Navigating your path to cloud success: A study of rogue workloads, vendor lock- in, and cloud conflicts
Executive SummaryAs organizations adopt cloud technology at a steady pace,
they are encountering issues that threaten to derail the
benefits cloud can bring. A survey by IDG Research Services
reveals that organizations face confusion in researching cloud
options, forcing them to adjust goals and search for more
flexible and open cloud solutions that can help them prevent
vendor lock-in. What’s more, the survey shows a disconnect
between IT and business users regarding the intended goals
of a cloud deployment. It’s clear that companies could use
an independent third party to help guide them through the
ambiguity surrounding cloud and get all stakeholders pulling
in the same direction, to ensure cloud projects fulfill their
potential and meet business goals.
2Navigating your path to cloud success
Conflict of the CloudThere’s little question that cloud technology is maturing. In a survey of nearly 2,000 IT leaders
conducted in 2012 by IDG Enterprise, more than half said they had at least one cloud application
already deployed and another 25% said they planned to deploy within a year. By the end of this
year, fully three-quarters of the respondents will likely have cloud applications deployed.
With that kind of adoption rate, it’s no surprise that some issues are arising, as illustrated by
another, more recent survey conducted by IDG Research Services on behalf of Dell. Respondents
report issues such as confusion when researching cloud deployment options and having to adjust
goals in midstream when a solution does not work as expected. The survey also makes it clear
that business executives and IT often have dramatically different—and potentially conflicting—
goals for cloud deployments.
Further, the survey finds that organizations are seeking more flexible and open cloud solutions,
to ease fear of vendor lock-in and help them meet internal requirements. Companies are also
grappling with “rogue” cloud deployments that originate outside the IT department, often with
different security standards and end goals in mind.
Two-thirds of respondents admit that researching various cloud deployment options is a confusing process. Three out of five agree their organizations sometimes need to adjust the end goal of cloud projects due to rigid solutions.
Strongly Agree
Somewhat Disagree
Somewhat Agree
Strongly Disagree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Researching various cloud deployment options is sometimes confusing.
Sometimes we need to adjust the end goal of our cloud projects
due to limitations or lack of flexibility with the cloud solution.
My organization has had difficulty finding a cloud vendor who can
easily match their solutions to our business goals.
Fear of vendor lock-in is inhibiting cloud deployments
at my organization.
25% 66%
17% 60%
14%
21%
42%
43%
39%
31%
17%
26%
26%
21%
12%
11%
13%
19%
4%
4%
8% 53%
8% 52%
Strongly/Somewhat
Agree
SOURCE: IDG Research Services on Cloud Strategy
3Navigating your path
to cloud success
The survey results make it clear that CIOs need an overarching strategy for dealing with cloud
applications in order to make the most of the technology, and to ensure they meet their busi-
ness as well as personal career goals. Using a third-party provider to offer vendor-neutral expert
advice, along with some crucial tools to address areas such as integration and security, can
greatly help CIOs achieve their cloud objectives.
IT Issues with CloudThe issues with respect to cloud begin with selecting a solution; indeed, two-thirds of respon-
dents to the IDG Research Services survey say researching various cloud deployment options is
sometimes confusing.
John Ragsdale, CIO with BerylHealth, a hospital services provider based in Bedford, Texas, is one
of those respondents. While he does not have much trouble researching providers, he says it can
be confusing to compare the various licensing and pricing options for cloud solutions with what it
would cost to build the same solution in-house.
“With the cloud option everything is included in one price, so you have to parse it out [in order
to get an apples-to-apples comparison],” he says. “We’ve had to go through that analysis.” The
company started using software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications in 2011 and currently uses
Salesforce.com to provide cloud-based customer relationship management, marketing, project
management, reporting, and more. It also uses cloud-based solutions from Oracle for chat,
Microsoft Dynamics GP for enterprise resource planning, and additional vendors for its data inte-
gration and single sign-on.
BerylHealth is not alone in evaluating and using multiple cloud-based applications. In such situa-
tions, it may be useful to hire a third-party partner to perform an unbiased evaluation of the build
vs. buy equation and to compare vendor offers in a meaningful way.
“ With the cloud option every-thing is includ-ed in one price, so you have to parse it out [in order to get an apples-to-apples comparison].”
