http://disqus.com/by/scott_hammond/enFri, 05 Jun 2009 01:30:05 -0000http://cloudscaling.com/blog/cloud-computing/private-clouds-matter#comment-10512340<p>Yes, I like your emphasis on self-service and reducing friction. I am expanding that point to include a rich comparative catalog experience to further reduce friction and adding the controls and governance required to protect the corporate assets. Doing the wrong thing quickly doesn't help.</p>scott_hammondFri, 05 Jun 2009 01:30:05 -0000http://cloudscaling.com/blog/cloud-computing/private-clouds-matter#comment-10498593<p>Self-service is key, but you also need to address the rest of the policies that create delays in ordering new VM's. First, the consumer needs to know what to order. The specification/design/configuration phase can be painstaking with today's manual processes and reviews with each of the towers. A service catalog can be used to specify all relevant attributes (price, performance, availability, DR, security, storage, data center services, etc.) of each of the standard machines so the requester can quickly compare their requirements to the available choices and select the correct machine(s). The next hurdle is getting the machine approved. By automating the approval process you can shorten the time to get clearance from the interested parties and enforce compliance with corporate policies and procedures on security, IP protection, financial controls, and other matters that are required to deliver secure, reliable, scalable, cost-effective infrastructure. You also need to enforce financial controls and lease terms to reduce sprawl. You should also capture the business context so the ops team knows what the machines are being used for and can support them appropriately.</p><p>Lots more thoughts behind this but the key issue is self-service is critical but you also need a comparative shopping experience, controls, and governance to accelerate the adoption of this low cost utility model. Without these the virtual environment is not cost effective, people will request the wrong things really quickly, and it will jeopardize the security of data.</p>scott_hammondThu, 04 Jun 2009 17:32:30 -0000