Cloud migration

Internal, external or hybrid cloud?

Cloud migration planning can be far more complex than pure virtualisation planning

It seems that the word “cloud” is on the lips of all IT managers, with most organisations at some point on the journey to some sort of cloud. A key issue for most though, is how on earth to determine what they need.

CiRBA, the data centre intelligence company is addressing this issue, by introducing analytics to aid cloud migration. Available with CiRBA Version 6.2, these new analytics support organisations in determining how to set up their internal cloud environments, as well as determining the optimal environment, placement, instance size and software profile to migrate individual workloads to.

For organisations looking to determine which workloads should migrate to cloud infrastructure, the analytics factor in all the critical characteristics of physical and virtual workloads ranging from utilisation patterns and personalities to configurations and governing policies. These workload profiles are assessed against possible environments, available capacity, instance catalogues, software stacks and costs to determine the optimal placements and configuration choices.

“Cloud migration planning can be far more complex than pure virtualisation planning, partly due to the added variables of instance sizing and costs, but primarily because policies take on an even more critical role in the decision of where to place workloads,” said Andrew Hillier, co-founder and CTO of CiRBA.

“When presented with pre-packaged capacity and multiple hosting options, clear guidelines are needed in order to make the right decisions. Rather than leaving this up to end users, CiRBA 6.2 provides customisable policies that govern where things go and how much resource is allocated, accelerating adoption and minimising mistakes and rework along the way.”

CiRBA Version 6.2 is scheduled for release in July 2011.