Making the most of enterprise infrastructure has been a top mission for CIOs since the first computers were installed. What's changed is the resources available to provide guaranteed availability regardless of conditions. One of the most important factors in this change is OpenStack. OpenStack has completely allowed for a change in the way to approach always-on availability of applications. This is especially true for cloud based environments that have been seen by many as being unreliable.
Dave LeClair, senior director of strategy and product management at Stratus Technologies, sees OpenStack as the solution to reliability and availability. According to LeClair, "OpenStack has quickly made inroads for companies in all industries – including once skeptical financial services firms – who now have truly elastic environments for critical on-premise applications and hosted cloud apps, while avoiding vendor lock-in."
Even with this promising technology there are hurdles to overcome as OpenStack matures to fully deliver. LeClair explains, "OpenStack still presents a barrier to more robust cloud plans because the reliability of this protocol still has some maturing to do. The Holy Grail, therefore, is rethinking reliability in such as a way that IT can have the mainframe-like availability and low-risk environments they are used to while using the most agile, innovative new approaches."
Changing the way reliability is perceived and delivered through an OpenStack model may require some rethinking. LeClair says, "... the answer lies in a software model that separates availability from the application. This disruptive change will open up new possibilities for the business, namely creating highly available linked systems to account for fail-over and how to “dial-up” availability instantly for as long as your business needs it."
Changes in our computing environment are constant. Understanding the options and moving toward innovative approaches, even if they require significant change in our thinking, is what moves one company ahead of its competitors.
Scott Koegler practiced IT as a CIO for 15 years. He also has more than 20 years experience as a technology journalist covering topics ranging from software and services through business strategy.