Delivering utility computing : business-driven IT optimization

The economic downturn that occurred after the .com boom and bust has put the cost of IT in the spotlight. By following the principles of utility computing, also known as on-demand computing, real-time infrastructure, or adaptive enterprise, businesses can improve the IT services they offer, whilst reducing costs and improving agility. Delivering Utility Computing proposes and documents a methodology for delivering utility computing, and provides detailed advice on its principles and benefits. The authors describe a complete and step-by-step process for adapting to a utility computing system, based on proven methodology.

Delivering Utility Computing:

Provides a comprehensive description of the utility model, offering guidance on design, deployment and maintenance issues, and a strong section on service level agreements (SLAs). Explains in detail how to improve efficiencies and achieve cost reduction in the IT department. Adopts a thorough approach, taking into account current baselines, phasing, task involved, success factors and best practice principles. Presents a method rooted in theory, yet broad-based and practical, illustrated throughout with examples and real-world case studies.

This invaluable text provides CIOs, CFOs, system administrators, IT policy makers and professionals looking to develop utility computing practices in their organizations, as well as researchers in computer science, statisticians, engineers, and graduate students, with an in-depth understanding of the concepts and practicalities of utility computing.

Author Notes

Dr Guy Bunker is a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and holds a PhD in Computer Science and Artificial Neural Networks from King's College London. His current role is Senior Director of Strategic Engineering at VERITAS, managing the Utility Infrastructure Architecture and Futures team. Prior to joining VERITAS 8 years ago, Guy worked for a number of companies including Oracle where he was lead architect for enterprise application development tools. He is an active member of various standards bodies, including the Global Grid Forum and the Grid Market Awareness Council.

Darren Thomson works at VERITAS as a Global Practice Leader of their Utility Computing Practice, responsible for the service development and strategic consulting delivery for companies such as Sky Television. He has also worked at The Morse Group, a European systems integrator focused on the design and implementation of critical IT systems in the Financial Services, Telco and Media industries. As a technical strategist, he has contact with many of today's leading edge companies, including Egenera, VMWare, EMC, Platform Computing and Datacore.