—John Ragsdale CIO
BerylHealth
At least four out of five respondents report the flexibility and simplicity of current cloud solutions need at least some improvement to meet their standards.
Flexibility (choice of standards or platforms, ability to work with
multiple vendors or platforms, works with existing installed technology)
Simplicity (integrates easily, stream-lines management, deploys quickly)
Performance (speed, scalability, security, efficiency, reliability)
87%
84%
73%
Significant/ Some
Improvement needed
SOURCE: IDG Research Services on Cloud Strategy
38%
38%
33%
49%
46%
40%
7%
10%
20%
2%
2%
2%
Significant improvement needed
Little improvement needed
Some improvement needed
No improvement needed
4Navigating your path to cloud success
Lack of flexibility
Sixty percent of survey respondents also say they sometimes have to adjust the end goal of
cloud projects due to limitations or lack of flexibility of a vendor’s cloud solution. Similarly, 53%
say they have had difficulty finding a provider who could match their solutions to the company’s
business goals.
BerylHealth struggled early on with getting Salesforce.com to meet its needs. “We customized the
application function quite a bit,” Ragsdale says, noting he initially used an independent contractor
to help. “He didn’t grasp the concept. So we had to work with Salesforce and their professional
services people.” It took some time, but now the company is happy with the results and continuing
to build new applications upon the Salesforce platform.
As his experience shows, although SaaS solutions are touted as “out of the box” solutions that users
can simply drop into their enterprise, in practice it often takes work and budget to align the solution
with a company’s particular business processes and existing applications.
Fear of vendor lock-in
Another difficult issue with cloud is fear of vendor lock-in, which 52% of survey respondents either
somewhat or strongly agree is inhibiting cloud deployments at their organizations. Only about one-
quarter of respondents say they have no problem with the issue.
“Vendor lock-in is a big concern,” says another survey respondent, Randy Cairns, CIO with American
Enterprise Group, an insurance company in Des Moines, Iowa. He has about 450 employees using
a SaaS-based CRM application and all of the company’s 600 employees use a cloud-based human
resources administration application.
Firms can mitigate some of the vendor lock-in risk by picking providers that support industry
standards and standards-based integration where it is available. They can also adopt a multicloud
architecture that provides them with more flexibility in deploying across private, public, and hybrid
configurations. Critical to this approach are management and integration, which if built in from
the beginning, can control and construct meaningful workflow across cloud applications and
infrastructures. If designed correctly, a multicloud architecture can enable choice across vendors
without the costs and risks of locking into single vendor silos.
Openness and simplicity
The lock-in issue relates to how flexible and open a cloud solution is. Flexibility—meaning the
choice of standards or platforms and the ability of an application to work with other platforms
and existing technology—is the area survey respondents say is most in need of improvement with
respect to cloud applications, with 87% saying some or significant improvement is needed.
“Without any open standards, you’re in bed with whoever’s integration or tool, or whatever it is
you’re using,” Cairns says. “We’re looking at the Windows Azure model because we’re a big VMware
shop and [Azure] integrate[s] pretty well with that.”
Simplicity of the cloud solution was next in line in terms of what respondents say needs
improvement, at 84%.
“We all want simplicity in everything we do,” Cairns says, noting it is an area where cloud applica-
tions could take a page from vendors such as VMware. His company has some 400 servers to
monitor, about three-quarters of them virtual. “VMware gives me a good tool to help make that
manageable. We’re just not seeing that soon enough for the cloud,” he says, noting some cloud
vendors don’t give customers a window into their applications to monitor performance.
“Without any open standards, you’re in bed with whoever’s integration or tool, or what-ever it is you’re using.”
—Randy Cairns CIO
American Enterprise Group
5Navigating your path
to cloud success
Performance
Customers would also like to see improvement is performance of cloud applications, with 73%
saying some or significant improvement is in order.
“Salesforce performs well but you have to architect it right,” Ragsdale says. For example, you can’t
render as much data per page with Salesforce as you can with traditional in-house .NET applica-
tions, he says. “As long as you understand that, work with it, and have some expertise, it’ll work. If
you don’t have that expertise I could see where it’d be very frustrating.”
