The Cloud Computing model is replacing the traditional IT model for many organizations that have not been able to keep up with the tremendous rate at which technology is changing, the challenges of disparate IT systems inherited through acquisitions and mergers, and decreasing internal resources available for IT commitment. Cloud Computing models range from public cloud services that bill companies for access to IT infrastructure; the private cloud provider that hosts resources for the sole use of its own organization; dedicated external hosting to non-shared resources; and hybrid hosting, a mixed solution of cloud computing and dedicated hosting. Schneider Electric consulting experts use their Cloud Assessment Checklist to help potential clients identify the computer services needs that best meet their IT challenges. It is not uncommon to find that an organization would optimize operation with a hybrid hosting solution in which a secure, single-tenant database would be stored with a dedicated host and the front-end would be hosted in the public cloud. Similarly, cloud bursting functionality enables the organization to automatically deploy new applications within the public cloud as needed. Such hybrid hosting models allow scaling capability to accommodate an increase in the number of users in the organization and meet peak traffic demand. Careful examination of business and security characteristics can determine the proper cloud and hosting model that meets the needs of any particular enterprise and, as a result, help increase the organization’s IT capabilities and productivity while adding value to the business.

1. Cloud Computing
October 2011 / White paper
Make the most of your energy SM

2. Summary
Executive summary ................................................................................... p 1
Introduction ............................................................................................... p 2
IT environment-related issues . ................................................................... p 4
Cloud computing concept and models ...................................................... p 5
Schneider Electric cloud assessment . ....................................................... p 6
Schneider Electric cloud assessment checklist .......................................... p 7
Conclusion ................................................................................................ p 8

3. Cloud Computing
Executive summary
The Cloud Computing model is replacing the traditional IT model for many
organizations that have not been able to keep up with the tremendous rate at
which technology is changing, the challenges of disparate IT systems inherited
through acquisitions and mergers, and decreasing internal resources available
for IT commitment.
Cloud Computing models range from public cloud services that bill companies
for access to IT infrastructure; the private cloud provider that hosts resources for
the sole use of its own organization; dedicated external hosting to non-shared
resources; and hybrid hosting, a mixed solution of cloud computing and
dedicated hosting.
Schneider Electric consulting experts use their Cloud Assessment Checklist to
help potential clients identify the computer services needs that best meet their
IT challenges. It is not uncommon to find that an organization would optimize
operation with a hybrid hosting solution in which a secure, single-tenant database
would be stored with a dedicated host and the front-end would be hosted in the
public cloud. Similarly, cloud bursting functionality enables the organization to
automatically deploy new applications within the public cloud as needed. Such
hybrid hosting models allow scaling capability to accommodate an increase in the
number of users in the organization and meet peak traffic demand.
Careful examination of business and security characteristics can determine
the proper cloud and hosting model that meets the needs of any particular
enterprise and, as a result, help increase the organization’s IT capabilities and
productivity while adding value to the business.
Cloud Computing
White paper on Cloud Computing | 01

4. Cloud Computing
Introduction
The combination of rapid technological evolution and present economic
realities has given rise to the era of Cloud Computing. Just as with the historic
mainframes and the events of the client-server days, the advent of the cloud
is significantly changing the way computer services are used. The Cloud
Computing model enables companies to share resources, software and
information by means of a growing variety of devices — creating new business
opportunities in terms of speed and efficiency.
Today’s economy needs a fundamental change in IT structure costs. Recent
studies show that 70 percent of IT budgets are applied to maintaining current
systems, whereas just 30 percent is used to enhance productivity and
innovation. The goal is to come up with better models for providing innovative
services — helping increase IT capabilities and productivity while adding value
to the business.
For this reason, IT executives are demanding computer solutions that offer
technology aimed at performance, high availability, greater reliability, rapid
mass scalability, as well as cost reduction that enables higher growth and
greater flexibility.
White paper on Cloud Computing | 02

5. Cloud Computing enables
companies to share
resources, software and
information by means of a
growing variety of devices

6. Cloud Computing
Cloud computing
IT environment-related issues
Companies are up against a tremendous
number of obstacles in their IT environments:
complex systems, personnel overload and capital
investment needs are giving rise to bottlenecks
in the implementation of infrastructures and new
developmental progress. This impedes most IT
organizations from rapidly deploying applications
or maintaining them in a profitable manner.
Underlying these challenges is a series of causes
and effects that complicate and hinder agility and
flexibility in business processes. In the first place,
there is a knowledge gap among IT personnel in
regard to technologies, systems and processes.
In-house IT departments struggle to keep their
companies up to date by using the best available In light of this situation, companies are forced
hardware and software; however, today’s to endure high IT costs in order to adapt to new
technological invasion coupled with the need to business challenges. Many organizations have
maintain current services render it an arduous and had to fully assume the costs of hardware and
costly mission. The reason for this gap is not the infrastructure resources, which requires significant
lack of IT team capability or proactivity, but rather expenditure of capital on underused infrastructure
the tremendous rate at which technology and equipment that will become obsolete in just
is changing. a few years — thus entailing migrations, service
interruptions, and new personnel training.
This difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that many
companies have systems that have been “patched Therefore, the traditional IT model, focused on
together” to meet business needs and/or inherited maintaining current processes, can prove to be
through acquisitions or mergers. too slow and extremely costly. These obstacles
have a negative impact on agility and productivity,
Secondly, human IT resources are experiencing which leads to a loss of business and affects
work overload under the economic model we are company growth. Hence, the frustration observed
facing today. Given this context, many companies among first-line employees and executives, who
have had to cut their budgets, allocating the are aware of the need for technological innovation
execution of basic competencies to IT personnel and change that remain out of reach.
who devote most of their time to maintaining the
systems in place, often with fewer resources. This Cloud Computing and dedicated hosting models
leads to a drop-off in investment in productivity have been brought to bear in order to solve many
and innovation. of the problems mentioned.
White paper on Cloud Computing | 04

