Meeting the challenges of hybrid cloud computing infrastructures

Grazed from Network World. Author: David Grimes.

As companies embrace cloud computing, many are finding it advantageous to use external clouds to host non-critical IT services and data while keeping business-critical applications on internal-cloud infrastructure. However, this hybrid approach can create significant management challenges. The clouds must tightly integrate with each other, and legacy systems and data and workflows must be managed across the clouds and systems. Since hybrid clouds typically involve a mix of technologies and vendors, and there is the constant need for new capabilities, the level of complexity and amount of attention required to properly manage these platforms is increasing at a rapid rate. That means the management platform for hybrid cloud solutions is a critical, if often overlooked, piece of the proverbial puzzle.

Managing the hybrid cloud involves much more than tools. After all, vendors for each separate component of cloud infrastructure provide their own "stovepipe" of managerial tools. But since there isn’t a true "single-pane-of-glass" tool, you will need a more strategic perspective and framework to succeed with hybrid cloud computing. The following principles and practices can shape this meta-cloud management initiative…

In cloud computing, the vendor pool is growing very rapidly. Today, there may be three to four times as many cloud-services providers as there were just three years ago. And since a hybrid cloud architecture inherently requires multiple vendors, you need to exercise particular care and caution in assembling your portfolio of cloud-computing partners. You’ll need to identify and select everything from server-oriented (infrastructure) services to cloud storage to desktop-as-a-service solutions…

Read more from the source @ http://www.networkworld.com/news/tech/2012/111512-hybrid-cloud-264322.html