The Cloud Conflict WithinOther issues with respect to cloud applications have more to do with organizational challenges,
security requirements, and stakeholder expectations than technology. In some important respects,
the business and IT groups are simply not on the same page when it comes to cloud or the busi-
ness strategies that require cloud.
Rogue cloud deployments
For example, many survey respondents report that cloud projects originate without the consent of
IT management. Application developers and line-of-business (LOB) groups such as finance, sales,
or marketing are the most frequent originators of such “rogue” or “shadow IT” deployments, with
65% of respondents saying they initiate cloud projects either often or occasionally, followed by
executive management (64%), individual users (49%), and smaller departments or groups within LOB
units (48%). When application development staff circumvents its own IT processes and platforms
to acquire outside capacity, it is not only problematic but a true manifestation of cloud conflict and
misalignment of objectives within organizations.
In some impor-tant respects, the business
and IT groups are simply not
on the same page when it
comes to cloud or the business strategies that require cloud.
Most frequently, cloud initiatives originate from corporate IT. About two-thirds of respondents report application developers, lines of business, and executive management (non-IT) initiate cloud projects at least occasionally.
Corporate IT
Application developers
Lines of business (e.g., finance, sales, marketing)
Executive management (non-IT)
Individual users
Smaller departments or business units within lines
of business
49%
26%
17%
22%
15%
14%
41%
39%
49%
42%
34%
34%
10%
17%
22%
19%
27%
31%
1%
17%
12%
16%
19%
18%
89%
65%
65%
64%
49%
48%
Often/ Occasionally
Often RarelyOccasionally Never
SOURCE: IDG Research Services on Cloud Strategy
6Navigating your path to cloud success
Take a Simpler Path to Cloud Cloud-based applications and services can
deliver great benefits for companies that imple-
ment them well, including relieving the burden
on IT so it can focus on helping the business
achieve its goals. But achieving success with
cloud services often comes down to choosing
the right partner.
Dell’s approach to cloud can be summed up in
three words: open, integrated, and secure.
Open Dell adheres to many open industry standards
to help its customers build flexible solutions.
One example is its support for OpenStack,
the open source cloud computing platform
for public and private clouds. Dell is a Gold
member of the OpenStack Foundation, which
promotes the development, distribution, and
adoption of the OpenStack cloud operating
system.
Technologies such as OpenStack improve
choice while reducing costs for customers. It
also enables Dell to leverage an industry-wide
community to deliver tailored solutions for
customers, over a standardized infrastructure.
It’s another in a long line of open, standard
technologies that Dell supports to increase
choice and prevent lock-in for customers.
IntegratedThat openness also enables Dell to deliver
cloud solutions that integrate well with a
customer’s existing hardware, software, and
services. Customers can leverage their existing
investments, while saving time and money.
Additionally, Dell Multi Cloud Manager enables
customers to control their multivendor
private and public clouds from a single place.
Customers use design tools that are “vendor
agnostic” to define architectures and polices
for automatically managing cloud application
deployments, auto-scaling, application migra-
tion, disaster recovery, and backup snapshots.
And, Dell Boomi provides an easy and cost-
effective integration platform, extending the
value of existing applications. Boomi Atom-
Sphere® connects any combination of cloud,
SaaS, or on-premise applications using original
APIs, with no appliances, software, or coding.
Boomi can drastically reduce implementa-
tion times while delivering rapid time to value
and substantial cost savings as compared with
traditional integration solutions.
SecureSecurity of a cloud solution should be more
robust than what a typical customer organiza-
tion can provide on its own—and that’s just
what Dell delivers. Indeed, security is a core
competency at Dell, from the device to the data
center. Dell offers multiple layers of security for
cloud computing and embeds security deeply
within in its own cloud offerings.
At the device level there’s Dell Data Protec-
tion Encryption, a component that installs
on Dell desktops, laptops, smartphones, and
other devices to deliver nonintrusive file-based
encryption as well as sector-based full disk
encryption—all managed centrally by IT.
For the data center, Dell offers its Dell
SecureWorks® Managed Security Services.
Offerings range from security monitoring,
vulnerability management, and log manage-
ment, to full lifecycle management and
monitoring of security appliances, including
network and application firewalls, intrusion
prevention and detection systems, and unified
threat management appliances.
