2014

CLOUD
GUIDE
INSIGHTS FOR
A GREAT MIGRATION
Cloud computing is set
to become mainstream
computing, period. the
biggest news for cloud
computing is that it will not
be news. Its the way we do
computing today.
Joe McKendrick, Forbes
02 2014 Cloud Guide
RISE ABOVE
THE NOISE
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
(AND WHERE TO FIND IT)
The cloud space is noisy, with competing opinions, statistics and
data. Theres plenty of information out therebut knowing what
to trust can be a challenge. Heres a quick look at important cloud
computing trends and a short list of trusted resources to help you
think through your cloud strategy. Youll fnd expert insight about:

Why Business Is Moving to the Cloud
What Makes a Great Migration?
The Truth About Cloud Security
WHY BUSINESS
IS MOVING TO
THE CLOUD
In 2013 enterprises got real about cloud computing. In 2014 we will integrate it into
our existing IT portfolioswhether IT likes it or not.
James Staten, Forrester Research
Cloud Computing Predictions for 2014
03 2014 Cloud Guide
04 2014 Cloud Guide
63% of business leaders
agree that the cloud can make
their entire organization more
business agile and responsive.
McKinsey Report
Protecting Information in the Cloud
Up to 80% of IT budgets are
tied up in routine maintenance.
Cloud frees up IT executives to
think and act strategically.
Joe McKendrick, Forbes
5 Benets of Cloud Computing Youre
Not Likely to See in a Brochure
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AGILITY,
SCALABILITY
& COMPETITIVE
EDGE
WHY BUSINESS IS
MOVING TO THE CLOUD
CIOs and other IT leaders have good reason to consider
the cloud. Many companies choose cloud for the savings it
promises. What they fnd, however, is even more important:
Cloud enables your business to be more agileand more
competitive.
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05 2014 Cloud Guide
RETURN ON
INVESTMENT
WHY BUSINESS IS
MOVING TO THE CLOUD
Cloud offers businesses a variety of ways to achieve a positive
return on investment (ROI): Shifting capital to operational
expenses, paying only for actual consumption and scaling to
meet demand enables overall savings and lower total cost of
ownership (TCO).
However, a 2013 Gartner survey of more than 2,000 CIOs
revealed that enterprises realize only 43% of the business
potential of technologies, including cloud computing.
To get the most out of the cloud, smart organizations consult a
provider with the expertise necessary to provide a roadmap for
achieving ROI and TCO goals.
68% of IT managers
see greater migration
to the cloud as
bringing equal or
better total cost of
ownership (TCO) to the
organization.
GigaOm
2013 Future of Cloud
Computing Survey
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WHAT MAKES
A GREAT
MIGRATION?
As 2014 dawns, were moving into an era of truly mainstream adoption of cloud
IaaS....Organizations that havent done at least a cloud IaaS pilot by now,
however informal...are at the trailing edge of adoption.
Lydia Leong, Gartner
The End of the Beginning of Cloud Computing
06 2014 Cloud Guide
From migrating the
wrong applications to not
understanding governance,
its easy to blow things up in
the cloud.
David Linthicum, InfoWorld
3 Surere Ways to Screw Up a
Cloud Deployment
07 2014 Cloud Guide
ASKING
THE RIGHT
QUESTIONS
WHAT MAKES A
GREAT MIGRATION?
While the benefts of cloud adoption are clear, its also an incredibly complex
undertaking. As Gartner Analyst Richard Watson points out, a cloud migration is
not a silver bullet: All require architects to understand application migration from
multiple perspectives and criteria

Before starting a migration plan, consider these critical questions:

What business challenges do you want to address through cloud computing?
What are your companys needs for control, security and accountability?
How will you integrate cloud services with the network?
What are your users doing and what are their needs?
How are you going to use your applications?
What are your performance metrics?
The rst step is working with a partner to develop
a plan that gets to the heart ofyour business.
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08 2014 Cloud Guide
MOVE THE RIGHT STUFF
WHAT MAKES A GREAT MIGRATION?
Most organizations sort their applications into buckets based on security, availability and
SLA considerations. Heres what most businesses are moving.
59% of applications will be
upgraded or replaced. More than
half of those will move to the public
cloud.
Gartner, User Survey Analysis: Using Cloud
Services for Mission-Critical Applications
85% of enterprises plan to host
internal back-offce applications
(accounting, ERP, supply chain
management, etc.) on
cloud platforms.
Forrester, Private Clouds Will Use
Hybrid Infrastructure
Executives predict that by 2015,
70% to 75% of their applications will
be hosted in cloud environments that
will enable savings of 30% to 40%
compared with current platforms.
McKinsey Report, Protecting
Information in the Cloud
30
-
40%
SAVINGS
C
L
O
U
D

