The potential of the cloud

16 September 2011
Presenter or main title…
The Potential of the Cloud
AHUA Conference
Norman Wiseman, Head of Services and Outreach, JISC
Rachel Bruce, Innovation Director, Digital Infrastructure, JISC
Session Title or subtitle…

Outline
What is the cloud?
Cloud Issues
JISC Activities and further information
Discussions and feedback

What is the cloud? NIST definition:
Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.
This cloud model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics (On-demand self-service, Broad network access, Resource pooling, Rapid elasticity, Measured Service)
http://www.nist.gov/itl/cloud/index.cfm

What is the cloud?
Cloud computing is about buying services, rather than buying hardware or software

27/09/2011 | Slide 5
Which bit of the Cloud?
Different kinds of cloud service are available
Software as aService (SaaS)
eg, Google Apps, Microsoft 365
Platform as aService (PaaS)
eg, MS Azure, Google App Engine
Infrastructure as aService (IaaS)
ie, compute, storage, database
eg, Amazon Web Services, VmwarevCloud, Eucalyptus
Diagram credit: www.saasblogs.com

Why Cloud?Benefits from industrial scale economies Can provide financial benefits – BUT.....Copes with sudden peak demands for increased storage and compute requirementsProvides a suitable ‘neutral platform’ for HEI / business Collaboration
Picture: Kevin Dooley, CC, Attribution 2.0 generic.

Why Cloud?Flexibility - pay for what is used
Elasticity – customers canscale up or down to meet demands
Capital vs recurrent
Reduces carbon footprint and other environmental benefits

A well optimised large data centre will use less energy and help battle rising carbon emissions
Inherent efficiencies of running infrastructure at maximum capacity that the cloud model proposes begs the question as to why institutions need data centres anymore!
27/09/2011| Slide 8
Energy Cost
Diagram credit: www.microsoft.com/environment/cloud.aspx

Cloud CostsGreat hope or great hype?Costing models assume zero start
Socio-economic effects
Future Proofing
Contractual Issues

Evaluating costs / benefitsDifferent for research, education and administration Not simpleHolistic view – all or nothing? Staff costs savings vs loss of key skills

Capital vs RecurrentCost peaks for software and hardware eliminated Physical space advantages
Networks
Service as good as your network links
Resilience a critical factor
Data protection
Sensitive data …data protection, US Patriot Act can be a problem

Institutional Strategy
All the above point to the need for an institutional strategy for Cloud, taking into account multiple factors
There is no simple equation
But there is help

JISC Activities around Cloud Computing
Background research:
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/researchinfrastructure/usingcloudcomp.aspx
Broadening use of the cloud but not high usage ;
Mostly SaaS to date: e-Mail, followed by storage, web services and virtual learning environments. Some use of other levels of stack
Currently, cloud does not provide HPC capability
Some institutions are using cloud to offer some virtualised capacity, but small-scale private clouds don’t really offer the benefits of large scale commercial clouds.

Flexible Service Delivery -Experience in the sector -Agility, flexibility, efficiency, effectiveness
Bloomsbury media cloud – repository for all six colleges – OERS for all, links to VLE
FLeSSR – flexible services for research – hybrid cloud , working with different vendors, business case, open source / vendor assessment…on demand data management / storage. ( Reading, Eduserv )
Pram – Postgrad research module – data for PG student management , common processes ,standards based. (Nottingham and Oxford)

Experience in the sector -
Kindura – Hybrid cloud – SaaSrepsoitories, some IaaS…use for long-term storage of research data; research as essential research output - Duraspace. (King’s College London).
Cumulus – curriculum management in the cloud integrates with local database ( Nottingham and Roehampton)…breaking down systems – free up from monolithic vendor system
www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/flexible-service-delivery
11 JISC EPSRC research cloud pilots – http://cloudresearch.jiscinvolve.org/wp/about/

Strategic Adoption
A centrally managed approach to contracting cloud computing services (as part of an overall institutional systems strategy) to realise the efficiency benefits
Via some shared services and advice and guidance...

JISC, Hefce UMF
Establish a brokerage in JANET(UK) that can negotiate service supply and connect suppliers to JANET and thus create “Trusted Cloud(s)”
Pilot cloud being designed for implementation at Eduserv Data Centre
Extend the role of Data Curation Centre to deploy data management tools, policies and support in the Trusted Cloud
Find “killer data management apps” that can be deployed to attract researchers into the Trusted Cloud(s):
Leicester University is providing support for joint NHS and university research teams working with tissue samples and anonymised patient data.
The University of Oxford is providing a database to a wide range of researchers in the arts, humanities and other disciplines.
Oxford is also providing an integrated set of tools to manage data within Life Sciences and other similar research projects. This will make it easier to submit data for longer-term storage in an appropriate standards compliant data repository.
Southampton University is providing electronic lab data management and collaborations tools.

JANET Brokerage
Working as the sector’s broker for Data Centre / Cloud services
develop relationships with commercial partners
aggregate sector requirements & represent the sector
negotiate advantageous terms for new services
Providing infrastructure base through brokered deals
Clearing house for spare capacity in sector and beyond
To add value through brokering and gaining beneficial commercial arrangements, frameworks and licences etc.

JANET Brokerage

Systems and Services Procurement Support (SSPS)
What?
A specialist team established within JISC Advance to improve the effectiveness of (non-commodity) application systems procurement in the sector and to help institutions reduce costs by moving core business systems to an off-site shared service model.
How?
A procurement service whose primary function is to support the buying/sales process delivering the best possible deals for sector and supplier
Creating the building blocks for the interconnection of administration systemshttp://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/umf/ssps.aspx
Delivered through JISC Advance
http://www.jiscadvance.ac.uk

SSPS Advisory Service
By:
Making it easier for buyers to buy IT application systems and services configured as shared services
Making it easier for the sellers of IT applications and services to sell them as shared services
Making it easier to exchange information securely between local and remote applications

SSPS Advisory Service
The procurement element of the service will:
offer IT procurement advice and guidance to HEIs
With an emphasis on the use of shared services
identify and aggregate demand so that fewer, larger procurements can be run
establish framework agreements where warranted which institutions can use
lead IT procurements on behalf of HEIs
up skill HEIs in the black art of IT procurement
provide vendor and contract management

RMAS Architecture
CRM
Workflow
Electronic Document Management
Academic Expertise
Funding Sourcing Tool
Shared Service Enterprise Service Bus
Proposal Management
Costing & Pricing Management
Post Award Management
Outputs & Outcomes
Local ESB
Module
1…n

Advice and guidance
JISC Legal – Cloud computing and the Law Toolkit - for IT, senior managers and policy makers, contracts, SLAs, terms and conditions
http://www.jisclegal.ac.uk/ManageContent/ManageContent/tabid/243/ID/2135/JISC-Legal-Cloud-Computing-and-the-Law-Toolkit-31082011.aspx
More to come...as developments through the cloud innovation programmes – what is cloud, benefits, risks, service models, getting started, costing, case studies etc.

Discussion and Feedback
What are the top five issues, concerns that you face in terms of adopting the cloud ?
Five things you need, to be able to use the cloud effectively ?

The potential of the cloud

by JISC

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