Cloud Deployments: Worse Than a Root Canal, Less Likely Than a Unicorn Sighting?
by Westron Communications on 20/06/12 at 5:20 pm
What are the top priorities and challenges IT professionals face when moving to the cloud? via Cisco Global
Everyone wants to be in the cloud, to save money, enhancing security and drive mobility. But without the proper cloud migration strategy, the consequences for your business could be disastrous.
The role of cloud computing is growing significantly in its ability to deliver business applications. Yet many IT decision-makers are facing challenges with their existing IT infrastructure to support the migration of their business applications to the cloud.
An international study a by Cisco revealed that more than one-third (38 percent) of IT decision-makers would rather get a root canal, dig a ditch, or do their own taxes than address network challenges associated with public or private cloud deployments.
These research findings provide insight into the current state of cloud networking and the chasm between IT expectations and network realities. The survey also examines the experiences of IT professionals regarding the level of difficulty and time required to update their networks and migrate their applications to the cloud.
Among its findings, the 2012 Cisco Global Cloud Networking Survey reveals that updating the network is one of the top focus areas for cloud migration. To successfully move more applications to the cloud, the majority of respondents cited a cloud-ready network (37 percent) as the biggest infrastructure element required for further cloud deployments, ahead of a virtualized data center (28 percent) or a service-level agreement from a cloud service provider (21 percent).
This data expands on the Cisco Global Cloud Index, which predicts that more than 50 percent of computing workloads in data centers will be cloud-based by 2014, and that global cloud traffic will grow over 12 times by 2015, to 1.6 zettabytes per year – the equivalent of over four days of business-class video for every person on Earth.
The survey questions more than 1,300 IT decision makers in 13 countries. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of respondents are confident they have enough information to begin their private or public cloud deployments. However, the remainder (27 percent) feels they have more knowledge about how to play Angry Birds than the steps needed to migrate their company’s network and applications to the cloud.
In a clear sign that many IT organizations are still considering and planning cloud migrations, nearly one-quarter (24 percent) of IT decision-makers said that over the next six months, they are more likely to see a UFO, a unicorn or a ghost before they see their company’s cloud migration starting and finishing.
Without proper processes and planning, more than one-quarter (31 percent) said they could train for a marathon in a shorter period of time than it would take to migrate their company’s applications to the cloud.
A majority (76 percent) predict their cloud applications are likely to be breached, yet only one-quarter (24 percent) are confident to the point in which they believe the odds are better for them to be struck by lightning than have their cloud applications breached by an unwanted third party.
Presently, only 5 percent of IT decision makers have been able to migrate at least half of their total applications to the cloud. By the end of 2012, that number is expected to significantly rise, as one in five (20 percent) will have deployed over half of their total applications to the cloud.
Is your organization preparing for a migration to the cloud? In the comments section, tell us what steps you have taken to get ready.
