Introduction to nonprofit planning for cloud computing.

1. Cloudy, Not Gloomy
Technology Planning Today
Mass Nonprofit Network Conference
October 25, 2012
Steve Backman, Database Designs
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October 25, 2012 Workshop: Cloudy, Not Gloomy 1

2. Part 1: Confused About the Cloud?
“One in five Americans (22 percent) admit
that they’ve pretended to know what the
cloud is or how it works… [Of these, ] 17
percent have pretended to know what the
cloud was during a first date. ”
Citrix.com survey, 8/12 http://bit.ly/SbQ6aR
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3. About Steve
Technology Strategist
Certified Salesforce…Still Loves Access
Principal at Database Designs
Does tai chi
steve@dbdes.com
@stevebackman
www.dbdes.com
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4. Agenda
• Cloud Geography: Getting Oriented
• Case Study 1: Adopting Salesforce
• Case Study 2: Different Kind of Cloud
• Tips and Techniques to Get Started
• Q&A: Share Experience and Concerns
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5. Changes to Seek and Expect
• Cloud when and where you can
• Budget for more smaller changes quickly,
fewer yearlong big projects
• Share files, be social and collaborate freely;
• Deliver analytical tools, not reports;
• Openness is a spectrum, not a yes or no.
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6. Lots of Confusion About the Cloud
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7. Who’s in the room?
Do you use the cloud at home?
Does your org use it?
Are you on the techie side?
Your thoughts
and
expectations
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8. Cloud: Services, software and data
you use through the Internet
• Not installed on your computer or network
• Rent, don’t own, IT resources
• Use from anywhere on the web
• Pay for only what you use
• Scale up, scale down in minutes
• Multi-tenant–shared with many other users
• Server transient--don’t know which you use
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9. Your data in the cloud
Shipping containers
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10. TechSoup Global Survey
64% Small Orgs
(less than 10 staff)
25% Medium
11% large (45+)
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11. Key Findings
Of the 10,500 NGO respondents to the cloud computing survey worldwide:
90% Use cloud computing solutions
Say the greatest advantage is easier software/ hardware
79% administration
60% Say lack of knowledge is the greatest barrier to adoption
Report plans to move a significant portion of their IT to the
53%
cloud within 3 years
47% Say the greatest motivators are reducing costs and ease
of setup
What Apps are NGOs using or are most familiar with?
• Email, social networking/Web 2.0, and file storage/sharing are most
commonly used app types
• Facebook, Gmail, Skype, and Twitter are most familiar apps
11

12. Respondents were familiar with cloud apps…
Which of the following cloud applications are you familiar with? (N=7,397)
12

13. However, actual usage lags behind familiarity
Which of the following cloud applications are you currently using? (N=7,397
13

14. Why do NGOs use or consider
using cloud-based solutions?
Administration Cost Partnership Data
• Easier software access • Low capital investment • Improved collaboration • Improved data security
• Easier disaster recovery • Fewer IT staff needed • Easier to partner with • Better data organization
• Reduced system admin. • Transforms capital other orgs. • Data under my control
• Rapid deployment expenses to operating
expenses.
• Rapid deployment
Question 11: What are the barriers that prevent your organization from
using cloud computing or using cloud computing more? (N=9,051)
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15. Evolution in Computing Resources
• As little as 5yrs ago, physical servers the norm
• Now: need more computational power, storage
• Web & mobile apps need different resources
• Downward economic pressure on IT centers
• Energy, related environmental impact
• Data centers require specialized skills
• Escalating Security and Other Updates

16. Lack of knowledge is the greatest
barrier to cloud adoption
Question 12: What are
the barriers that
prevent your
organization from using
cloud computing or
using cloud computing
more? (N=9,051)
30% of respondents said they didn’t know
enough to know what the barriers are
16

