Clear Skies Ahead if Going to the Cloud with the Correct Tools

Throughout the evolution of IT infrastructure there have been many ways in which one could manage resources of numerous devices.  In terms of servers, the evolution has taken us from physical servers to virtual servers, and in recent years to cloud computing.  With these changes have also come changes in management of resources.  In the physical server days most of the changes were manual and done by hand.  As virtual machines gained prominence so did scripting, monitoring, and over provisioning.  In present day, we are continually bombarded with information on private and public clouds, which need to be managed with tools that are unique and allow for faster response time of applications, less infrastructure, and IT teams that can manage more workloads with fewer staff.

The term “Cloud” has never resonated with me as a wonderful way to visualize what value and benefits come with placing your Information Technology (IT) resources in a public or private cloud environment.  I equate clouds to places that are wet, typically cold, and have low visibility, all of which do not describe where I would want to put my critical IT resources.  Fully realizing I cannot single handedly change the widely accepted term, “Cloud”, that is used to describe a highly flexible, highly scalable, global, pay as you go billing model, I have begun to think about what tools an airplane pilot must use to successfully navigate clouds.  Much like a pilot safely flying in the clouds, the IT teams of today need to have the appropriate tools to manage the resources in the public and private clouds securely, efficiently, and effectively.

Realizing that public and private clouds are here to stay, the goal of any team managing cloud(s) should be getting above said clouds to allow the ability to see what is ahead and plan accordingly.  The journey through the clouds may include a hybrid configuration where some servers remain at your facility and others migrate to a hosted private cloud and/or into a public cloud, such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon AWS.  You may also decide or be told that you need to move everything to the cloud.  Each company will have a different adoption speed and method, so do not think there is one correct way to do it.

One of the tools that Thrive utilizes allows clients to better understand their on-premise, private cloud, and public cloud resources by providing increased visibility into resource consumption and cost.  The tool visually shows and recommends the following items:

• Intelligent Placement and Scaling Decisions
• Lower Cost Recommendations
• Assures Performance and Service Levels (SLA)
• Enforces Compliance

Much like a pilot flying in the clouds, the tool allows IT teams to track data of their compute, storage, and database services to the right size and determine the best location for the resource.  The tool can also make recommendations and then with a click of a button, the plan can be put into action.  If you would like to speak with someone at Thrive about getting above the clouds for a smooth IT ride, piloted by some of the best technical talent in the industry please contact us or call 866-205-2810.