The Economics of Cloud Computing

Bill Williams

Jan 2012 · Cisco Press

About this ebook

The Economics of Cloud Computing

An Overview for Decision Makers

Bill Williams

Foreword by George Reese, author of Cloud Application Architectures

The decision-maker's guide to cloud computing: from making the case to managing the transition

This concise book delivers the insight and tools you need to make intelligent decisions about cloud computing and effectively manage the transition to this new paradigm. Bill Williams explains how cloud computing platforms are transforming business IT and helps you fully understand the economies of scale and other benefits associated with "the cloud."

Williams defines and explains cloud computing platforms and technologies, analyzes the costs associated with the IT supply chain, and (using industry standard metrics) creates a process for measuring the value of implementing cloud service models. He presents realistic and up-to-date ROI and NPV calculations comparing cloud strategies with conventional investments in owned/leased hardware. Through additional examples, he addresses costs and savings related to software licensing and disaster recovery/high availability, offering even deeper practical insight into the financial impact of cloud computing.

Writing for business leaders and "in-the-trenches" managers, Williams outlines the impact of cloud computing on the IT supply chain by contrasting legacy processes and systems with cloud computing implementations. To simplify deployment, Williams presents easy-to-use tables, a decision-maker checklist, and a comprehensive collection of additional resources for further study.

Understand today's leading cloud service and deployment models

Identify the major characteristics of cloud computing platforms

Use key performance/success indicators to measure IT performance and influence business strategies

Quantify the baseline costs of your current IT value chain

Use TCO, the payback method, ROI, NPV, and other metrics to justify cloud deployments

Calculate the total financial impact of migrating to "the cloud"

Place cloud computing in the historical context of technological revolutions

Recognize the long-term social and global benefits of cheap and ubiquitous computing

This volume is in the Network Business Series offered by Cisco

Press®. Books in this series provide IT executives, decision makers, and networking professionals with pertinent information about today's most important technologies and business strategies.

About the author

Bill Williams is a 16-year information technology veteran. Fourteen of those years have been with Cisco Systems, where he has held several leadership positions. Currently, Bill is a regional manager for data center and virtualization technologies, covering the service provider market segment. In 2008, 2010, and 2011, Bill lead the top-producing service provider regions in the United States and Canada. In 2010, Bill won the Manager Excellence award. Bill attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds master's degrees from Harvard Divinity School and the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Bill also holds U.S. Patent 7260590 for a content delivery application. "The Economics of Cloud Computing" is Bill's second book for Cisco Press. "The Business Case for Storage Networks" was published in 2004. Bill lives with his wife and children in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.