Cheaper hardware and advances in network connectivity is a major reason for the large number of Intel servers. These are more like PCs on steroids, which make the low utilization plausible and is an indication for the simplicity to virtualize them all at once. This revolution has made Microsoft fat but brought us little savings. Additional requirements for security and availability ensure other components are expanded.
All this is not because the IT department wants that so badly, but simply because the business demand for it. With distributed processing is the genie out of the bottle and we have a growing need for IT resources. Of course the customer is king, but they should not behave like the jester. Cheaper deployment does not lead to a sense of cost. The lack of a fuel gauge on the dashboard of the user, leads to an excessive use of resources. Chargeback can help, but solutions like vCenter and vKernel watch at the wrong side of the wire. Taxing the posssession of a virtual machine is a very simple form of cost accounting and ignores the hidden costs.
The polluter pays
It all comes down to the perspective from which direction you look. Sales pitches refer to ‘Software as a Service' but only the real cloud players offer services similar like public transport, where someone else is at the wheel and you buy a ticket to use. Maintaining a profitable bus line is only possible if a large proportion of seats is occupied. Driving with an empty bus can only be done if it is subsidized or loss will be covered from other profitable lines. And deviation from the usual route is perhaps possible, but only at additional cost. The same goes for the exclusive use of the bus for your employees only.
The alternative is like giving everyone a company car where changes in ownership does not lead to a different usage and leave the hidden costs unchanged. Because we already are taxed for possession we drive the car to destinations where we better could take the bus. And as the petrol version is replaced after virtualization by a diesel, we can even do more mileage. So we abuse the network by replicating large amounts of data, we use unnecessary storage by storing everything at least twice and we do not care about the licensing of software. Equals the carbon dioxide emissions, it is now time the polluter pays the bill.
Service or servers
Real-time monitoring of all applications is not only useful for capturing usage but also in detecting problems and planning improvements. IT was always a nice job until the users and client-server applications where invented. Who ever had the pleasure to chase incidents in client-server applications knows simple things get complicated. These are usually designed with functionality in mind and do not include manageability or cost visibility. Call for help without making clear where the disturbance is located is just like the use of wildcards in queries. You get many opportunities, but choosing the right answer is not simple.
Many organizations have virtualized their servers as I used to tidying up my room. Buying large boxes and, regardless of content let all the little boxes disappear. It looks tidy, but finding stuff back takes a lot more time. This is the same for resolving incident as more stakeholders are involved each with clear delineation of responsibilities. And because the place, when and how we work is no longer fixed, there are connections to all directions. It is therefore time that stop the focus to the servers, which by virtualization and cloud computing slowly evaporate, and focus again on the service. And although the market wants us to believe that it’s almost free it comprises more than a few servers and simply costs money.
Two worlds, two different costmodels
The insight into all costs in client-server architectures is difficult because the name indicates that you have at least two worlds to deal. Now it is easy to tax property and we do this already by the simple cost models. But the path between client and server in the form of the network belongs to everyone and their use is for free. Perhaps the burden and cost of the internal network is negligible, but this does not apply to remote networks. And the same goes for many common services necessary for security and colloboration. The use is like fare-dodging in public transport and creates tension on the IT budgets.
Other variable costs is in support of all resources used by the business. Standardization of the server platform by virtualization, ensures that all cars are like T-Fords, and simplify the management of servers, but this doesn’t apply for the applications. And copying over and over again the server stack to isolate applications for manageability or cost account will only bring more traffic on the road. Therefore additional lanes and traffic lights are needed which will not be charged to the users. Rising IT costs, what would it be now?
The next party
Internet ensures that we have a highway with no traffic jams and so we can park our cars somewhere else where it is cheaper. Useful as more and more employees want mobility and use various services on the net. Services that we can use at our mobile phones and tablets liberate us of the suffocating walls of the office. So IT has to support all sorts of new devices, widen the driveway to Internet and also ensure that the company is not in the news.
As the servers are standardized, there is a growing number of different devices at user side. So that introduce new problems in both support and making usage at client side visible. The user has therefore again his party while IT provides the free snacks and drinks. That gives me a flashback to the time I sat on the desk when you first had to ask if they used Windows or DOS, or in the language of the user: Do you see those funny pictures or only letters? This can sometimes be difficult with the consumerization of technology as soon several smart phones, desktops and laptops are used.
