Cloud computing is a fairly new model of allowing convenient
and on-demand network access to a plethora of configurable computing resources
and services. Cloud services deliver computing, storage, software,
applications, and so on, via Internet to customers on a self-serve basis.
Customers can subscribe to these services based on their needs. These services
are flexible, adaptable, and utility based where customers pay for their
subscription as they require and use. Regardless of the growing recognition and
importance of cloud computing, little effort has been put in towards
incorporating it into established IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks like ITIL.
Cloud computing is an entirely new form of infrastructure with its own unique mechanisms,
processes and users. There is a need to accelerate the design and
implementation of ITSM processes and capabilities to manage the cloud and therefore
help reduce operational expenses and increase efficiency of cloud-based
infrastructure.
ITIL is a widely accepted approach to service management in
the world. It provides a consistent set of best practice, drawn from the public
and private sectors internationally. It is supported by a comprehensive
qualifications scheme, accredited training organizations, and implementation
and assessment tools. The best practice processes promoted in ITIL support are
those of ISO and British Standards.
As organizations are briskly moving toward cloud services,
many IT leaders find their existing ITIL structures do not support the cloud environment
well, resulting in frustration and limiting the value of cloud promises. This
will expose the business to needless complexities with no accountability for
the end services being delivered and poses serious risks for any IT
organization migrating to cloud solutions.
ITIL 2011 contains the majority of cloud-related content in
the ITIL Service Strategy book. The book introduces the characteristics and
attributes of cloud services and the numerous types of service delivery and
deployment models. Successful adoption
to cloud computing starts with careful strategy processes planning followed by
the design, transition and operation.
Cloud computing represents a major shift in IT architecture,
changing the way IT services are sourced and delivered. It reduces upfront
capital expenditures but there may be extra costs for operating expenses. The
cloud computing service model has three different service layers or categories AKA
the cloud stack. The cloud stacks are:
Software as a Service (SaaS): this is cloud computing layer
where users simply make use of a web-browser to access software that others
have developed, maintain and offer as a service over the web.
Platform as a Service (PaaS): the consumers develop their
applications and software using a set of programming languages and tools that
are supported and provided by the PaaS provider. Developers can provide their
customers with a custom developed application without the hassle of defining
and maintaining the infrastructure.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): allows customers access
to different kinds of infrastructure and use the resources to organise and run
their applications through the use of virtual machines, which automatically can
scale up and down.
The most commonly used three-cloud implementation models
are: Private cloud, Hybrid cloud and Public
cloud. The concerns for refurbishing ITIL service processes mainly exist when
the public or private cloud is hosted with third party. When services of
private cloud are hosted internally there will be no substantial modification
in the way of using ITIL framework.
Wish you all the Best;
EL
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