Future-ready cloud portfolio

Cloud computing struggled for a long time in Germany. In the first few years after the unofficial launch of the cloud in 2006, the new - quite revolutionary - IT concept was widely discussed and tested, but few wanted to dare to implement it in practice.

German SMEs in particular, the backbone of the national economy, remained extremely cautious about cloud computing for a long time, even when large companies in Germany began to implement cloud solutions more and more in the new decade.

For many, the idea of handing over their own data - the digital transubstantiation of know-how, so to speak - was scary, of not having it under their own control in-house, i.e., of foregoing the possibility of being able to pull the plug quickly and without consulting the CIO if necessary, and thus simply disconnecting themselves from the perils of the world.

However, since the monetary advantages of the cloud through scalability and flexibility left no business economist unimpressed in the long run, companies nevertheless began to warm up to the cloud idea on a broad front, i.e. also in the cautious SME sector, from around 2011.

The great cloud crisis with the Snowden affair stopped this development in 2013. Now, all of a sudden, all the objections and concerns were put into law, and actually everything was even worse than ever feared.

Those who had never given anything digital out of their hands had, it now seemed, backed the right horse. So it was no wonder that there were already rumors of the "end of the cloud".

Today, more than two years later, the dust has settled and a more differentiated view has gained the upper hand, but nothing is the same as it was before 2013.

Hardly anyone considers the objections and concerns to be fundamentally settled. On the contrary, they are now an integral part of any sensible cloud strategy. No one seriously denies the risks of cloud computing.

The security of data, applications and systems is a top issue wherever the cloud is discussed. Thus, the differentiation of the cloud concept into the models public - actually, that had been the only idea in 2006 - private and hybrid, which is common today, is also a consequence of this somewhat arduous path.

In this respect, the past nine years of cloud computing can be seen as a maturing and learning process that has led over cliffs and setbacks to a preliminary result that is clearly better, more efficient and, above all, more secure than what was brought into play in 2006.

Cloud computing has thus become a success story whose continuation finds a solid and secure basis especially in this country.

Hybrid goes first

It's no wonder that cloud computing is now also established in Germany, not only among fans, but also in the sphere of responsibility of cautious engineers and business economists.

Almost half of German companies already use cloud computing, and another quarter have plans to do so. However, the long and often difficult path to the cloud has also led to a very differentiated perception of these advantages, particularly among companies in Europe and especially in Germany.

Dogmatic positions - cloud only versus never cloud - are very rarely found here. Unlike in the USA, where the public cloud is in the foreground, the hybrid cloud model, i.e. the combination of public cloud and private cloud, is clearly preferred here:

Nine out of ten companies prefer the hybrid model for future IT environments because, while they want to take advantage of the cloud concept, they do not want to outsource everything.

In test and development environments, the cost and flexibility advantages of the public cloud are readily taken advantage of - especially in the environment of SAP applications. However, as soon as it comes to pre-production or production, companies expect more security and control.

The hybrid approach can also be seen from a technical and content perspective: In Germany in particular, ERP systems are often operated conservatively, i.e., preferably on-premise; only a few have yet dared to transfer an entire SAP environment to the public cloud, for example, to Amazon S3.

One reason for this is that the data in question is considered too important, another is that the automation of one's own SAP world is not yet that far advanced; here, many users are still at the beginning.

In other areas, companies are further ahead. For example, acceptance of the cloud is significantly higher for e-mail applications or MS Office 365. In general, commodity applications tend to be moved to the (public) cloud because cost advantages can usually be realized here without a horse's foot.

For SAP systems, an off-premise private cloud, as offered by managed service providers, is the preferred route; with Dell in Germany relying on proven partners.

Another important aspect is the high level of standardization, which is the basis for the cost advantages of the public cloud - these only arise because providers can make the same resources available to many customers in the same way.

However, this limits the differentiation options for users in the market. This is another reason why users often leave central tasks and assets as close to the company as possible, whether in a classic on-premise model with IT in-house, which can then nevertheless use cloud technology, or off-premise with a service provider, but then in a dedicated environment that provides its resources exclusively.

Ultimately, it's about finding a "happy medium" between flexibility, efficiency and security, and this leads directly to the hybrid cloud.

Meanwhile, there is also a strong trend towards public cloud repatriation: many companies that have tried public cloud see that they cannot meet their security and customization requirements this way.

Unlike at the beginning of the cloud era, today there are also smaller service providers that provide more customizable solutions in the market than the large private clouds, so users have alternatives.

However, most companies retain the experience they have gained and continue to use the public cloud as an additional resource, e.g. for peak loads - which ultimately means they also find themselves in a hybrid cloud environment.

It is precisely because of the variety of models and approaches that can address different requirements that cloud computing is proving to be a market that is growing significantly more than the rest of IT.

Dell has been on the user journey to and with the cloud since the beginning. Today, the company offers a broad portfolio of solutions that cover different cloud models, architectures and approaches for workloads of all sizes. In each case, Dell provides hardware, software and the appropriate services, i.e. complete solutions.

• Dell supports the realization of local private clouds through hyperconverged servers, software defined data centers and software. The infrastructure and automation solutions allow users to efficiently operate their cloud environment with their own assets.

  IT or SAP users can, for example, book test or development systems themselves or quickly provide or make use of new resources.

• Users who need a private cloud but do not want to operate it themselves can fall back on service providers. Dell works here with partners who provide an infrastructure and also host it; they also offer special SAP expertise and managed services. Dell also builds such cloud environments together with the providers and supports them in providing their services.
• With Dell Cloud Manager, users can control and monitor services in various clouds, both their own and third-party.
• Solutions like Shareplex and Boomi help users integrate and migrate applications to the cloud, such as Salesforce or a travel expense report.
• Since security is a key issue in any cloud environment, Dell offers a comprehensive cloud security portfolio. It includes managed security, i.e. security services such as proactive monitoring that alerts companies to potential threats.

  On the other hand, Dell offers software products with which users can improve their cloud security themselves, such as Dell One Identity Manager for seamless access and identity management.

The vast majority of companies will rely on the hybrid cloud in the future because this is the only way they can meet differentiated requirements. In doing so, they are choosing a model that is more demanding than a simple, but not very future-proof "all cloud" or a "never cloud".

This makes it all the more important to have a partner on the path to this cloud who, like Dell, not only has a powerful cloud portfolio, but also know-how and experience in cloud computing.