As interest in the cloud computing space grows, and the technology becomes more mature and more widely deployed, we have been reaching out to some of the leading companies in the space to see what their thoughts were regarding the opportunity that lies ahead for this market, especially in light of the current economic conditions facing businesses of all sizes.

 

In three earlier articles, we interviewed IBM’s Dennis Quan, Salesforce.com’s Peter Coffee, and EMC’s Chuck Hollis. This week we reached out to Rebecca Lawson, Director of Service Management and Cloud Solutions for HP to provide some insight into what HP is doing in the cloud computing space, and to describe what they see as the key benefits that enterprises large and small are able to derive from leveraging this technology.

 

 

RL: HP TSG sees cloud computing as a way to deliver new value; the manifestation of “everything as a service” in a service-oriented world. HP is delivering on the cloud promise by building, managing and delivering cloud infrastructure and services.

 

HP takes a customer-centric approach to cloud where it is just one component of the business technology ecosystem; all aspects of the ecosystem must be weighed against business needs to deliver the right business outcomes. Because of HP’s broad footprint in virtually all areas of the business technology ecosystem (including cloud, in-house and hosted environments), HP can help customers arrive at the right blend of solutions that meet requirements for better business outcomes.

 

RL: Yes. Many companies would prefer to use the software without owning licenses directly; this relinquishes them from maintenance costs and capital expense.

 

RL: Cloud services can provide faster time to market, deliver new capabilities like social networks, and can be accessed from anywhere. And, they often bring community benefits with them. Traditional applications will continue to deliver specific business value, either with on-premise or off-premise infrastructure. HP characterizes the new value associated with cloud in three ways:

 

·         New access: with technology abstracted into easily accessible services, organizations have more choices and flexibility in how they consume and pay for technology-enabled services.

·         New capabilities: global-class services provide users with capabilities that heretofore were too expensive, complex or otherwise out of reach, such as social networking or ERP for SMB.

·         New connections: the ability to connect people, businesses, and experiences increases considerably with the cloud. These connections leapfrog the constraints associated with traditional applications, integrations and communications.’

 

RL: Large enterprises can start to consider which workloads can be moved to the cloud, which provides more flexibility both for management and shift from cap-ex to op-ex spending. That said, most enterprise workloads can’t yet move to the cloud due to inherent architecture constraint, data security issues, performance and availability requirements, and other criteria.

 

HP believes that most enterprise IT shops will need to learn how to manage technology-related services from multiple sources (in-house, cloud, and hosted/outsourced) as well as multiple types of architectural design styles.

 

RL: On-demand solutions are ideal for small and medium size businesses looking to avoid the costs of an up-front technology investment. Cloud computing allows SMBs to stay at the forefront of technology in a cost-effective way. The scalability of cloud services also help SMBs prepare for growth.

 

RL: With our economic environment and other constraints today, understanding the nature of managing services (all technology-enabled services) will inspire the right dialogue between IT and the rest of the organization — dialogues about business outcomes, followed by delivery of services that optimize those outcomes.

 

Viewed in the context of the broader business technology ecosystem, the cloud will be a rich source for services that deliver new business value. But, being pragmatic means that you optimize what you have today. It means selectively choosing cloud services today, while implementing a service-centric in-house model that mirrors the cloud approach. It means mastering how you source, deliver and govern a hybrid environment of technology-enabled services.

 

RL: The cloud is the next stage in the evolution of the Internet — the means through which everything will be delivered to you as a service — from computing power to business processes to personal interactions — wherever, however, and whenever you need it.

 

RL: The market will come to its senses and will realize that it can’t call everything “cloud.”