17. Time Frame for Cloud
• 53% plan to move a
“significant portion” of
their IT to the cloud
within 3 years
• However, 36% have no
plans to move to the
cloud
• India, Africa/Middle East,
and Mexico report most
accelerated timeframes
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18. Priority Applications
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19. Virtualization vs. the Cloud
VM Cloud
Own specific server(s) and storage No concept of ownership, only rental
Persistent – state persists across reboots Must use persistent storage & recreate
state
Single tier application architecture N-tier application architecture
Tune for well defined load Scale for unknown, variable load
Users see computer like they do today Components manipulated w/Control
Panel
Some protection against hardware failure Full protection against hardware failure
Same server all the time Automatically switch to among servers
Hours or days to provision Minutes to provision
Still need backups Still need backups

20. Cloud Flavors
October 25, 2012
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21. Cloud Formations
Platform as a Service (Paas)
Complete Development Software as a Service (Saas)
Environment Use a complete existing
application
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
(Saas) Lite Assemble your own infrastructure
Use a utility function
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22. Our Own Story
Service 6 Years Ago… Today
Email Hosted own Google Apps
File sharing File servers Dropbox, google, basecamp
Project Collaboration Email Basecamp, Google
Screen share RDP, installed tools Join.me, RDP, Skype
Web hosting Self-managed servers Managed VPS
Issue tracking Spreadsheets VPS hosted
Source code management Local machine backup Hosted services
Time tracking Custom Access db Harvest
Typical project Access db, backed by IT Web or Cloud app
Accounting Internal db Quickbooks, Paychex
Design Tools Balsamiq, Gliffy, ScreenSteps…
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23. Case Study #1
Moving to Salesforce
5 years ago:
• Access – unstable, locking staff out
• Static web site
• Offices disconnected from each other
Explored collaborative Drupal web site: hard to
innovate, prototype quickly
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24. Turning Point: Adopt Salesforce
Wariness about cloud – staff, funder
Server crash during meeting highlights
• Limited IT resources
• Power, back-up issues
• Server cost to upgrade
• Complexity for inter-office collaboration
• Slow pace of innovation
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25. Move to Cloud in Phases
Client Fund- Redo
Email
Services raising Website
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26. Organizational Gains
• Reduced and predictable costs
• Reduced system admin
• Flexibility, adaptability
• Match donors to clients
• Platform to Integrate email, services
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27. The SaaS Attraction
Off-the Shelf Customizable Build From
Commercial Framework Scratch
Sitting Comfortably Between 3 Approaches
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28. Creating a data hub
Flexible Program
Intake Areas
Analytics &
Dashboards
Case
Management
Document
Management
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29. Universal Activities
Notes Documents Activities Events Email
Institutions Cases/Programs Contacts
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30. Case Study #2
Evolution of a custom app
Attribute 5 Years Ago Today
App architecture MS Access 1-tier MS .Net 2.0
Windows Server On-premise Cloud VPS
Handle more users Poor Good
Support multiple Failed Excellent
locations
Off-site use Costly Web based
Remote Support Challenging Best
Backups Local IT company ISP subscription
Licensing Techsoup, a la carte Included
Desktop Access “front end” Browser (Any)
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31. Today: Partly Cloudy
• Semi-private cloud--national ISP VPS
• Browser-based, window or mac, all browsers
• MS licenses competitive with NP discount
• Provides security and admin
• Data backed up
• Scale Up/ down bandwidth, CPU
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32. Next Stop
Attribute 5 Years Ago Today Future
App architecture MS Access 1-tier MS .Net 2.0 N-tier MS .Net 2.0
Windows Server On-premise Cloud VPS Azure
Handle more users Poor Good Best
Support multiple Failed Excellent Excellent
locations
Off-site use Costly Web based Web based
Remote Support Challenging Best Good
Backups Local IT company ISP subscription Redgate Cloud
service Services
Licensing Techsoup, a la carte Included Included
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33. From the Web to the Cloud
Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianbyday/
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34. Living in the Cloud