Learn more about how Dell can help you
get the most out of cloud offerings. Visit:
www.dell.com/cloudservices.
Rogue deployments were an issue early on at BerylHealth, but the company addressed the issue by
putting governance procedures in place around all business and IT projects. So if a business group
did implement a cloud project without IT approval, IT would find out about it.
Governance is important to keep everybody on the same page and to ensure that cloud applica-
tions are implemented in a consistent manner. For example, Salesforce has a standard internal
object called a “case” that can be part of many use cases, Ragsdale says. If one group uses it in one
way and another uses it in another way, they could wind up overriding and conflicting with each
other. “It can spiral into lots of problems,” he says.
7Navigating your path
to cloud success
75% of the “State of the CIO” survey respondents agreeing that boards of direc-tors are more interested in IT today than they were three years ago.
Disparity in expectations
When cloud projects are not sanctioned by IT they tend to have different end goals in mind. Indeed,
the survey data points to a veritable chasm between IT and business groups with respect to their
objectives for cloud deployments.
When asked what the primary goal is for a cloud deployment that originates within their depart-
ment, between 36% and 41% of business users (depending on their role, from executive manage-
ment down to the smallest departments) point to business and organizational responsiveness—
easily the top response. When IT originates the project, nearly half say the goal is simply to increase
operational efficiency, and fewer than one-quarter point to business and organizational responsive-
ness. Only 6% of IT users say their primary goal is to increase productivity.
Such responses point to the need to have a company-wide strategy and collaboration when dealing
with cloud applications, to ensure “rogue” deployments are not simply geared to the benefit of
individual departments and are consistent with the company’s larger business and IT goals. But the
survey results show that does not appear to be happening consistently. When scoping out initial
goals, budget, and timelines for a cloud project, 80% of respondents say corporate IT is involved,
but only 46% say LOB representatives are involved and 37% say non-IT executive management is
at the table. The numbers drop even lower when it comes to forming a technical cloud strategy
and choosing a solution. While the perceived organizational investment may be high, the lack of
collaboration across the organization is an issue that needs to be proactively addressed.
Meeting CIO GoalsCIOs need to get a handle on these cloud issues if they want to meet their own personal
career goals.
According to the 2013 “State of the CIO” survey conducted by CIO magazine, today fewer than
25% of CIOs spend much time on business strategy functions such as driving business innovation,
developing and refining business strategy, and identifying opportunities for competitive differentia-
tion. But as many as 54% say those are the areas they’d like to be more involved with by 2016.
They may well get their wish, as reliance on IT is certainly growing, with 75% of the “State of the
CIO” survey respondents agreeing that boards of directors are more interested in IT today than
they were three years ago.
Easing the IT burden
The trick for CIOs is to leverage cloud as a way to make the IT infrastructure more reliable and
easier to operate. “Cloud offerings, even hosted services, have shown that there’s an easier way
to run all this stuff,” says Cairns of American Enterprise Group. “Most of what I spend my time on
is business initiatives.”
It should be no surprise that CIOs intend to increase the use of third-party IT service providers,
including those that offer cloud services. In 2013, about 25% of all IT services were supplied by third
parties, according to the “State of the CIO” survey. In three to five years, that figure will increase to
37%. Indeed, 36% of survey respondents say cloud is the trend that will have the most profound
effect on the CIO’s role in the future, topping other trends such as mobility, consumerization of IT,
big data, and social media.
8Navigating your path to cloud success
Wanted: A True PartnerIf they are to make the most of cloud, however, CIOs need to avoid the pitfalls that the IDG
Research survey points to. The survey makes clear that customers need to look for three attributes
in a cloud service provider, as follows.
Flexible, open, scalable
First, the provider must offer an open solution, one that’s flexible enough to integrate with other
cloud offerings. It should be capable of seamlessly supporting hybrid cloud environments that
include both private and public cloud offerings. And it needs to be highly scalable, to keep up with
demand as the business grows.
Easy to integrate
Cloud offerings must also integrate with in-house applications, such that customers can leverage
their existing investments. The provider must understand how hardware, software, and services
all work together to get the job done.
Simplicity
Cloud should be about simplicity, but multiple applications and vendors often bring complexity that
can negate real cloud benefits. Transforming the people, process, and technology toward cloud is
not enough; organizations need a partner that considers simplicity and the customization required
to enable the entire business.