So I do not have a simple answer but know the ride into the cloud isn't free. And established companies most likely don't sell their cars and start using public transport. So a hybride enterpise will arise, making compliance and management more difficult. Time to start engineering the future by setting awareness at the business about the increasing costs and solve the problems ahead.
All this is not because the IT department wants that so badly, but simply because the business demand for it. With distributed processing is the genie out of the bottle and we have a growing need for IT resources. Of course the customer is king, but they should not behave like the jester. Cheaper deployment does not lead to a sense of cost. The lack of a fuel gauge on the dashboard of the user, leads to an excessive use of resources. Chargeback can help, but solutions like vCenter and vKernel watch at the wrong side of the wire. Taxing the posssession of a virtual machine is a very simple form of cost accounting and ignores the hidden costs.
The polluter pays
It all comes down to the perspective from which direction you look. Sales pitches refer to ‘Software as a Service' but only the real cloud players offer services similar like public transport, where someone else is at the wheel and you buy a ticket to use. Maintaining a profitable bus line is only possible if a large proportion of seats is occupied. Driving with an empty bus can only be done if it is subsidized or loss will be covered from other profitable lines. And deviation from the usual route is perhaps possible, but only at additional cost. The same goes for the exclusive use of the bus for your employees only.
The alternative is like giving everyone a company car where changes in ownership does not lead to a different usage and leave the hidden costs unchanged. Because we already are taxed for possession we drive the car to destinations where we better could take the bus. And as the petrol version is replaced after virtualization by a diesel, we can even do more mileage. So we abuse the network by replicating large amounts of data, we use unnecessary storage by storing everything at least twice and we do not care about the licensing of software. Equals the carbon dioxide emissions, it is now time the polluter pays the bill.
Service or servers
Real-time monitoring of all applications is not only useful for capturing usage but also in detecting problems and planning improvements. IT was always a nice job until the users and client-server applications where invented. Who ever had the pleasure to chase incidents in client-server applications knows simple things get complicated. These are usually designed with functionality in mind and do not include manageability or cost visibility. Call for help without making clear where the disturbance is located is just like the use of wildcards in queries. You get many opportunities, but choosing the right answer is not simple.
Many organizations have virtualized their servers as I used to tidying up my room. Buying large boxes and, regardless of content let all the little boxes disappear. It looks tidy, but finding stuff back takes a lot more time. This is the same for resolving incident as more stakeholders are involved each with clear delineation of responsibilities. And because the place, when and how we work is no longer fixed, there are connections to all directions. It is therefore time that stop the focus to the servers, which by virtualization and cloud computing slowly evaporate, and focus again on the service. And although the market wants us to believe that it’s almost free it comprises more than a few servers and simply costs money.
Two worlds, two different costmodels
The insight into all costs in client-server architectures is difficult because the name indicates that you have at least two worlds to deal. Now it is easy to tax property and we do this already by the simple cost models. But the path between client and server in the form of the network belongs to everyone and their use is for free. Perhaps the burden and cost of the internal network is negligible, but this does not apply to remote networks. And the same goes for many common services necessary for security and colloboration. The use is like fare-dodging in public transport and creates tension on the IT budgets.
Other variable costs is in support of all resources used by the business. Standardization of the server platform by virtualization, ensures that all cars are like T-Fords, and simplify the management of servers, but this doesn’t apply for the applications. And copying over and over again the server stack to isolate applications for manageability or cost account will only bring more traffic on the road. Therefore additional lanes and traffic lights are needed which will not be charged to the users. Rising IT costs, what would it be now?
The next party
Internet ensures that we have a highway with no traffic jams and so we can park our cars somewhere else where it is cheaper. Useful as more and more employees want mobility and use various services on the net. Services that we can use at our mobile phones and tablets liberate us of the suffocating walls of the office. So IT has to support all sorts of new devices, widen the driveway to Internet and also ensure that the company is not in the news.
As the servers are standardized, there is a growing number of different devices at user side. So that introduce new problems in both support and making usage at client side visible. The user has therefore again his party while IT provides the free snacks and drinks. That gives me a flashback to the time I sat on the desk when you first had to ask if they used Windows or DOS, or in the language of the user: Do you see those funny pictures or only letters? This can sometimes be difficult with the consumerization of technology as soon several smart phones, desktops and laptops are used.
So I do not have a simple answer but know the ride into the cloud isn't free. And established companies most likely don't sell their cars and start using public transport. So a hybride enterpise will arise, making compliance and management more difficult. Time to start engineering the future by setting awareness at the business about the increasing costs and solve the problems ahead.
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