Mid-sized and large businesses are moving to the cloud in record numbers and according to RightScale’s State of the Cloud survey for 2014, 74% of enterprises have adopted a hybrid cloud strategy, with 87% using public cloud services. If your organization has yet started planning for migration to the cloud, it’s time to do so. Some companies are held back by a lack of in-house expertise to implement a cloud strategy, along with budgetary considerations, security and reliability concerns and the dilemma of how to migrate mission – critical legacy applications to the cloud.

A converged infrastructure system (also known as integrated systems or unified computing systems, depending on the vendor) can take some of the complexity out of cloud migration and provide more predictability of capital expenses and on-going costs, ultimately saving money. Convergence does away with the “old way” of dedicating specific hardware and software resources to specific applications and allows for sharing of resources by multiple lines of business. That is the essence of cloud computing.

That makes the converged infrastructure a perfect platform for deploying both public and private cloud computing services. Its inherent scalability gives your organization room to grow (or contract) without incurring excessive costs as changes in the direction of your business occur. That flexibility makes it easier to adapt to industry trends and take advantage of new technologies and methodologies.

There are many vendors that offer convergence infrastructure solutions that are optimized for cloud computing. In looking for the right solution, you should be considering the ways in which each vendor’s implementation can make end users more productive and reduce the administrative workload on IT personnel. Some factors for your “must have” list might include:

• Simplified deployment based on a converged cloud platform that is already integrated by the provider and offers a turnkey solution that takes hours, not days or weeks, to get up and running.
• Simplified pricing and licensing structures that will decrease the time spent monitoring licenses and reduce the confusion that often accompanies complicated pricing plans.
• Easy to use tools for management of the infrastructure and services by which admins can centrally and remotely control settings and provision users and services.
• Automated migration of line of business applications.
• Ability to maintain ultimate control in-house.

The first step toward convergence is to move away from the concept of IT “silos,” which neatly pop different departments into isolated domains that are closed off from one another. The individual systems within the organization operate independently, creating redundant costs and duplication of effort. The silo approach extends past the IT infrastructure and into the interaction between members of those departments, who tend not to share information with one another and who may be working toward very different goals.

Tearing down those walls must begin with a change in philosophy and attitude at the top and extend through education throughout the organization to encourage sharing of information and resources to work together to further a common mission. Once you’ve made that commitment, the next step is to select a cloud provider that can best help you deploy the converged infrastructure that will serve as your private cloud platform and  take your business to the next level. Contact us today to discuss your cloud deployment on 1300 ICT AIT (428 248).