Cloud Services Catalog with Epsilon

Transcription

1 Cloud Services Catalog with Epsilon Modern IT enterprises face several challenges while building a service catalog for their data center. Provisioning with a cloud management platform solves some of these challenges. But for a comprehensive and a far more effective solution, organizations need to explore the possibilities of integration with an automation platform to manage the complexities of a data center.

2 CONTENTS Overview... 3 Challenges of building a cloud service catalog... 3 Hybrid data center... 3 IT processes versus server provisioning... 3 Provisioning as a solution... 3 Provisioning with cloud management platforms... 3 Implementing a CMP with Epsilon... 4 The challenge of IT processes... 4 Complete IT automation with Epsilon... 4 Seamless Epsilon Integration... 5 Benefits of developing a cloud service catalog with epsilon

3 OVERVIEW As defined in the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a Service Catalog is a list of IT services that an organization provides to its employees and customers. For an organization that hosts its infrastructure on a cloud, public and private, a service catalog can act as a self-service portal to provision applications on the cloud. A cloud service catalog helps users meet their requirements without having to worry about whether they are using the cloud or on-premise hardware. CHALLENGES OF BUILDING A CLOUD SERVICE CATALOG HYBRID DATA CENTER Enterprise IT organizations are increasingly looking to take advantage of the agility afforded by the cloud model. However, constraints such as cost and risk mitigation arise in IT organizations that are built on a combination of: On-premise hardware Private cloud Public cloud Private cloud and public cloud vendors provide their own tools to manage infrastructure, therefore bringing up the need for expertise in each of the different environments. There is also the added complexity of attributing usage, and therefore cost, of resources to various teams sharing the cloud. IT PROCESSES VERSUS SERVER PROVISIONING All cloud infrastructure providers have tools to manage the provisioning of servers. Some of these tools are capable of provisioning applications on these servers. However, provisioning only forms part of an overall IT process that includes approvals, application configuration, build integration, and so on. A service catalog that provides provisioning of servers and applications forms only a part of the complete IT automation solution. PROVISIONING AS A SOLUTION PROVISIONING WITH CLOUD MANAGEMENT PLATFORMS A Cloud Management platform solves some of the challenges in managing the complexities of a modern data center. It provides functionality for provisioning machines and services across the various public and private cloud environments, and manages datacenter capacity in terms of both hardware and cost. A Cloud Management platform also provides a portal from which users can access the services it provides. 3

4 IMPLEMENTING A CMP WITH EPSILON The ability of Epsilon to orchestrate seamlessly between on-premise hardware and public and private clouds makes it an ideal solution for the implementation of a Cloud Management platform for an enterprise data center. Epsilon connects to the interfaces provided by the various public and private cloud vendors and enables an organization to: Provision resources and applications across different environments from a single place Provide a self-service catalog of provisioning services Define a chargeback policy with thresholds and reports Manage capacity with alerts and reports THE CHALLENGE OF IT PROCESSES With a Cloud Management platform, the challenge of working in a heterogeneous IT environment is resolved, but the task of completely automating the IT process remains. Provisioning of resources using the Cloud Management platform forms only one part of the end-to-end IT process. Starting from the creation of a ticket at the Service Desk to final resolution, a typical IT process involves several tasks and extensive coordination between various teams of engineers, often wasting valuable time waiting on s and other notifications. COMPLETE IT AUTOMATION WITH EPSILON Process automation is where an orchestration tool like Epsilon excels. Epsilon integrates with most commonly used Service Desk software to manage the service resolution process end-to-end. Processes are modelled as workflows, which in turn integrate with other software in the data center, like Microsoft Active Directory, Oracle PeopleSoft, Microsoft Exchange, and so on. The diagram below shows the integration of Epsilon with a hybrid cloud data center to provide a catalog of application deployments. 4

5 SEAMLESS EPSILON INTEGRATION Epsilon can be used to implement an entire Cloud Services catalog. However, most organizations have already implemented some part of cloud management and it is still in use. This is where the flexibility of Epsilon becomes useful. Instead of replacing existing tools that are proven to work well, Epsilon can be used to build the components and functionality that complement these tools and then integrate with these tools to provide an end-to-end solution. This mode of integration causes minimal disruption in the existing data center while considerably improving the capability of IT operations. BENEFITS OF DEVELOPING A CLOUD SERVICE CATALOG WITH EPSILON A service catalog for a heterogeneous environment built on the cloud allows IT operations to very clearly define the services that are provided. When this catalog is backed by an automation engine, it augments the efficiency of an IT organization. A Cloud Service Catalog powered by Epsilon includes: Integration with all cloud-infrastructure providers A single access portal to the entire range of services provided on the cloud End-to-end IT process implementation without manual intervention Faster ticket resolution with a smaller team Enhanced security by enforcing access through the catalog Clear audit trails in the workflow logs Minimal disruption to existing operations 5