It’s amazing the world we live in. Not long ago, if users needed a machine to test on, their options were to wait patiently for IT to fulfill the request, or buy a prohibitively large piece of equipment on their own and figure out how to get it into a state where they could use it. This, of course, is completely contrary to today where if IT gives a user an answer that they don’t like (for example, it’ll take 2 weeks to fulfill your request for a VM) all I have to do is put down the corporate card at a public cloud vendor. “I don’t need IT.” Boom! Instant resources without all the hoops and waiting.
What they haven’t taken into account by taking IT out of the equation is that they’re exposing both themselves and the company to a lot of potential risk. Confidential data, intellectual property, compliance, and cost are all out of the reach of the company. To make matters worse, that information spreads, and when it spreads can decrease the confidence in IT. “Oh, don’t put in a request. It will take 2 weeks to get the VM and we need this done by the end of the week.” See what happened there? IT is completely taken out of the loop and is no longer a partner in that group’s success which is all due to the user’s perception they don’t need all the value that IT is delivering in the form of OS patches, firewalls, and hardened applications.
This is the exact opposite of where IT needs to be. IT is the engine that the company runs on. Without technical people technical holes are exposed, environments don’t work correctly, and things don’t get done. IT’s job to partner with the business to ensure the business’ success. This may even mean taking the Steve Jobs philosophy that you have something ready before the users even ask for it.
In the past, there’s been the issue of the machine under the desk, but this is different. This is a machine on the street…just sitting there…without security or compliance. How do we elevate this machine from the street to the cloud? Through governance, policies, and automation.
At the upcoming VMworld (San Francisco and Barcelona) Naomi Sullivan and I will be discussing these topics and how you can provide your users with a cloud that utilizes public cloud resources alongside your private cloud resources. All the while we tell you how you can place guardrails in the form of governance and reclaim the title of “the go-to guys.”
Register now for VCM5148 session titled “Provisioning and Managing a Heterogeneous Cloud with vCloud Automation Center” and the Hands On Lab: Enable Hybrid Cloud Automation & Governance with vCloud Automation Center (vCAC) (HOL-SDC-1307).
You can also pre-register using the schedule builder as several of the sessions are nearly at capacity. You can also comment on your favorite picks and speakers.
Stop by the VMware Cloud Management Lounge for a space to relax, learn more and chow down (location: 2020).
For a full list of Cloud Management sessions (vCAC, vC Ops, Log Insight, ITBM) check out the Schedule at a Glance for Virtualization and Cloud Management.
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