Exodus of Digital Proportions: To Cloud or Not to Cloud, that is the Question...Still
Article from 2018...
To clip-in, or not to clip-in?
Every burgeoning recreational cyclist faces a decision at some point as to whether or not they are going to transition from regular bicycle pedals to “clip-in” pedals.
It would seem like an easy decision as clip-in pedals provide a more stable and secure pedaling action which in turn should result in faster and more efficient riding.?That’s what everyone should want right?
Well not so fast.?Clip-in pedals, despite their technological superiority, cost more, require specialized shoes, have a learning curve to use, and are less convenient for walking then comfortable sneakers.
Just because a technology is seemingly better on paper at first-glance or is the “hot” buzzword du jour, doesn’t mean it’s best for everyone at every given time.?
Moving information technology infrastructure to the cloud includes many of the very same principled considerations, and many organizations that are so eager to join the cloud computing wave, well they may neglect to truly do their homework before engaging in such a significant shift that could lead to potential operational and financial mishaps.
Sign of the Times
Don’t get me wrong.?The continued growth of cloud computing, in both industry and government, is here to stay. ??
Forbes recently affirmed this notion stating that “Cloud computing platforms and applications are proliferating across enterprises today, serving as the IT infrastructure driving new digital businesses.”
There are too many advantages to the power, versatility, redundancy, and system elasticity cloud options provide for it not to continue to be a prime component of the future of information technology solutions.?More affordable pricing options and an increased focus on security will only accelerate these transitions.?
That said, on-premise and hybrid solutions will never go away completely.?There will always be applications and requirement scenarios that make most sense for organizations to leverage a hybrid cloud solution or an entirely on-premise one.
The key for organizations, both large and small, is to educate themselves and accurately understand what cloud computing can offer them, and if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages with regard to their business ecosystem and company mission.
Here are five key considerations to evaluate before moving to the cloud:
Though cost shouldn’t be the only factor considered when evaluating an information technology solution, it’s obviously a big one and most like the deciding factor for a company.
The challenge in migrating solutions into the cloud is that organizations, sometimes blinded by the initial “shine” of cloud computing, can find themselves in just a few short months looking at massive costs to host such operations.?This is often due to poor foresight, planning, and effective pre-emptive cost-benefit analysis.?????????????
Cloud providers often provide tools to help estimate monthly costs moving forward such as AWS’s Simple Monthly Calculator.?Though you may not be able to speculate every nuance and change your cloud system may undergo when live, tools such as this can provide a more-than-ballpark snapshot of data in which to consider for your budget.
1b. Data Cost
One of the largest, and often initially uncertain, costs cloud-computing infrastructure can incur is data egress fees.?Cloud service providers (CSPs) typically won’t charge you for ingesting data into your environment, but they’ll get ya on the back end when you send it back out to the Internet.
Organizations may be able to find effective value in to be able to “scale quick, accelerate innovation, and -historically- lower costs” by migrating infrastructure to the cloud, but the pesky cost associated with data egress fees, or transferring data out of your cloud environment, can be a real punch to the gut if you’re planning on moving a lot of data externally.
This is the reason massive media provisioning companies like Netflix and Amazon invest billions into traditional on-premise data center infrastructure at the “edge” worldwide.?Exfiltrating all those tons of petabytes upon petabytes of streaming video and marketplace content directly from their cloud environments would present exorbitant, and ultimately business crushing, fees.?Any organization that relies on distributing high amounts of data, typically associated with streaming and video data, to external users and services must leverage traditional on-premise resources to conduct their business cost-effectively.
This aspect of cost-consideration is often overlooked by many organizations, often to the detriment of their intended aspirations to go to the cloud.
2. Transition Time???
Despite the convenience pre-packaged virtual machine images and module containers provide, and the robust transition tools available to assist in the migration of on-premise assets into the cloud, the effort to move solutions successfully and seamlessly into a new environment is not insignificant
Just because you were sold the promise that you can fire up 100 virtual servers in less than 5 minutes doesn’t mean your solution is plug-and-play, and organizations need to be aware of the time and potential challenges that will need to be overcome when moving into the cloud.?
This could include such challenges as personnel learning curve, networking changes, necessary testing activities, and any security and compliance requirements that may be relevant to the information system.
3. Personnel
If you’re considering a cloud transition, it’s important to have a good gauge of your staff’s comfort-level with these potential new technologies and how they could have an impact on the organization’s human resources; and not just IT resources.?????????????
IT managers need to identify any gaps or uncertainties with regard to their staff’s ability to continue to support solutions effectively in the cloud as though the solution may be the same, in many ways its administration and support faculties are not.?
