What's The Best Cloud Mix?

At TechWeb's Cloud Connect conference in March, I'll be moderating a panel on the value of public, private and hybrid cloud. We'll assess where the value is today and where things are headed. Here's my take: Utilizing the right cloud combination to maximize the resources in your organization for different types of workloads, functions, applications, and business processes will be critical to realizing the true value of cloud computing.Public, private and virtual private clouds all offer their own unique value to an enterprise. Public clouds offer scalability and cost efficiencies. Private offers flexibility, security and manageability. Virtual private cloud offers a combination of these features.

Many enterprises today have a variety of applications and business processes that would best be leveraged in the cloud. There are also some which would be better off staying on their own corporate network. The question is not about whether an organization should put all of their applications in the cloud; it's about figuring out which would best benefit from moving them.

Some legacy applications may not be architected to adapt easily to a cloud environment. Others may contain sensitive data that for regulatory and compliance reasons, must be kept on premise. So while it may be tempting to put them all in the cloud, it may not be the most resource or cost efficient.

Enterprises today cannot overlook the value and benefits that cloud computing can provide. Deploying this kind of operational model not only creates a more efficient IT environment, but also provides the enterprise with a competitive advantage.

Understanding the needs of an organization is the first step in assessing just what type of cloud environment you will need. It will also be important to understand that this is not an overnight project, but more of a phased transformation, which encompasses the enterprise as a whole and creates change at all levels of the organization.

That doesn't mean that it's a "rip and replace" transformation, but rather a different operational, technical and organizational approach, which will include some new concepts and requirements, a different way of approaching certain situations and processes, and ultimately help the IT organization run a leaner, more efficient data center. A leaner, more on-demand IT environment helps to run a more efficient and successful enterprise.

Cloud Connect takes place March 15 through 18 in Santa Clara. Conference registration is here. Info on the "Public, Private, or Hybrid: Where's the Value Today and Where's It Going?" panel I'm moderating is here.

Vanessa Alvarez is an industry analyst for Information, Communications & Technologies at Frost & Sullivan.