1) The document discusses getting started with cloud computing, defining key concepts like deployment models, service models, and characteristics of cloud computing. 2) It outlines benefits of cloud computing like availability, flexibility, chargeability, and accessibility. 3) The document provides guidance on choosing cloud over on-premise solutions, selecting a cloud supplier or partner, and questions to ask potential partners.

1. Making Business Work Better Online
Getting started
in the
Cloud
Stephen Holford Sales & Marketing Director
www.fasthosts.co.uk
Ask the
Experts

2. Making Business Work Better Online
Defining Cloud computing
Broad Network Rapid Measured On-Demand
Access Elasticity Service Self- Service
Essential
Resource Pooling
characteristics
Software as a Platform as a Infrastructure as a Service
Service (SaaS) Service (PaaS) Service (IaaS) models
Deployment
Public Private Hybrid models
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

3. Making Business Work Better Online
IT deployment models
On Premise
Legacy systems
Data Sovereignty
Customisation Private Regulation
Restricted to single Control
organisation Public
Legacy Defined geographical
location Utilised by multiple parties
Connectivity Regulatory impact Geographic dispersion
Flexibility of configuration Data location and
compliance concerns
Regulation Bespoke integration
Hybrid Standardised configuration
Tailored SLA’s
Maintain existing Value for money
Integration On-premise or hosted
investments Most common
Most common association to SaaS
Common criteria
association to IaaS
with private cloud
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

4. Making Business Work Better Online
Cloud benefits
1 Availability (delivered on-
demand)
A user can chose to provision computing capabilities,
3 Chargeability (charged based on
consumption)
Users only pay for the services they use. All resources should be
such as storage, processing, network and memory, (or an easily monitored / managed so that charging & use is clear and
application) as needed automatically without requiring transparent
human interaction with the service provider & services
often have built in resiliency and recovery
4
Accessibility (accessible
2 Flexibility (agile & scalable)
The amount of resource consumed by the user can be increased or
anywhere)
As cloud & hosted services are delivered over the internet and
decreased to meet their operational needs. Supplier capabilities for accessed through standard web interfaces, uw should be able to
such a service appear unlimited and available in any quantity and for manage and/or consume services anywhere there is an internet
any amount of time connection, using the device of their choice
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

5. Making Business Work Better Online
Getting started - What is the objective?
Business case first Are there any specific requirements?
Know the market, opportunity and goals of the project Regulation / Compliance
Security
New IT solution, replacement Resiliency
or expansion? Scalability
What is the rationale behind the What internal IT resource is available?
Managed or unmanaged
need for this solution? Infrastructure-as-a-Service or Software-as-a-Service
New application/service
Cost containment
Temporary project
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

6. Making Business Work Better Online
Cloud or On-premise
• Cost — Capex or Opex • Operational resources
• Growth potential (flexibility, scalability) • Security
• Compliance
Cloud On-premise
Low cost of entry Initial investment high, but own assets at the end
Licensing costs included Corporate data stored internally
3rd party doing the hard work Own dedicated IT team
Resilience & security managed by 3rd party Security & failover systems managed internally
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

7. Making Business Work Better Online
What are businesses using the Cloud for first?
• Early adoptions have predominantly been Prototype &
Test Environments
non-operational or low impact
• Disaster recovery and backup Disaster Recovery
& Backup
• Hosted applications for
communication or collaboration
Comms &
follow Collaboration
• Business critical and
operational applications
Business Critical
& Operational
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

8. Making Business Work Better Online
Make your business work better online
Organisational size and IT maturity
What skills are in house and what capability to implement and operate IT services exist.
“Cloud and on-premise
Nature of the application/solution
New solution areas and projects are far more likely to be hosted /provided as a service. solutions will need to
Exiting Investment
co-exist alongside
Organisations wish to maximise the life and value of investments already made in technology each other in most
and licensing so hybrid models are an important consideration.
organisations over the
Data sovereignty coming years”
Concerns over regulatory, legal jurisdiction and perceived security fears restrict the nature
of how some organisations adopt cloud solutions.
Connectivity
Accessing high speed internet is still not a given in many parts of the UK and the wider world.
Bandwidth constraints constrain appetite for hosted services
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

9. Making Business Work Better Online
Choosing a supplier/partner
• What features/requirements do you need
?
• Length of time (min & max) for the solution
• What scale will the solution go to (CPU’s,
storage, users?)
• How variable will that scale be? Is it an organic
growth, are there peak periods and low periods
that the solution should scale for?
• Do you have internal IT to implement yourself,
or do you need a managed service
• Which geographies will the solution need
to work in?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

10. Making Business Work Better Online
SMB’s moving away from local suppliers
Importance of having a local channel partners for on-premise and cloud solutions
1-9 Employees 10-99 Employees 100-499 Employees
On-premise solution 63%
57%
Cloud solutions
46% 43%
39%
30%
Source: Edge Strategies Research
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

11. Making Business Work Better Online
Choosing the type of Cloud supplier
Infrastructure solutions Productivity solutions
70% 60%
53% 45%
35% 30%
18% 15%
0% 0%
1-9 10-99 100-499 1-9 10-99 100-499
Employees Employees Employees Employees Employees Employees
64% of small businesses Productivity solutions reflect
choose hosting companies as MSP’s being the standard route
their infrastructure provider to market
Source: Edge Strategies Research Source: Edge Strategies Research
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

12. Making Business Work Better Online
Questions to ask potential suppliers/partners
• Portability – is there any lock-in (contractual or technical)?
• Licensing responsibility – yours or theirs?
• Security – accreditations, physical, network
• Their service continuity – what resilience do
they have for power, network & compute?
• Support – where, how & when?
• Complaints & escalation processes?
• Testimonials
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

13. Making Business Work Better Online
Adopting the Cloud for your business
• Make sure your key requirements are identified and
met by any IT solution
• Is your project stand-alone or does it need to integrate
with existing systems?
• Is it a long term project or short term need?
• Check your cloud providers credentials
and infrastructure
• Work with the supplier / provider to ensure the
solution fits your needs
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Getting started in the Cloud : GS_V1

14. Making Business Work Better Online
Thank you
Stephen Holford Sales & Marketing Director
Stephen.holford@fasthosts.co.uk
www.fasthosts.co.uk
www.fasthosts.co.uk
Ask the
Experts