Cloud Industry Thought Leaders Share Six Key Insights at Bloomberg Enterprise Technology Summit

Last Thursday, John Considine, chief technology officer for Verizon Terremark, participated on a panel on data center strategies at the Bloomberg Enterprise Technology Summit.

The panel, comprised of representatives from NetApp, Nuage Networks, Verizon Terremark and Verne Global and moderated by Alex Barinka, the East coast technology reporter for Bloomberg News, featured a broad discussion on topics related to data centers and cloud computing.

Following is a recap of key points made by the various panelists.

• Security: Security should be comprehensive. It should care for the physical security of the data center, as well as virtual security for cloud platforms and applications, and enterprise data.
• Control & Visibility: Virtualization drives a need for control and visibility into the cloud infrastructure. The ability to apply policies controlling access to cloud-based systems and data can actually drive higher levels of security.
• Role of the Network: Data centers are the cloud and the role of the network is integral. Robust global IP networks play a role in interconnecting clouds and moving workloads.
• Trusted Providers: Cloud computing is just getting started and enterprises are growing increasingly comfortable in moving mission-critical applications and data to the cloud. However, in order for the benefits of the cloud to be fully realized, enterprises must trust that their providers can get the job done. Service level guarantees will be crucial in accomplishing this goal.
• Costs: Energy consumption accounts for up to 40 percent of the costs of operating a data center. In order to operate efficiently, data center operators must focus on controlling their variable costs, including the energy used to cool a data center. Network automation can also help drive data center energy efficiency.
• Cloud Platforms: Ultimately, there will be a multitude of clouds serving the enterprise market. These will extend beyond public, private and hybrid environments. There will ultimately be clouds built to specific vertical industries that address unique standards and regulations, such as those for healthcare and financial services. Private clouds built by customers for their own use can potentially constrain agility and flexibility by locking them into defined hardware and software options.

In closing, the moderator asked the panel participants to weigh in with their two-year outlook of the data center and cloud computing marketplace. The panelists, Verizon Terremark’s Considine included, coalesced around four key themes – massive capacity, growing enterprise agility, unbounded innovation and increasing trust and knowledge in the capabilities of the cloud.

Said Considine, “As the cloud continues to mature and evolve, more and more enterprises will grow increasingly aware of the benefits cloud has to offer in terms of flexibility, agility and security. This in turn will lead to a substantial growth of data center capacity and these enterprises realize the best path to the cloud is through a service provider that has the wherewithal to invest and innovate.”

Visit the Verizon Terremark website to learn more about its cloud computing and data center offerings, including colocation, managed hosting, cloud computing and professional consulting services.