The Enterprise Cloud

Chapter 7. Cloud Management

Key topics in this chapter:

• Architecture of a cloud management platform

• Orchestration and automated provisioning

• Systems management

• Multitenant self-service control panels

• Software applications and packaging

• System extensibility and APIs

• Build versus buy decision for cloud management platforms

• Open source cloud platforms and industry standards

• Cloud management best practices

The cloud management system is one of the most important components to consider when planning, deploying, and operating (or consuming) a cloud service. In a public cloud environment, the customer might only utilize a fraction of the overall cloud management platform—usually just the ordering and self-service portal hosted by the public cloud. In an enterprise private cloud, the management system makes it possible for organizations to provision, track billing and utilization, and manage the entire cloud infrastructure. Lessons learned from the first generation of cloud providers and private cloud deployment has clearly shown an under-appreciation of the importance of the cloud management platform. The cloud management platform is the true core for automation, orchestration, workflow, resource tracking, billing, and operations.

Key Take-Away

Public and private clouds both use an underlying cloud management platform. Private clouds have significantly more features and customization capabilities but you have to evaluate and chose your cloud management platform and ...