Global enterprise cloud transformation: Centralize, distribute or federate?

Cloud computing rapidly gains popularity as a cost-efficient way of provisioning and consuming IT services. There are two fundamental cloud computing deployment paradigms: public and private. While public cloud has gone a long way since the concept inception, it still fails short on a number of enterprise requirements. We believe that in the foreseeable future the private cloud model, in which the cloud is fully owned by the company and serves users from this company only, will remain the dominant one in the enterprise. While agility is achieved in a private cloud by using virtualization, automation, and self-service, the economic model of a private cloud is not as clear as that of the public one. In this position paper, our focus is on qualitatively analyzing organizational and business factors affecting the cost-effectiveness of private clouds for global enterprises. We analyze the global enterprise structure, which often comprises an overwhelmingly complex and intertwined networks of global organizations, and suggest a simple classification model, reflecting the private cloud maturity levels. We discuss technological and organizational issues arising at each level of maturity and outline a research agenda to address pain points in private cloud computing.