AFCOM Releases Cloud Computing Guide for Data Center Managers

ORANGE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AFCOM, the world's leading data center association, today announced the release of “Guiding Data Centers to Cloud Computing,” a position paper by the Data Center Institute that presents specific concepts and issues that it recommends organizations consider before they begin the transformation to public, private or hybrid cloud computing. This paper is the only available resource designed to provide information on cloud computing specifically for data center and facilities management professionals.

“The purpose of this paper is to help AFCOM members understand the issues they will need to address since the architecture of clouds will drive the way future data centers are built, configured and operated.”

Modern data centers face a myriad of technical and business issues, including underutilized servers, security and governance risks, and difficulty in scaling services to meet changing requirements. However, cloud computing eliminates the need for corporate or government data centers that do not host their own internal clouds to house, own, operate or maintain all of their own hardware, software and data, thereby reducing the total cost of ownership through economies of scale. The purpose of the Data Center Institute’s “Guiding Data Centers to Cloud Computing,” is to help organizations better understand if they are well suited and ready to migrate to the cloud.

“Today’s data center is a living, breathing entity that continues to grow. Data center managers are dealing with cramped facilities, massive data growth, tight budgets and archive mandates that have created nearly impossible storage requirements,” said Jill Eckhaus, CEO, AFCOM. “Cloud computing works to contain these issues and make data centers more manageable and cost effective, but data centers will have to be prepared in order to leverage public clouds, or become a public or private cloud.”

In addition to identifying existing data center issues and defining cloud computing concepts, highlights from the report include:

Tips for Selecting the Right Cloud Provider—Moving to the cloud raises many questions about control, security, legality, power and service. However, definitive service-level agreements, understanding compliance initiatives, physically inspecting the cloud computing infrastructure and developing a specific training plan around cloud computing resources when selecting a cloud provider mitigates these problems.
Value of Cloud Computing—Beyond operational cost savings, cloud computing offers additional business value, including preserving capital, upsizing and downsizing on-demand, and shifting the risk of handling the computing processing load from the data center owner to the cloud provider.
Ten Steps for Building an Internal Cloud—Moving to a cloud computing infrastructure requires reviewing a number of issues, such as power, cooling, networking and virtualization. As such, the report offers ten steps to help guide the decision on building an internal cloud—from understanding and defining the business requirements and ROI to physical and logistical challenges.

“The decision to move to the cloud can be challenging because it raises many concerns dealing with having less direct operational control, and the preparedness of the cloud provider when it comes to training, meeting your existing Service Level Agreements, and physical and data security,” said Tom Roberts, Director, DC Facility Management, Trinity Information Services. “The purpose of this paper is to help AFCOM members understand the issues they will need to address since the architecture of clouds will drive the way future data centers are built, configured and operated.”

To download a copy of “Guiding Data Centers to Cloud Computing,” please visit: http://www.afcom.com/dci_projects_cloudreport.html

About AFCOM:

AFCOM (www.afcom.com) is the leading association supporting the educational and professional development needs of data center professionals around the globe. Established in 1980, AFCOM currently boasts more than 4,000 members and 38 chapters worldwide, and provides data center professionals with unique networking opportunities and educational forums and resources through its annual Data Center World Conferences, published magazines, regional chapters, research and hotline services, and industry alliances.