels existing and future customers, the benefits of our orchestration software will enable a true cloud platform as customers can meet server capacity requirements on-demand.”

“This is a huge opportunity for current and future Parallels customers,” said Victor Schmedding, Commercial Director Cloudwork. “With the integration between Parallels and Flexiant, hosters and service providers will get a unique cloud orchestration service that enables them to expand managed hosting with a fully automated best-in-class user interface.”

Able to provision cloud servers within seconds versus days, Flexiant’s end-to-end orchestration suite includes a fully integrated metering and billing engine enabling companies to monetise their services, whilst ensuring internal service providers have full charge-back capability.

About Flexiant

Flexiant is a leading European provider of cloud orchestration software for on-demand, fully automated provisioning of cloud services. Flexiant’s software gives cloud service providers’ business agility, freedom and flexibility to scale, deploy and configure cloud services, simply and cost-effectively. Vendor agnostic and supporting multiple hypervisors, Flexiant’s proven cloud orchestration solution is a full business process automation suite from provisioning through to granular metering and billing of resources. Flexiant’s Cloud Orchestration suite is simple to understand, simple to deploy and simple to use. Visit www.flexiant.com.

About Cloudwork

Cloudwork is a Netherlands based cloud services integrator who help service providers and their channels to go to market effectively. End-user and reseller adoption are key in successfully selling and delivering cloud services to the market. Cloudwork has made it their business to offer end-to-end frontend solutions for cloud services. For more information visit http://www.cloudwork.nl/

Flexiant World Hosting Day Gold Partner and CloudCamp@WHD Platinum Partner

Flexiant, a leading European provider of cloud orchestration software for on-demand, fully automated provisioning of cloud services, is a Gold Partner at World Hosting Day (WHD), March 20-23, 2012 at Europa-Park, Germany. Flexiant is also a Platinum Partner at CloudCamp@WHD on March 22, 2012.

As a WHD Gold Partner, Flexiant will exhibit its software that gives cloud hosting providers business agility, freedom and flexibility to scale, deploy and configure services, simply and cost-effectively. Benefits include the ability for these providers to keep pace and differentiate in a progressively competitive market.

George Knox, CEO, Flexiant said, “Most hosting providers are inherently risk adverse and while they have embraced the cloud they often also view it as a potential threat. At WHD, we’ll be showcasing how Flexiant can help de-risk the cloud for hosting providers as they look to commercialise more cloud services for both revenue assurance and new revenue streams.”

WHD is one of the most important European gatherings of the international hosting industry. WHD unites experts from the hosting and related industries to foster interaction and open up new opportunities for partner companies and visitors alike.

At CloudCamp@WHD, Damon McKay, Engineering Manager at Flexiant will present a ‘lighting talk’ on building your first cloud platform. He’ll also join four cloud experts to discuss and share experiences, challenges and solutions with attendees.

CloudCamp is an ‘unconference’ where early adopters of Cloud Computing technologies exchange ideas. At CloudCamp, attendees are encouraged to share thoughts in several open discussions, as the event strives for the advancement of Cloud Computing. End users, IT professionals and vendors are all encouraged to participate.

What:  Flexiant WHD Gold Partner and CloudCamp@WHD Platinum Partner

Who:  Damon McKay featured presenter at CloudCamp@WHD

When:  WHD March 20-23, 2012;  CloudCamp@WHDMarch 22, 2012

Where:  Europa-Park, Germany

More Information:  http://info.flexiant.com/WHD-Global-appointment-booking/

Hybrid Clouds – a brave new heterogeneous world?

Increasingly, we here at Flexiant are running into projects involving multiple infrastructures, geographies, and service delivery models.  Cloud service provision is fast establishing itself as the preferred business model for enterprise application and service delivery. The additional capability to provision application and infrastructure services nearly instantaneously, while avoiding significant capital expenditure is very attractive to many customers.

Unfortunately, IT departments often discover that public cloud service providers (CSPs) cannot reliably meet the governance, security, or identity management they expect; particularly full integration with existing enterprise infrastructure and security models.  Service level agreements often fall short of availability and recovery requirements where the hosting of mission critical applications is required. This drives the current requirement for a hybrid service delivery model utilising public cloud services, and dedicated cloud services whether on premise, or hosted private cloud environments alongside existing infrastructure.    (more…)

This is the Decade of the Service Provider

The clock is ticking for service providers (and you’ll hear that a lot from me over the next few months). The time is now for these service providers to stop hemming and hawing over what new cloud technology to deploy based on whether client demand is going to materialise. Instead, they need to act now to grab the new opportunities that a fundamental industry change always delivers.

Corporations are looking to concentrate on what they do best and the world of the PC is under threat as no one wants to keep refreshing hardware every three years. The stars are aligned for service providers to capitalise on this opportunity.

Consumers and businesses are now more demanding and want instant gratification and results from their tech investments. Pay-as-you demand computing is upon us. This is a once in a decade opportunity for service providers to make huge commercial gains, but they need to embrace the change now. This is the decade of the service provider and if new technology is not adopted, revenue opportunities will be lost. Those who do not adapt will either be consolidated or suffer a slow death. (more…)

A few Moments on Cloud Billing

Cloud billing is not a sexy subject. But billing is what keeps our businesses ticking. The challenge many service providers face is how to bill their customers for their cloud services.

Even for private clouds, billing is important. Being able to meter and rate usage, whether it is for internal chargeback or simply to demonstrate what department is using what resources, requires 90% of a billing system; it might not send invoices, but it does the same thing. If you are a service provider offering a ‘wrapped cloud offering’ where one invoice is produced at the end of each month, which is not directly correlated to usage, you still need to know how much it is costing you. So, for just about every application of cloud within service providers, billing really matters.

There are two main types of billing engines in use in service providers that are looking at providing cloud services. These are:

•    Hosting billing – This is subscription billing; typically billing a fixed amount each month, on a single bill.

•    Telco billing – This type of billing is the sort of billing that your phone company uses, based on CDRs (‘call description records’) which are metered, rated and billed – much like the back page of your phone bill. (more…)

Do you have a true cloud platform?

Lots of service providers are offering cloud platforms, but are not actually providing the benefits of one. To understand if you have a true cloud platform, it is important understand the differences between traditional and virtualised servers to define what you have if orchestration does not exist.

There are three levels of server provisioning that helps clarify the benefits of cloud orchestration.

1. Traditional Hardware – A supplier has dedicated servers for a business. In this case, if a customer requires additional capacity, for example, to meet the holiday shopping influx in online shopping, the discussion needs to start in August or September. The purchase order to acquire additional hardware often needs to be provided by October so that the hardware is purchased and in place by November.

The amount of capacity needs to be defined during the summer, however sometimes this is uncertain. Therefore, in this case, the customer needs to speculate above the amount of servers actually required to buy more or risk a website going down during the busiest shopping period of the year. And if there isn’t enough capacity to meet demand, it isn’t a quick fix. It would take months to increase capacity by which point it wouldn’t be required. This is a costly error to make.

The traditional hardware process is inefficient and costs a fortune which is why organisations must move to the cloud and look to on-demand, instant server provisioning.

(more…)