Real Customers, Real Private Clouds

I wanted to highlight a post from David Greschler, Microsoft’s Director of Virtualization and Cloud Strategy, over on the VMBlog.com site that touches on a couple of customers using real Private Cloud implementations today. The customers include Lionbridge, Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA), and EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffered Services, and the post focuses on how they use a combination of Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V server virtualization and System Center management tools to optimize their IT infrastructure and experience the benefits cloud computing has to offer.

I know there are still many of us getting familiar with the terminology around cloud computing, like ‘public cloud’, ‘private cloud’, ‘hybrid cloud’, etc.. How Microsoft defines ‘private cloud’ has been covered in this forum before, and you can also find some basic private cloud information here too. Microsoft understands that cloud computing is not an ‘all or nothing’ proposition for customers. Some may want to dabble in private cloud or move some of their basic infrastructure apps like e-mail or collaboration to a public cloud environment. Others are already developing in the public cloud on Windows Azure for example. You should be able to set the pace you’re comfortable with, and we provide the broad set of cloud computing offerings for you to do that.

The key thing is that many of you reading this post likely already have the IT infrastructure you need to support a private cloud.  Additionally, you already have the skill sets in-house as well with your IT staff  who are trained on Windows Server and Microsoft System Center.  Give the post a read to see how others have gotten started to better understand how you might as well.

I welcome your thoughts on this, if you have comments please post them.  If you’re looking for more information on Microsoft’s business cloud computing offerings check out the Cloud Power site as well to see what others are doing or where you can get started.

Thanks - larry