Cloud Consumption

June 8, 2015

CLOUD

Cisco Cloud Consumption at Cisco Live!

1 min read

Cloud sprawl is a huge, growing challenge. On average, large companies use 645 individual cloud services, which has grown 17% in just six months. What’s crazy is when you ask...

May 3, 2015

CLOUD

Identifying and Solving the Cloud Sprawl Problem

3 min read

An interesting read for me one day last week was the Wall Street Journal reporting on the exploding yet ungoverned use of cloud services by employees in just...

April 2, 2015

CLOUD

Harnessing the Power of As-a-Service Cloud Offerings

2 min read

When used wisely, consuming cloud as-a-service (aaS) can dramatically improve business outcomes. Primarily, cloud IT services can promote business agility, reduce expenses, and accelerate time-to-market. They...

March 25, 2015

CLOUD

Bringing clarity to cloud usage: a must-do for shaping more effective IT strategies

2 min read

Shadow IT isn’t anything new; it is part of human behavior and started with the first mini-computers in family homes. People will always choose the tools that help them do their jobs in the simplest and most efficient way. Unfortunately, when that means using unsanctioned technologies, well intentioned selections can have unintended and potentially dangerous […]

January 20, 2015

DATA CENTER

Do You Know How Much You Are Spending On Cloud? Hidden Costs of Public Cloud Can be 4-8 Times Higher than Visible Costs

2 min read

Reducing costs remains amongst the top reasons why organizations use public cloud services. However, when calculating the costs of public cloud services organizations need to look well beyond the license fees and billed costs. With Cisco Cloud Consumption Services, we have worked with numerous customers to discover their public cloud usage and analyze cloud spend. […]

December 8, 2014

DATA CENTER

The Journey to Becoming an Enterprise Cloud Service Brokerage: From Shadow IT to Hybrid IT

3 min read

As enterprise cloud use extends to public, private, and hybrid clouds, CIOs and IT leaders are realizing the need to evolve their IT business model to become enterprise cloud service brokerage (CSBs). Cisco’s Scott Clark recently discussed the value of this new business approach for IT and highlighted that by adopting this approach IT can “provide the […]

December 2, 2014

DATA CENTER

Pros and Cons: Do-It-Yourself Approaches to Monitoring Shadow IT & Cloud Services

2 min read

Shadow IT is estimated to be 20-40 percent beyond the traditional IT budget. The ease by which organizations can purchase apps and services from cloud service providers (CSP) contributes significantly to this spending. This is an eye-catching number worthy of investigation—not only to identify and reduce costs, but to discover business risks. So, it is […]

July 7, 2014

DATA CENTER

Governing the World of Many Clouds with Cisco Cloud Consumption Optimization Service

2 min read

CIOs face a scary reality. They only know about 5-10% of the cloud applications that are being used within their organization. This shadow IT is ripping holes in their security strategies. In fact, a recent Forrester study cited that 43% of respondents said they believed shadow IT practices were major threats to their respective organizations. […]

January 28, 2014

DATA CENTER

IT’s New Role in Strategic Cloud Services

2 min read

As cloud-enabled services transform IT departments everywhere, your path to success as an IT professional was made easier today with Cisco’s announcement to expand its cloud portfolio. With...