A new book from Oracle focuses on cloud computing – one of the hottest topics in IT today - and how Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c can play a strategic role in helping IT staffs deliver this service delivery model to their constituents. Cloud adoption is expanding and by now it is a critical part of most enterprises' IT agendas. However, the advantages of cloud computing, including the ability to gain organizational agility, foster innovation, and lower TCO, depend on organizations’ ability to make the right choices from the start.
The new book, Building and Managing a Cloud Using Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c, covers the range of cloud service delivery models that can be deployed, including infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) / database as a service (DbaaS), and software as a service (SaaS).
Cloud computing is pushing down deep roots in enterprises according to a recent IOUG survey fielded by Unisphere Research and sponsored by Oracle. According to the research, there has been a notable surge in adoption of both private and public clouds for application hosting, development, and storage. While most executives favor private clouds over public clouds because of security, private clouds are also seen as more cost-effective over the long run. In addition, cost savings through consolidation is the main business benefit from private cloud deployments; higher scalability is the leading technical benefit. The ability to operate without an IT infrastructure is the most frequently cited advantage with public cloud, followed by speed to market.
Written by Sudip Datta, vice president of product management for Oracle Systems Management products; Madhup Gulati, principal product manager, Oracle; and Adeesh Fulay, principal product manager for Oracle System Management products, the new book provides detailed information on best practices and case studies that have emerged from the authors’ own real-world experiences. In-depth analysis is also provided of critical issues such as how to choose the right architecture, how to architect, configure, and manage components of a public or private cloud lifecycle, as well as how to deploy applications, govern self-service provisioning, monitor users, and implement security – and explains where Enterprise Manager can play a role in easing IT the burden as well as decreasing risk.
For example, the authors note, for a brownfield project, in which existing assets are being consolidated and transformed into a cloud, it is important to discover existing assets (technology portfolio), make them manageable by Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c, and then baseline their performance for consolidation.
“As part of planning for the cloud, the process of discovery and assessment looks for the software and hardware assets in the environment along with the relationships among them,” the authors write. “Many companies do not have an accurate, current inventory of both their physical and virtual environments. As the first step to developing a plan for the new cloud environment, it is important to take a correct inventory of the current technology portfolio. Companies may choose to rationalize all the assets in their IT environment in one project, but this ‘boil the ocean’ approach can introduce significant risks. A more practical approach is to develop a strategy that involves multiple projects, each focusing on rationalizing only the assets that support a horizontal or vertical ‘slice’ of business functionality, and is aligned with a business goal or objective.”
Rationalizing the technology portfolio involves two steps, the authors explain. One is capturing the existing technology portfolio and the other is mapping the technology portfolio to the business capabilities.
“For easier transition to the cloud, select the part of the IT environment that is not organizationally or technically complex and where there is opportunity for short-term savings, via license or support savings. Near-term success and payback will help justify continued investment,” the authors advise.
Capturing the existing technology portfolio – including information such as asset name and description, owner, location, department, number of users – can be done manually, with spreadsheets, or with automated tools such as Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c.
Once the inventory is complete, the organization must map the assets to either capabilities or business processes within the business architecture. This makes it easy to identify redundancies and gaps. Completing such an inventory and mapping exercise will usually reveal many overlapping and duplicate assets that are candidates for consolidation. When a recommendation for an asset is not obvious, a more detailed evaluation may be required.
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