In a new post at ZDNet UK, Lori MacVittie takes the idea of “hybrid” to task, observing that hybrid cloud isn’t as neat and tidy as proponents are making it sound. Hybrid cloud — just as SOA — requires integration work, and lots more of it.
“Instead of simply integrating applications — something with which IT is well versed these days — we are shifting our focus toward integrating infrastructure — something with which IT is not so well versed.”
But there’s a lot we can learn from SOA, Lori adds. “But like its application predecessors, a successful integration strategy must be able to incorporate on-premise, off-premise and legacy systems to enable consistent processes and management of resources across the entire infrastructure.”
Lori also ties things back one of my posts, noting that enterprise architecture has been the missing link in cloud formations. But now that cloud has come to the enterprise in various forms, it’s time to start thinking hard about how cloud services will fit in with everything else. “Simply provisioning the resources in a public environment isn’t enough,” she says. “It must be tied back into the infrastructure and the delivery process. It must be joined to the existing resources so that it appears a seamless extension of the corporate compute resource pool. This process requires integration into existing infrastructure architecture.”
So, integration specialists, your jobs are secure for a long time to come. EAs will be kept busy for the foreseeable future as well.