Time and IT March on	p. ix
About the Authors	p. xi
Foreword	p. xiii
Acknowledgements	p. xvii
Who Should Read This Book and Why?	p. xix
List of Figures	p. xxi
List of Tables	p. xxv
Part 1 Introducing Utility Computing	p. 1
1 Introduction	p. 3
2 What is Utility Computing?	p. 7
2.1 Overview	p. 7
2.2 The Changing Role of IT	p. 7
2.3 Utility Computing	p. 11
2.4 Return on Investment	p. 17
2.5 Why Now?	p. 19
2.6 It is Not All or Nothing	p. 21
2.7 Further Implications of Utility Computing	p. 27
2.8 Summary	p. 28
Reference	p. 28
3 Historical Trends, or 'Is Utility Computing Really New?'	p. 29
3.1 Overview	p. 29
3.2 Back to the Beginning	p. 29
3.3 Connectivity: The Great Enabler	p. 32
3.4 The Web and the Return to Utility Computing	p. 34
3.5 Pay-As-You-Grow Data Processing	p. 36
3.6 Utility Computing and the Industry	p. 37
3.7 Summary	p. 40
4 The Utility Model in Detail	p. 43
4.1 Overview	p. 43
4.2 The Essentials of a Utility	p. 44
4.3 The Utility Model in Detail (An Analogy)	p. 44
4.4 Should Information Services Be any Different?	p. 61
4.5 Summary	p. 62
5 Service Level Agreements	p. 63
5.1 Overview	p. 63
5.2 An Everyday Event	p. 63
5.3 Defining Services and the Service Level Agreement	p. 65
5.4 Creating Complex Services	p. 77
5.5 Managing Services	p. 79
5.6 Sharing Risk with Suppliers	p. 83
5.7 Summary	p. 85
Part 2 Transformational Modeling	p. 87
6 Project Justification and Focus	p. 89
6.1 Overview	p. 89
6.2 Business Drivers and Project Justification	p. 90
6.3 How to Find Where to Start	p. 91
7 The Utility Computing Reference Model	p. 95
7.1 Overview	p. 95
7.2 The Service Layer	p. 97
7.3 The Process Layer	p. 114
7.4 The Organizational Layer	p. 134
8 A Maturity Model for Utility Computing	p. 147
8.1 Overview	p. 147
8.2 The Maturity Levels in Detail	p. 149
8.3 Creating a Utility Computing Scorecard	p. 160
8.4 Moving Up the Maturity Model (Generic Tasks)	p. 162
9 A Transformational Approach	p. 167
9.1 Overview	p. 167
9.2 The Prepare Phase	p. 173
9.3 The Model Phase	p. 176
9.4 The Transform Phase	p. 179
9.5 The Operate/Innovate Phase	p. 182
10 Technology for Utility Computing	p. 187
10.1 Overview	p. 187
10.2 Virtualization	p. 187
10.3 Performance Monitoring	p. 197
10.4 Reporting	p. 199
10.5 Automation	p. 200
10.6 Chargeback Accounting	p. 203
10.7 Service Level Management	p. 205
10.8 Hardware	p. 208
10.9 Summary	p. 210
Reference	p. 210
Part 3 Implications of Utility Computing	p. 211
11 Cultural Implications	p. 213
11.1 Overview	p. 213
11.2 What to Expect, Getting Ready for Transformation	p. 214
11.3 Moving From Asset Ownership to Service Level Agreements	p. 224
11.4 Effective Corporate Communications	p. 226
11.5 Summary	p. 228
12 Developing a Successful Adoption Strategy	p. 229
12.1 Overview	p. 229
12.2 Types of Adoption Strategy	p. 230
12.3 Choosing a Partner	p. 234
12.4 The Comparison to Outsourcing	p. 238
12.5 Security	p. 238
12.6 Good Targets for Utility Computing Adoption	p. 241
12.7 Brown Field Versus Green Field Opportunities	p. 244
12.8 Using IT Consolidation as a Starting Point	p. 245
12.9 Summary	p. 251
13 Future Trends	p. 253
13.1 Overview	p. 253
13.2 Standards	p. 254
13.3 Packaged Solutions	p. 254
13.4 Service-Oriented Architecture	p. 255
13.5 Virtualization	p. 256
13.6 The End of Applications as we Know Them?	p. 257
13.7 Grid Computing	p. 258
13.8 The Future: An Object Application Environment?	p. 260
13.9 Summary	p. 260
14 Afterword: Avoiding the Pitfalls	p. 263
14.1 Overview	p. 263
14.2 Returning to Chaos	p. 263
14.3 Innovation	p. 266
14.4 Summary	p. 268
Appendix A Case Studies	p. 269
A.1 Case Study: Dartmouth College's Campus-Wide Backup Utility	p. 270
A.2 Case Study: Digital TV Co's Disaster Recovery Utility	p. 277
A.3 Case Study: Arsenal Digital Solutions' Information Storage Utility	p. 284
A.4 Case Study: A Telecommunications Server and Application Utility	p. 290
Appendix B Utility Computing Planning Forms	p. 295
B.1 Baselining	p. 295
B.2 Baselining 2	p. 296
B.3 User Department View	p. 296
B.4 IT View	p. 297
B.5 IT Technology Support	p. 297
B.6 IT Planning	p. 297
B.7 Cost Savings	p. 297
B.8 Hard Metrics	p. 298
Appendix C Initial Utility Computing Reference Model Assessment	p. 299
C.1 Utility Reference Model Assessment	p. 301
C.2 Plotting Your Utility Assessment Results	p. 317
Appendix D Stakeholders and Objections	p. 319
Glossary	p. 327
Index	p. 335

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