Click here for more information about CoCre8 Technology Solutions<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\u201cFrom a business point of view, companies are strapped for cash,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy moving to opex, they have an opportunity to generate revenue before they have to spend too much cash.\u201d<\/p>\n
This consumption model is quickly changing the IT landscape. \u201cJust a few years ago, companies were happy to spend hundreds of thousands on infrastructure purchases.”<\/p>\n
“But now they are saying that IT is not their core business, and they would rather focus on digital transformation and driving their business KPIs (key performance indicators).”<\/p>\n
\u201cBy doing that, they are changing how they look at IT. Now they want to separate the infrastructure, or plumbing, from the digital business solutions.”<\/p>\n
“Things like big data and analytics are among the applications that organisations are looking to implement. It\u2019s becoming clear that data, and the monetisation of data, is driving a lot of the changes we see in the IT market.\u201d<\/p>\n
The move to a consumption model has driven many organisations to adopt a public cloud-first approach, because they believed it will solve all their challenges, Moosa says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many companies, their decision about the cloud was informed by paper-based exercises.”<\/p>\n
“Too often we see that a consultant with no practical experience in terms of running these systems offers advisory services that organisations base their IT decisions on.”<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we\u2019ve seen a lot of companies getting burnt when they threw everything into a hyperscaler, thinking that at the stroke of a pen they could convert their IT systems from capex to opex, while gaining access to a wealth of digital tools.”<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they forgot that they are still sitting with legacy systems that need to be transitioned and modernised before they can be ready for transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the first hurdles that many companies face with this approach is the issue of cost.<\/p>\n
This sounds counter-intuitive, says Moosa, since one of the main reasons they moved into the public cloud was to switch to an opex model and save on big investments.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, if your workloads can\u2019t run efficiently on the hyperscaler\u2019s infrastructure, you could find yourself with variable bills every month \u2013 and we all know that chief financial officers don\u2019t like ad hoc billing.”<\/p>\n
“IT usually works within the confines of a set budget and getting unpredictable bills at the end of each month doesn\u2019t mesh with this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another issue that could raise the cost of public cloud is the fact that traditional workloads are open to ransomware attacks. \u201cImagine if your systems are hit by ransomware while running on the public cloud,\u201d Moosa says.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour billing is usage-based so imagine if your bill suddenly increases 1 000-fold.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are among the things that companies don\u2019t think about when they move to the public cloud \u2013 but they aren\u2019t the only ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is a growing realisation that system availability in the cloud is outside of an organisation\u2019s control. \u201cJust look at what happened when Facebook went offline for six hours,\u201d Moosa points out.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a cloud-based service and there are many businesses that use it as a platform to trade \u2013 so there are major implications for their businesses when it\u2019s down.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThis concept applies to the broader public cloud as well: what happens when you can\u2019t bring up your mission-critical systems because there is a global outage? It could cripple your business, and there is nothing you can do about it.”<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a misconception that if you run your systems in the cloud you won\u2019t have any issues,\u201d Moosa adds. \u201cBut the issues are real: there are global outages and cyber attacks that can affect your business. And companies are starting to think about these things.\u201d<\/p>\n
What we are seeing now, Moosa says, is that organisations are tackling their transformation more intelligently and going back to the drawing board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are realising that perhaps putting everything in the public cloud is not the best way; that there is a need to analyse the benefits of the hyperscale cloud, but also the options that multi-cloud offers.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are also looking to what some of the local solutions are that will help them to manage their costs, and the local flavour of the public cloud is becoming more relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Multi-cloud solutions<\/strong><\/h3>\nCoCre8 and Fujitsu have strengthened its relationship with VMware to help its channel and customers craft agile and resilient multi-cloud solutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can offer flexible options: you can run workloads with the hyperscalers; or you can have the same capabilities in your own data centre, because organisations looking to move off the massive cloud ecosystems still want the flexibility of a consumption-based model,\u201d Moosa says.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, if they don\u2019t want to own the infrastructure, they can work with an ecosystems partner in the VMware Verified Cloud Partner Programme (VCPP).”<\/p>\n
\u201cRegardless of the architecture you choose, VMware has the tools to enable it. And, regardless of which cloud you run in, the platform offers seamless integration. There is a single page of glass to manage the whole cloud ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n
The VMware solutions also allow organisations to migrate workloads to other clouds. \u201cSo you get flexibility without risk,\u201d Moosa says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, it is a true hybrid cloud multi-cloud ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n
App modernisation<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe fundamentals of app modernisation today are built around containerisation, Moosa explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cKubernetes and containers have become the next big thing, and are the next wave in how we run applications.”<\/p>\n
\u201cWith VMware\u2019s Tanzu, the processes around app development are seamless, managing ecosystems, DevOps and containerisation.”<\/p>\n
\u201cEssentially, with Tanzu, we are moving from traditional compute to virtual containers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Security<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe last two years have seen organisations around the world falling victim to a range of new and creative cyber attacks.<\/p>\n
From ransomware to supply chain infiltration, IT systems have proven themselves vulnerable.<\/p>\n
The increasing range of threats and vulnerabilities was top of mind when VMware bought Carbon Black.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thought process behind the Carbon Black purchase is that everything you purchase from VMware is secure by design,\u201d Moosa explains. \u201cSecurity can now be embedded as part of the hybrid cloud strategy and not bolted on as an afterthought.\u201d<\/p>\n