Cloud Computing Research
Cloud Computing Research
Manchester Business School Commissioned by Rackspace
Dr Brian Nicholson Dr Ali Owrak Dr Lucy Daly
Contents
1. Foreword ................................................................................................................ 1
2.
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 2
3. 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 4.
The economics of cloud computing ....................................................................... 3 Are there cost savings Improving success rates Inspiring entrepreneurs IT skills and cloud computing ................................................................................. 7
5. 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 6. 7
Contributors and methodology ............................................................................. 9 Contributors Methodology Vanson Bourne About Rackspace .................................................................................................. 10 About the customers included…………………………………………………………………………10
1
1. Foreword
“By using cloud technology we were able to provide a very reliable and scalable solution to our enterprise customers.” Christian Reitz, Chief Technology Officer, Netbiscuits You just need to make a conscious decision that you want to save money and move into the cloud.” Darren Robertson, Digital Communications Officer – Data Scientist, Action for Children In difficult economic conditions businesses need to maximise all the advantages they can. Evaluating the potential benefit of a shift to cloud services for infrastructure and/or software and platform purposes can seem daunting to a business. How do we go about evaluating what’s out there, what’s relevant to our businesses and how we should implement it? Isn’t it easier just to stick with what we’ve got? After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And can we rely on anecdotes and stories from our peers? Who really knows how cloud services
Manchester Business School Commissioned by Rackspace
Dr Brian Nicholson Dr Ali Owrak Dr Lucy Daly
Contents
1. Foreword ................................................................................................................ 1
2.
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 2
3. 3.1. 3.2. 3.3. 4.
The economics of cloud computing ....................................................................... 3 Are there cost savings Improving success rates Inspiring entrepreneurs IT skills and cloud computing ................................................................................. 7
5. 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 6. 7
Contributors and methodology ............................................................................. 9 Contributors Methodology Vanson Bourne About Rackspace .................................................................................................. 10 About the customers included…………………………………………………………………………10
1
1. Foreword
“By using cloud technology we were able to provide a very reliable and scalable solution to our enterprise customers.” Christian Reitz, Chief Technology Officer, Netbiscuits You just need to make a conscious decision that you want to save money and move into the cloud.” Darren Robertson, Digital Communications Officer – Data Scientist, Action for Children In difficult economic conditions businesses need to maximise all the advantages they can. Evaluating the potential benefit of a shift to cloud services for infrastructure and/or software and platform purposes can seem daunting to a business. How do we go about evaluating what’s out there, what’s relevant to our businesses and how we should implement it? Isn’t it easier just to stick with what we’ve got? After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And can we rely on anecdotes and stories from our peers? Who really knows how cloud services