Most cloud providers provide exhaustive formal and informal training resources so this is another potential stumbling block that can be avoided with proper planning and recognition.?Many providers also provide free test environments in which your technical team and management can use as a sandbox to test drive a particular cloud platform.
4.??????Security and Compliance
Any production information system in operation, government or commercial, cloud or on-premise, should adhere to industry security best practices as standard procedure. ??This is a no-brainer, but government systems typically require additional security and compliance requirements, and are often specialized for each agency that will be issuing your Authority to Operate (ATO).
Transitioning to cloud systems can at the same time reduce and complicate your compliance burden.?On one hand you may be relieved that you no longer are responsible for the full security stack, such as physical access control security, but on the other you may need to satisfy US Government FedRAMP protocols or host your solution in a more secure, government-approved environment such as AWS’s GovCloud platform instead of just a base public cloud infrastructure.??These types of requirements can sometimes incur significant project repercussions and additional costs.
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It’s extremely important to know exactly what your information system’s security and compliance requirements are, how the participating agency or customer intends to assess and enforce them, and what security options your cloud provider may offer.?Automated and streamlined tools such as Telos’s Xacta Solution lineup exist to significantly reduce your time-to-compliance efforts and maintenance concerns.
5.??????Strategy????????
So you’ve decided to go cloud.?Now what??Is this part of a broader organization-wide strategy, or just specific to this product or program??Is your enterprise cloud agnostic, or have you hitched your wagon to a particular provider like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud Platform (GCP)??What are your plans, financially and operationally, for your old bare metal assets?
Questions like these should be answered by leadership, in collaboration with IT management, ahead of the cloud transition so your organization’s 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year infrastructure plans have a well-defined strategy and path.
Take a Step Back
For digital businesses looking to leverage all the advantages cloud computing platforms have to offer, it’s important not to dive in head first.
The first priorities of decision makers should be to understand your cloud options, the real costs involved, and many of the other factors already mentioned that, after being carefully evaluated, should give you a good idea if transitioning to the cloud is right for your organization. Measure twice and cut once.
Whether considering a transition to clip-in bicycle pedals, a cloud computing infrastructure, or genetic engineering, we’d all do well to consider Dr. Ian Malcolm’s admonition of the Jurassic Park management when he said,
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.” ??-Ian Malcolm
BONUS: The Leftovers
So you’ve moved to the cloud and are perhaps wondering what to do with all those old servers, firewalls, and other equipment you now have sitting around.?Perhaps it’s all depreciated and written off the books and/or end-of-life and you think it’s all a candidate for an upcoming recycling event.?Perhaps not though.?
Here are a few suggestions for possibly squeezing a few more miles out of your investment even after it’s surpassed its “apparent” usefulness:?
Why not give your equipment second-life by donating it??It may not be industry cutting-edge anymore but school labs, foster homes, shelter, libraries, and community centers may have good use for your old computers, laptops, servers, workstations, monitors, routers, servers, VOIP phones and network switches.
An added benefit is that most of these type of donations qualify for tax deductions.
They may not end up using, but chances are your skunk works would at least be interested in at least checking out any spare equipment they can get their hands on.?
Involved in the cyber-security industry??Why not re-appropriate your equipment and set up some honeypots for your security team to test and analyze???The information gathered could not only benefit your organization but also the AV community as a whole.
Sure you may not be able to make significant money by setting up a small blockchain server operation these days, but the possibilities for blockchain technology are endless and the equipment could be used in a number of new emerging and yet-to-discovered cryptographic applications.
Though your equipment may have fully depreciated and exceeded its official lifecycle, old equipment does have aftermarket demand.?Hobbyists, non-profits, and other commercial organizations are often looking for EOL and out-of-production replacement parts on auction sites like Ebay and others.?A few extra bucks of revenue is better than nothing.
If you do decide your equipment has no value, don't just roll it back in the store room to collect dust for the next 20 years, go ahead and get it recycled. There are hundreds of technology hardware recycling and disposal companies out there that will gladly take care of your stash (albeit for a small fee). It's the eco-friendly thing to do anyways.
Though not an empirical metric, why not increase employee morale by re-apportioning some of your old equipment into a retro gaming console for the break room??Open source software such as MAME and others allow for old school video game emulation of all the “classics” that your Generation X and up employee demographic are sure to love.
Trying to find productive tech projects for you interns every summer or coming up with training topics and providing lab environments for employees can sometimes be a challenge.?Having spare enterprise equipment around for them to learn, build, and test on, even if it is dated, can be a great learning experience for these young information technologists and aspiring engineers.?Especially if you don’t care if they break it.
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