Reliable and secure
And, of course, cloud applications must be highly reliable, always available, and secure. Nothing
will torpedo a cloud project faster than security issues or performance problems.
Dell at Work Fast facts about Dell:
• DellSecureWorks,acorecompetencyof
Dell Cloud Services, processes more than
50 billion security events daily.
• Dellmanagesmorethan6billiondiagnostic
image objects in the cloud for its customers,
providing critical support to more than
40,000 physicians and 500-plus individual
medical practices.
• DellBoomihandlesmorethan2million
integration processes daily.
• Aleadingpaymentprocessingservices
company saved more than $430,000 in the
first month alone, and more than $5 million
in the first year, after deploying a Dell cloud
solution for process integration.
• Dellstoresmorethan16petabytesofcloud-
based email—more data than the U.S. Library
of Congress
• Dellsendsoutmorethan15millionSMStext
messages, automated voice calls, and email
notifications every year.
• Morethan1billionpeopleworldwideare
connecting to the cloud using Dell solutions.
• AnITsolutionsproviderusedDellCloud
Services to seamlessly integrate three critical
business functions, reducing order entry
timeby85%andsaving$1millionincustom
development costs for SAP integration.
9Navigating your path
to cloud success
Getting Cloud RightAddressing these issues is paramount if CIOs are to successfully implement cloud and meet
their own business and career goals. Yet, as the IDG Research survey shows, too many offerings
today are falling short in terms of the kind of flexibility, simplicity, and security that can really
transform a business.
Companies seeking a partner that can help them get cloud right would do well to look at Dell. Dell
offers the cloud solutions that meet the criteria in terms of openness, ease of integration, simplicity,
and security. The company also has the experience and perspective that CIOs need to succeed
with cloud. Its solutions span from the desktop to the data center, including all required hardware,
software, and services. Through its transformation, modernization, and implementation services,
Dell is a trusted partner to many companies as they develop an overarching cloud strategy and
deliver successful cloud implementations. n
Learn more about how Dell can help you get cloud right. Visit: Dell.com/cloudservices.
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Dell® and its marks are trademarks of Dell Corporation. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
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Additional resources
4 of 5 world’s largest law firms useDell for secure cloud EmailManagement Services
21 of 25 largest law firms in the USAuse Dell for secure cloud EmailManagement Services
The numbers are inSimple and secure cloud solutions from Dell
Dell Cloud securely storesmedical images for7% of the U.S. population 1
Over
1 billionpeople worldwideare connecting tothe cloud usingDell solutions
Dell Cloud now sends out more than
every year
15 million SMS text messages,automated voice calls and email
notifications
Organizations useDell Cloud storage for7.52 billionemails every day
5,000emails every minute
Dell stores over 16petabytes of cloud-basedemail — more data than theU.S. Library of Congress
#1in density-optimizedservers2
4
Dell SecureWorks is a Leader inManaged Security Services7
5
Dell does business with every Fortune 100 company 6
Dell performs
over 1 millioncloud integrations each day3
Dell is a leader in ,each day
managed security servicesmonitoring over 50B events
1.Basedon313,914,000censusestJuly1,20122.IDCWorldwide Quarterly Server Tracker,1Q13,May20133. http://www.boomi.com/news_and_events/press_releases/110220134.TheAmericanLawyer2012AMLAW100:FirmsRankedbyGrossRevenues5.TheAmericanLawyer2012AMLAWGlobal100:GrossRevenues6. http://www.marketingshift.com/companies/technology/consumer/dell.cfm
7.GartnerMagicQuadrantforMSSPs,NorthAmerica,2012.IDNumberG002298738. IDC IT Cloud Services at the Crossroads: How IaaS/PaaS/SaaS Business Models Are Evolving,
doc#DR2013_T6_RM_SH_MP,March20139. Gartner Demand for Cloud-Based Offerings Impacts Security Service Spending, ID Number:
G00249847
“In 2013, 85% of net new software will be built forcloud delivery”
“Cloud-based security services will account for 10%of the enterprise IT security product market by 2015”
98
Dell Cloud
Dell protects over
in the cloud
85million patient studies and 6 billion medical images
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