Many CIOs are contemplating establishing private-cloud technologies for their company. Here are five things to consider before you make the move. Your cloud may not be a cloud. Private cloud computing goes beyond rebranding virtualization. Virtualization is an enabling technology, but public cloud applications are attractive because of their flexibility and pay-as-you-go nature. What are you doing to bring those characteristics within your firewall? If your infrastructure is virtual, but you’re managing virtual machines the same way you’ve always managed servers, maybe your cloud isn’t really a cloud. You must be able to respond to fluctuating capacity needs. Your private cloud should provide for rapid provisioning and re-provisioning of capacity. Public cloud services accomplish this with large server farms. Within a corporate network, you won’t be able to justify having thousands of servers sitting idle, but you should have a way of quickly reallocating the capacity you have when user needs demand it. You need charge-back mechanisms. You should be able to measure and charge for use of cloud servers and services. With cloud services, you only pay for what you use, and you pay more when you use more. Firms that lack a strong central services organization with charge-back mechanisms are likely to be organizationally incapable of implementing a fair charge-back system, says Brad Tagg, a cloud consultant and former IBM Distinguished Engineer. You must decide who controls access, you or the users. You will have to decide where to draw the line with self-provisioning versus centralized control. Anyone with a credit card can sign up for an account on a public cloud service in a matter of minutes. What would the equivalent look like within your organization? Do you want employees or departments provisioning their own user accounts, or assigning themselves big blocks of storage? Now’s the time to plan for future options. How you architect your private cloud affects how you expand. For example, some service providers are adopting VMware standards while Amazon Web Services use open-source Xen virtualization technology. Kevin Smilie, a partner at the consulting firm TPI, says establishing the right service-management discipline will put you in a better position “when you need a burst of capability beyond your own firewall.” Related content feature 10 most popular IT certifications for 2023 Certifications are a great way to show employers you have the right IT skills and specializations for the job. These 10 certs are the ones IT pros are most likely to pursue, according to data from Dice. By Sarah K. White May 26, 2023 8 mins Certifications Careers interview Stepping up to the challenge of a global conglomerate CIO role Dr. Amrut Urkude became CIO of Reliance Polyester after his company was acquired by Reliance Industries. He discusses challenges IT leaders face while transitioning from a small company to a large multinational enterprise, and how to overcome them. By Yashvendra Singh May 26, 2023 7 mins Digital Transformation Careers brandpost With the new financial year looming, now is a good time to review your Microsoft 365 licenses By Veronica Lew May 25, 2023 5 mins Lenovo news Alteryx works in generative AI for speedy analytics results OpenAI integration and AI wizardry for report generation are aimed at making Alteryx’s analytics products more accessible. By Jon Gold May 25, 2023 3 mins Analytics Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe