Independent publication by raconteur.net # 0314 03 / 05 / 2015 CLOUD for BUSINESS Dispersing a cloud of Hybrid cloud formation Streams of music, movies Role of the cloud in 03 mistrust in the air 06 mixes public and private 07 and now live theatre 08 10 top tech trends Storing data in the cloud can unlock great potential for many Integrated cloud computing, mixing public and secure private It is now easier than ever to deliver digital content via the Cloud computing plays a central role in delivering strategic businesses, but some remain sceptical about security issues services, is an increasingly popular business choice in the UK cloud, livening up how we stream music, movies and theatre technology trends, as identified by researchers at Gartner ers, and tapping into the expertise of em- ployees and partners. For these reasons it is pretty much a staple in the startup Cloud shines culture, radically reducing the barriers to entry in any sector. “At last we are close to technology actu- ally enabling business, to the point where it is already no longer just the domain of bright with techies, but now truly accessible to the business and business users. Cloud and the transformation to digital services has been the catalyst,” says Chris Chant of cloud consultancy Rainmaker Solutions. silver lining Perhaps one of the most striking com- mitments to cloud comes from the public sector. Launched in 2012, the UK govern- ment’s G-Cloud initiative is at the heart of The cloud has gone from a misty concept to a the “cloud first” ICT strategy. At the Cabinet Office, Stephen Allott, solid platform essential for growth and stability crown representative for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), explains: in a global economic climate still coughing and “The G-Cloud digital marketplace is the stand-out reform for getting full value from spluttering its way out of recession SME suppliers. With a £600 million a year run rate and 49 per cent going to SMEs, it’s a revolution. Both central government and the wider public sector can buy from thou- OVERVIEW sands of SME suppliers in minutes rather be the bottleneck in driving change than months. KATE RUSSELL or innovation.” “Compliant by default procurement is The results speak for themselves in a lan- the new standard. Plus the G-Cloud is a xecutives around the world are guage any shareholder can understand: shop window for British SMEs globally. under pressure to innovate or die, increased site availability from 57.47 per The US recently acknowledged that the with the value of information and cent in December 2012 to 99.99 per cent in Crown is five years ahead in digital gov- Esecurity among the top priorities 2013-14; record order rates with more than ernment and the G-Cloud is one of our key for all businesses. a quarter of a million page impressions per platforms in that.” Adoption of cloud technology is important minute on Very.co.uk on Black Friday; and While security remains a concern for where there’s elastic demand, helping busi- an increase in trade of 4 per cent over Christ- any business, the most recent iteration, nesses map their metabolism and only pay mas 2014, including sales via mobile devices G-Cloud 6, is the first to use the govern- for computing resources as and when they of 45 per cent. ment’s 14 cloud security principles to need them. Hospitality is another enable buyers to assess the security of Retail is the per- industry undergoing a suppliers’ services. For most this is likely fect example of this, major digital transforma- to go a long way towards allaying fears of with seasonal impacts At last we are close tion. For next generation moving to the cloud. during the so-called travellers the journey Work still needs to be done to address to technology WHAT IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT PROJECT THAT TOP 3 WAYS BUSINESSES ARE USING THE golden quarter between actually enabling begins online and thanks CLOUD TO DRIVE TRANSFORMATION the migration of workloads transparently October and December to social hubs, such as YOUR IT DEPARTMENT IS WORKING ON RIGHT NOW? from one cloud service provider to anoth- and huge online events business, to the point TripAdvisor and Booking. er, without experiencing any down time. such as Black Friday where it is already com, buying decisions Cloud computing 16% This requires applications to be designed when demand is off the are heavily influenced Drive cost accordingly, using open source, open stack no longer just the Legacy systems 12% efficiencies scale, playing havoc by consumer opinion. To modernisation/replacement technology which we’re also going to see a with fixed infrastruc- domain of techies keep a pace of this change, lot more of this year. Software on-premises 9% ture arrangements. hotel chain Marriott In- For Doug Clark, IBM’s UK and Ireland Better enable Shop Direct, which in- ternational is migrating a Security technologies 8% cloud leader, it’s a winning move for busi- mobile workforce cludes the £800-million online brand Very. significant portion of its core IT systems ness. “Not all clouds are created equal. Application develpment 7% co.uk, has committed heavily to a hybrid and applications to an open cloud plat- upgrades or replacement What defines the winners is an agility and cloud infrastructure that allows it to react form over the next few years to offer faster Improve alignment flexibility that comes with a cloud built on Business analytics 6% quickly to market changes, scaling seam- digital services to web-savvy guests and with customers/ ‘open standards’. This allows organisations partners lessly through the peaks and troughs of the discern insights about them from its more Virtualisation 6% to pick and mix the elements they need to year, and offering a much improved custom- than 4,000 properties across the globe. build solutions, to meet the specific needs Disaster recovery er experience. This kind of activity marks another strong continuity planning 6% of their business and consumers, and that Andy Wolfe, Shop Direct’s chief infor- growth area this year – analytics as a service can be continually improved,” he says. mation officer, says: “We operate in a very (AaaS), where large or complex data sets are Source: Computerworld 2015 Forecast Study Source: KPMG Cloud Survey Report This movement towards open standards competitive market and therefore we are analysed using cloud-hosted services. Infor- will prove a real leveller as well as an ena- constantly looking for ways to differentiate mation is the new gold, but it isn’t just about bler. Niche developers from small compa- ourselves from the competition, which re- understanding data. Service industries in ance and grumbling to anyone who’ll listen of customer experience and providing more and modernise will naturally push a lot nies will be able to work together, bundling sults in high demand for IT change, espe- particular need to deploy that understanding about the lack of information coming from flexible working conditions. Although from a of businesses towards the cloud rather their skills like fusion cookery. The result cially in areas rapidly on a station staff? National Express Rail now uses provider’s perspective, intense competition in than shifting sideways to the current will be plug-and-play, hybrid applications like mobile. mass scale. mobile technology and real-time data ana- infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is making it version of Windows Server 2012 R2. This that potentially deliver true innovation, We need to How many lytics to distribute that information as it’s a race to the bottom in terms of price, causing is no bad thing as businesses at all levels rather than just the press office’s inter- be able to times have called for through the cloud. some players to exit gracefully cloud-left. are now experiencing cloud technology pretation of the word, and can constantly spin up development and test environ- you stood on a platform wondering when These infrastructure changes are often not so But as Windows 2003 soon moves to end as a powerhouse tool for developing new evolve to meet the ever-changing demands ments very quickly. IT capacity can’t your delayed train might make an appear- much about cost-saving as driving up the value of life on July 14, the challenge to migrate strategies, forging closer ties with custom- of the digital consumer. RACONTEUR CONTRIBUTORS Publishing Manager Head of Production JON COLLINS NIC FILDES DAN MATTHEWS CHARLES GREGOR PETRI KATE RUSSELL DAVEY WINDER Distributed in Michael Kershaw Natalia Rosek Writer, commentator Technology and commu- Journalist and author of ORTON-JONES Research vice president Freelance technology Award-winning journal- and adviser, he special- nications editor at The The New Rules of Business, Award-winning journalist, at Gartner, he covers writer, author and broad- ist and author, he spe- Managing Editor Digital Manager ises in the impact of Times, he was formerly he writes for newspapers, he was editor-at-large of cloud computing, caster, she contributes cialises in information Peter Archer Jermaine Charvy technology on business, with The Independent and magazines and websites LondonlovesBusiness.com brokerage and service to BBC TV’s flagship security, contributing to Association Design society and culture. 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