(Cloud Hygiene)
Multi-tenant: Your data is stored beside
someone else’s. Cloud provider offers
protection and isolation.
Scaling very different from VPS/hosted.
Need to provision temporary storage and
persistent storage.
Adopt a stateless architecture model.
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35. From custom site to Cloud Service
Task Difficulty
Change db connection string easy
Change file storage to cloud storage Easy – medium
Change from stateful to stateless Medium – hard
connections
Configure hosting environment Medium – hard
Evaluate licenses for 3rd party tools Easy - medium
Programmers adapt to cloud rules Easy - medium
* Thinking about existing software application
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36. Thinking About Costs
Item Cloud VPS ($/mon) Azure ($/mon)
“Wild card” SSL cert Same Same
Cloud VPS (1 core, 3Gb RAM, $141.00
100Gb SAN)
2 SQL db instances (1Gb) $19.98
Geo redundant storage (25Gb) $2.23
Bandwidth Outbound (60Gb) $6.60
2 Extra small web/worker role $28.80
instances
Backups $30.00 $13.00
Total $171.00 $70.61
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37. Microsoft Azure
Best of cloud vendors for running Windows
Easy integration with Microsoft products
Equally opportunity – supports:
.Net
Node.JS
Java
Php
Others may be added
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38. Ready to move to MS Azure?
Advantages to client
no fixed cost
cheaper than RackSpace
scale up, scale down.
reliability
security: separate db from web site
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39. Benefits
Microsoft responsible for significant network
security
Forced to use 2 tier model for SQLServer which
increases security
VisualStudio plug-in and Azure emulator (local
debug)
Free micro instance for development
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40. The Azure proposition
Someday…
Will reduce consultant admin costs
New standards
Integration tools
why not now?
Fear of loss of control
Variable cost based on use
Resolve incompatibilities with current code
No phone support
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41. Part 4: Tips for Getting Started
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42. Develop a Planning Tool
Inventory Evaluate Suitable for Cloud
Who Annual Present New
Function Purpose Owns Who Uses cost Growth Flexibility Structure Structure Now Soon Low Priority
Email Staff Use IT all 10% Low Internal Cloud
Files Staff Use IT all 10% Low Internal Hybrid
Public Commun-
Web presence ications public 20% Medium VPS VPS
Intranet Community Programs partners 30% High -- CLoud
CRM
online tools
Accounting
Client Services
E-news
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43. Budgeting
Internal Infrastructure Cloud Service
Capital Outlay Subscription &/or Usage Costs
Implementation Cost Implementation Cost
Software Upgrades Training
Security Management Enhancements
Training Browser updates
Desktop management Mobile, Social Media
Mobile , social media
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44. Cloud Caveats
• Vendor lock-in: exit means redoing your app
• Operations rely on your Internet connection
• Your cloud instance can go down
• Additional skills needed to operate
• Regulated sectors (eg healthcare) need to
verify auditing requirements
• Still needs IT sys admin and governance
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45. Evaluating Risk
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46. Survey Question
Which is more likely to go down for a day?
 Your desktop
 Your Network
 Amazon
 The Internet
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47. Data Security
• Don’t assume cloud is less secure
• Don’t assume your data is more secure
• You may need to encrypt it in addition to
moving it to the cloud.
• For greatest protection, encrypt separately
and store the key (password) outside the
vendor’s cloud.
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48. Openness is a Spectrum
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49. Drop Box and Salesforce
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50. Salesforce and Smartsheet
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52. Zapier
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54. October 25, 2012 Workshop: Cloudy, Not Gloomy 54

55. New management challenges
 Single Sign On
 Centralize Password Management
 Control mobile devices
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56. Password Management
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57. Password Tool
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58. User Accessible Report Tools
 Folders and Sharing
 Easy Report Design
 Summaries & Dashboards
 Export to Excel
 Assessments & Outcomes
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59. Discussion
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