Monetizing cloud is what's on HP's mind

BANGALORE, INDIA: With growing unstructured data, there is a change in the way it is handled. Cloud is one platform which the companies are fast embracing to ensure that data is put to efficient use.  HP, on the other hand, has gone a step ahead in cloud implementation and expects to give other big players like VMware a tough time. In an interaction, Santanu Ghose, country head, Converge Infrastructure Solutions, HP India, tells Deepa  Damodaran of CIOL how HP planned its cloud journey and how it now sees a lot of scope to monetize it. Excerpts:  CIOL: Vendors say enterprises are looking at cloud, but when asked CIOs tell they are not because of various reasons, especially security. Your take.  Santanu Ghose: From technology perspective there is no dearth of systems and methods that can take care of security, but it is the perception that has to change.  Some CIOs do have reservations with regards to security of data. However, bankers, supposed to be the most conservative of all, are today looking at it for some of their applications because it gives them scalability.  Even many from manufacturing, telecom, IT, ITeS segments are also looking at cloud. Security is more of a concern when you are implementing applications on a public cloud. Whereas, when you set up your own private cloud you need not because data resides in your own environment.  So, private cloud is definitely happening and each and every CIO, especially in SME/SMB, has a strategy around it. The only thing bothering them is how are they going to implement it.  What customers are saying today is that they are open to host some applications on private cloud and some such as e-mails, or sharepoint on public cloud. Some are also looking at managed cloud, wherein a company's private cloud is managed by another person in the latter's premises.  Now, the problem is that user should get a seamless experience while accessing a service, which would be either in a private or a managed or a public cloud.  So now we have traditional IT, and a mix of private, public, hybrid and managed clouds. All of them reside in islands, and migrating from one to another is not an easy job.  This is where HP's Converged Cloud can play a role. It comes with a set of tools and softwares which can bring convergence in the experience between various clouds as it can manage your computer server, storage, network as a single entity.  Moreover, it supports Open Stack distribution. Open Stack is a collection of open source tools to enable applications seamlessly operate between all clouds. This will help inter-operate many applications.  CIOL: Why should companies start using cloud services?  Santanu Ghose: Today, a lot of data, especially unstructured data, is being generated especially through handhelds. Unlike before, they are used for various purposes such as to watch movies, videos, send e-mails, connect to social media, etc.  This amount of unstructured data is changing the whole format of how we need to handle data and cloud is the best way out.  On the other hand, adoption of IT is going up with cloud because today even handhelds are accessing applications. They are accessing data constantly unlike in the PC or desktop era, where we used to have a shut down time.  Moreover, with technologies such as 3G and 4G the demand and pressure on IT will only grow. 4G will drive a very different experience of content. Going forward, with the concept called OTT, i e over the top, content can also be received with PC, broadband, handheld etc, unlike before where DTH or set-top boxes used to be major distributors.  This will give rise to media cloud. Similarly, there will be education cloud where classes and courses will be remotely delivered. Such changes are putting a lot of pressure as to how much of data can we handle. And cloud is the answer

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