7. Cloud Computing
Cloud computing concept and models
When applied carefully and professionally, Cloud requirements and other risks associated with
Computing and dedicated hosting can be secure, the use of multiple users and shared resources.
profitable, flexible, scalable, and fast. Consequently However, it requires a substantial initial investment,
business capability can be increased as needed and later — depending on needs — makes it
along the way — without having to invest in new necessary for the consumer to increase capacity
infrastructure, training, and software licenses. through new equipment and bandwidth.
The industry has coined the term “cloud” to Private clouds are usually built inside dedicated
encompass the range of hosting and virtualization hosting environments, where the hosting provider
solutions that create public, private and hybrid offers dedicated virtualization resources to quickly
models. Each has their own advantages and set the user up with new virtual machines.
limitations that enable numerous cases of use,
adapting to business and security requirements: • Dedicated hosting — used in both physical
and virtualization environments, this involves
• The cloud — known as the public cloud, non-shared solutions that are hosted externally
either off-premise (hosted) or multi-tenant through a hosting provider.
(shared use of resources), it constitutes a
solution that facilitates a genuine model of • Hybrid hosting — a mixed solution of cloud
utility computing. It consists of a combination computing and dedicated hosting utilizing a
of software-managed virtualized hardware secure, private network to connect services/
that allows users to supply or dismantle these servers or private clouds within the corporate
resources in seconds or minutes. Under this network to more flexible resources within
model the provider of cloud services holds the cloud. This type of cloud computing
ownership to the entire physical infrastructure provides the low-cost elasticity of cloud
and software, allowing companies to purchase computing together with the security afforded
access to these resources, billing only time, by corporate services/servers. There are
bandwidth, and storage used. usually common application programming
interfaces (APIs) in place, maintaining a single
• Private cloud — single-tenant (non-shared management interface.
use of resources) virtualization solution, hosted
both internally and externally.
Under this option, a single entity hosts resources
in a virtualized environment for the sole use of its
own organization. It enables the entity to address
security fronts, compliance with privacy-related
White paper on Cloud Computing | 05

8. Cloud Computing
Schneider Electric cloud assessment
Understanding the different uses and limitations of
the cloud is essential, because even though it’s for
everyone, it doesn’t work for everything.
For instance, some companies use dedicated
hosting to store databases inside dedicated
hardware with the aim of meeting standards or
compliance requirements (PCI, for example), or
because they would rather not have confidential
data housed in a shared platform. Other
applications, such as Web servers or certain SaaS
tools work well in the cloud as a product of their
elasticity and rapid scaling capability.
Schneider Electric offers a team of consulting
specialists to advise customers regarding these
cloud services:
• Schneider Electric hosting
• Schneider Electric cloud platform
• Schneider Electric private cloud
White paper on Cloud Computing | 06

9. Cloud Computing
Schneider Electric cloud
assessment checklist
Schneider Electric has set up the Schneider Electric The hybrid model, then, lends the company scaling
Cloud Assessment Checklist, which consists capability to thereby handle the increased number
of a questionnaire enabling the most suitable of users and meet peak traffic demand.
technologies and options to be determined for each
customer based on business and application needs: In a similar fashion, cloud bursting functionality
allows companies to utilize the complete capability
1. Is the workload I/O-intensive? of their dedicated infrastructures, without the risk
2. Is it latency-sensitive? of performance degradation during peak use. That
3. Does the application require compliance with is, it has the capacity to automatically deploy new
security standards? applications within the public cloud as needs arise.
4. Is it a legacy application? Without the cloud bursting option, the company
would have to invest in infrastructure in order to
Model options depending on the response: resolve the aforementioned peak periods, which
would subsequently force the organization to
A) Negative response. If the answer to all of the maintain an environment with minimal capability use.
questions above is no, the cloud model can add
value to the IT strategy of a business. Therefore, all enterprise applications have specific
characteristics, in terms of both business and
B) Affirmative response. If the answer is yes, then security, making the decision as to whether
implementation structured solely within the current to adopt the cloud an important one. Some
cloud is most likely impractical — which should not companies will be able to use the cloud model
itself completely rule out use. This is the case, to immediately, whereas others will have to devote
the extent that hybrid hosting enables cloud use time to researching the options of the hybrid/private
while exploiting a dedicated hosting environment in model. This investment can lay the foundations
which the cloud did not prove to be an alternative. for sustained profitability to alleviate the difficulties
One example involves cases requiring a secure, posed by many IT environments and which
single-tenant database, but where the front-end companies must overcome.
does not have compliance requirements. In this
situation the database would be stored with a
dedicated host with the front-end being hosted in
the public cloud.
White paper on Cloud Computing | 07

10. Cloud Computing
Conclusion
Cloud Computing in a nutshell:
• The advent of Cloud Computing is significantly changing the way computer
services are used. Innovative and configurable services make it possible for
an organization to rapidly deploy productive applications and maintain them
in a profitable manner.
• hen applied carefully and professionally, Cloud Computing and dedicating
W
hosting can be secure, flexible, scalable and fast — and allow the organization
to be more productive and responsive to new business opportunities.
Recent studies show that just 30 percent
of current IT budgets is used to enhance
productivity and innovation
White paper on Cloud Computing | 08

11. © 2012 Schneider Electric. All rights reserved.
Schneider Electric
C/ Valgrande, 6,
28108 - Alcobendas (Madrid) (Spain)
Telephone: 34-902-33-55-99
Fax: 34-91-714-70-05
http://www.schneider-electric.com
July 2012