What Makes For a Good Cloud? Things You Need To Remember When Choosing a Cloud Solution
Migrating your IT system to a cloud environment may generate major savings in terms of hardware expenditures. However, to choose the right cloud service provider, you must pay attention to specific criteria: hardware deployed, access to own data center (or not), and available human resources. What does this mean in practice? Keep scrolling through this space to learn more from Comarch engineers who provide advanced cloud services based on the IBM infrastructure.
Your choice of cloud service provider affects both the speed and the security of the system after its migration. This is why it is so important to choose a company having appropriate hardware and human resources at the same time.
Comarch POWER Cloud is a ready-to-use solution built on the IBM Power Systems platform for virtualization and cloud space management, enabling cloud deployments for IBM AIX, IBM, and Linux virtual machines operating in IBM Power Systems environments. The solution itself includes software elements with an open-source code, which enables companies or service providers to set up and launch their cloud and storage infrastructure in no time.
“Our cloud solutions are now built on Power9, the most recent IBM Power series server. We also use the fastest disk arrays enabled with NVMe technology, thanks to which we can provide our customers with the best quality of cloud services”, says Tomasz Wachnicki from Comarch.
In addition to speed, another major strength of the IBM infrastructure is its near-zero failure rate, confirmed by the long-term experience of Comarch experts. “This hardware is so close to being fail-proof that in 20 years of my professional career, I have experienced just one hardware failure impacting the customer’s production cycle”, adds Daniel Rembiszewski from Comarch.
Cloud solution providers often do not own a data center where their machines are physically located – they tend to lean towards renting a significant amount of server racks instead. As a result, their hardware can be accessed by numerous people from different organizations – which threatens the security of the machines.
This is also why Comarch holds its hardware in its own data center. Therefore, in the event of failure, they can respond immediately. The access to the infrastructure is continuously monitored, while the server rooms are inaccessible to anyone without the required authorizations. Comarch’s staff members hold all licenses and permits that are necessary for working with sensitive data, which enables them to work for insurance companies, banks, hospitals and other similar institutions
There are not many providers who specialize in offering such advanced IT solutions on the market. This is because, among other factors, the hardware is quite expensive, and many universities cannot afford such solutions to educate their students. “It’s difficult to gain experience in working with systems such as IBM Power9. Usually, you need to land in a company that has got such hardware and then, preferably under the supervision of a senior staff member, learn the systems. In our company, it’s easier because our team is not dispersed all over Poland, due to which collaboration is much quicker and more effective, including in emergencies”, says Jacek Bednarek from Comarch.
Bednarek followed his statement by saying that, on a global scale, the policy of manufacturers of advanced IT solutions is changing profoundly these days. For example, IBM hardware, such as OpenPower servers, is becoming more affordable, the purpose of which is to bring technologies such as POWER9, NVIDIA NVLink, or CAPI into general use. “It is a step in the right direction. As a result, we may gain more specialists, but it’s going to happen no sooner than in five to six years. At Comarch, we’re lucky to have many young staff members and experienced administrators, due to which we can share know-how and expertise. In this way, we can provide top-of-the-line services”.
Your choice of cloud service provider affects both the speed and the security of the system after its migration. This is why it is so important to choose a company having appropriate hardware and human resources at the same time.
Advantages of a Cloud based on IBM Power servers
Comarch POWER Cloud is a ready-to-use solution built on the IBM Power Systems platform for virtualization and cloud space management, enabling cloud deployments for IBM AIX, IBM, and Linux virtual machines operating in IBM Power Systems environments. The solution itself includes software elements with an open-source code, which enables companies or service providers to set up and launch their cloud and storage infrastructure in no time.
“Our cloud solutions are now built on Power9, the most recent IBM Power series server. We also use the fastest disk arrays enabled with NVMe technology, thanks to which we can provide our customers with the best quality of cloud services”, says Tomasz Wachnicki from Comarch.
In addition to speed, another major strength of the IBM infrastructure is its near-zero failure rate, confirmed by the long-term experience of Comarch experts. “This hardware is so close to being fail-proof that in 20 years of my professional career, I have experienced just one hardware failure impacting the customer’s production cycle”, adds Daniel Rembiszewski from Comarch.
Data centers and human capital
Cloud solution providers often do not own a data center where their machines are physically located – they tend to lean towards renting a significant amount of server racks instead. As a result, their hardware can be accessed by numerous people from different organizations – which threatens the security of the machines.
This is also why Comarch holds its hardware in its own data center. Therefore, in the event of failure, they can respond immediately. The access to the infrastructure is continuously monitored, while the server rooms are inaccessible to anyone without the required authorizations. Comarch’s staff members hold all licenses and permits that are necessary for working with sensitive data, which enables them to work for insurance companies, banks, hospitals and other similar institutions
There are not many providers who specialize in offering such advanced IT solutions on the market. This is because, among other factors, the hardware is quite expensive, and many universities cannot afford such solutions to educate their students. “It’s difficult to gain experience in working with systems such as IBM Power9. Usually, you need to land in a company that has got such hardware and then, preferably under the supervision of a senior staff member, learn the systems. In our company, it’s easier because our team is not dispersed all over Poland, due to which collaboration is much quicker and more effective, including in emergencies”, says Jacek Bednarek from Comarch.
Bednarek followed his statement by saying that, on a global scale, the policy of manufacturers of advanced IT solutions is changing profoundly these days. For example, IBM hardware, such as OpenPower servers, is becoming more affordable, the purpose of which is to bring technologies such as POWER9, NVIDIA NVLink, or CAPI into general use. “It is a step in the right direction. As a result, we may gain more specialists, but it’s going to happen no sooner than in five to six years. At Comarch, we’re lucky to have many young staff members and experienced administrators, due to which we can share know-how and expertise. In this way, we can provide top-of-the-line services”.
