As we entered 2013, all kinds of “clouds” have swept in鈥攃loud technology, cloud computing, cloud services, industry clouds, public clouds, private clouds, cloud TVs……various cloud concepts and cloud initiatives have turned the IT world into the domain of the “cloud.” The “cloud wars” among major vendors are raging, and every sector wants to make its mark in the transformation brought by the cloud. Yet the IT operations field seems to still be thinking, still waiting……
What exactly is the cloud? If we consider the PCs and phones we use and see every day as the “front end”鈥攖he so-called “client”鈥攖hen the “cloud” refers to the “back end,” the “server side.” Simply put, it means the “network” and the “Internet.” For ordinary consumers, the “back end” is rarely seen, let alone touched, so it gives off an elusive, intangible feeling. “Cloud” is essentially a metaphorical way of describing the “network” and “Internet.” And the various concepts now being proposed鈥攃loud computing, cloud storage, cloud services鈥攁ll rely on the Internet. For enterprise IT operations personnel, the “cloud” presents many challenges, because typically, the objects they work with daily鈥攕ervers, switches, routers, and similar IT infrastructure鈥攁re physical, whereas the cloud is virtual.
Some may wonder: with IT vendors now offering public cloud services, including renting cloud hosts, cloud storage, and database cloud computing resources, small and medium-sized enterprises can solve their needs by renting servers. If hardware doesn’t need to be purchased but only rented, and the objects of operations become virtual, does that mean enterprises no longer need IT operations and that operations personnel will lose their jobs? In fact, the “cloud” is set to become the mainstream trend across all IT sectors, and this is unstoppable. That being the case, what IT operations personnel must do is go with the trend, study the changes the “cloud” brings to IT and the challenges it poses for “IT operations,” shift their thinking amid these changes and challenges, and find a new positioning, rather than stubbornly clinging to their original domain.
First, in the cloud era, the focus of enterprise IT will inevitably shift. To keep up with the trend, enterprises will need to procure new equipment, integrate existing systems, build cloud architectures, and construct, run, and manage customized systems to deliver services to customers. Meeting technological development and customer demands means the IT department and IT operations personnel must carry out these tasks. IT operations personnel need to understand business requirements, develop systems accordingly, and then run those systems to continuously meet enterprise needs. Additionally, managing and navigating the relationships between the enterprise, its customers, and cloud service providers is also something IT operations personnel need to handle and master.
Second, the role of IT operations auditing becomes even more critical. As enterprises become increasingly digitized, all aspects of corporate management take place on digital platforms, generating massive volumes of data on products, transactions, customers, orders, and more. In a cloud environment, companies, customers, and all kinds of data will be shared, processed, and transmitted across a wide range of cloud services. The importance of overall data governance鈥攁nd protecting data integrity, security, and consistency across all system processes鈥攇oes without saying. Taking on the role of data steward would be a solid choice for IT operations personnel.
Third, in the cloud era, enterprises will face a wide variety of cloud services, so IT operations personnel must become managers and integrators of these “services.” They need to be able to identify, procure, and rapidly integrate pre-configured third-party cloud products to build service suites relevant to the business. Moreover, IT staff need to help the enterprise organization deeply understand the rapidly changing vendor market to ensure architectural integrity