M
I
G
R
A
T
IO
N
85%
59%
OF APPLICATIONS
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09 2014 Cloud Guide
ONE CLOUD
DOES NOT
FIT ALL
WHAT MAKES A
GREAT MIGRATION?
Many cloud experts recommend hybrid confgurations because
they offer the best of both private and public clouds, balancing
security needs with mission-critical applications that require
24 x 7 uptime.
For example, a company might use public cloud for web, search
engines and application servers, but use private cloud for their
database servers.
Experts agree with this approach. Robert Jenkins at CloudSigma
predicts 2014 will be the year of the hybrid cloud solutionand
hes not alone. Gartner predicts, Nearly half of large enterprises
will have hybrid cloud deployments by the end of 2017.
The clear path to the cloud is hybrid.
PUBLIC CLOUD
seasonality | scalability
PRIVATE CLOUD
PRIVATE CLOUD
compliance | licensing | auditing
database servers
web application
servers
search
engines
Over 60% of Windstreams
cloud customers have chosen
a hybrid cloud solution.
Rob Carter, Windstream
Cloud Computing Choices: For Some
Organizations, the Best Answer May
Be All of the Above
10 2014 Cloud Guide
assessment
technology
timing
planning
data
users
connectivity
migration
THE RIGHT
APPROACH
WHAT MAKES A GREAT
MIGRATION?
With the amount of complexity in a cloud deployment, theres no
template to follow. Every project is unique because every business
is different.
While its tempting to jump in and get started with migration, the
smarter approach is to begin with a thorough assessment of current
technology, legacy applications and business needs. A deliberate,
thoughtful process makes your migration go more smoothly.
A stair-step approach often works best.
THE TRUTH
ABOUT CLOUD
SECURITY
While the vast majority of organizations have deployed cloud computing in some
form, those that dont make the move to cloud make that choice because of security.
Every survey conducted over the past two years reects that security is the
primary cloud adoption concern.
5 Cloud Predictions for 2014, Cloud Passage
11 2014 Cloud Guide
Nearly 60% of enterprises
believe their cloud providers
security capabilities are
better than their own.
2013 U.S. Cloud Security Survey
IDC
12 2014 Cloud Guide
ITS BETTER
THAN YOU
THINK
THE TRUTH ABOUT
CLOUD SECURITY
In many cases, the physical security and data protection of a cloud
services provider is better than your own on-premises solution.
With a hosted cloud solution, you still decide who has control and
access, but you can spend less time managing and monitoring the
network. That gives you the freedomand peace of mindto focus
on your core business.
No matter what, good security begins with a deeper conversation
about your business needs with your provider.
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FINDING THE RIGHT
RESOURCES & TEAM
At the end of the day it is all similar technology; whats different is how the
provider makes the technology work for the customer.
Rob Carter, Windstream
13 2014 Cloud Guide
14 2014 Cloud Guide
REPORTS, BLOG POSTS
AND WHITEPAPERS
FINDING THE RIGHT RESOURCES & TEAM
My One Big Fat Cloud Computing Prediction for 2014
Joe McKendrick, Forbes
Cloud Computing Predictions for 2014
James Staten, Forrester Research
Protecting Information in the Cloud
McKinsey Report
5 Benets of Cloud Computing Youre Not
Likely to See in a Brochure
Joe McKendrick, Forbes
2013 Future of Cloud Computing Survey
GigaOm
The End of the Beginning of Cloud Computing
Lydia Leong, Gartner
3 Surere Ways to Screw Up a Cloud Deployment
David Linthicum, InfoWorld
Cloud Computing Choices: For Some Organizations, the Best
Answer May Be All of the Above
Rob Carter, Windstream
5 Cloud Predictions for 2014
Cloud Passage
2013 U.S. Cloud Security Survey
IDC
Cost vs. ROI:
Is There Value to Virtualization and Cloud Computing?
Windstream Whitepaper
Public, Private and Hybrid Clouds:
A Cloud for Every Business Need
Windstream Whitepaper
Cloud Evangelists Reading List
Kent Landry, Windstream
15 2014 Cloud Guide
MEET YOUR TEAM OF
WINDSTREAM EXPERTS
FINDING THE RIGHT RESOURCES & TEAM
Rob Carter
Cloud Product Marketing Leader
Expertise: cloud computing, data center
managed services, business applications,
network, voice solutions
MORE >
Duane Barnes
Cloud Solutions Engineering Leader
Expertise: network engineering, data
center solutions, cloud computing,
security, load balancing, managed
services and disaster recovery services
MORE >
Rob Fewkes
Cloud IT Engineering Leader
Expertise: hosting services
technology, virtualization,
storage
MORE >
Kent Landry
Cloud Subject Matter Expert
Expertise: management, marketing and
sales for cloud, data center
and managed services
MORE >
Talented engineers with a real head for business are rarebut we found them. Pairing our experts with your expertise
about your own business is what makes a solution work. If you win, we win.
16 2014 Cloud Guide
9 THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN
A CLOUD SERVICE PROVIDER
FINDING THE RIGHT RESOURCES & TEAM
WHAT EXPERTS RECOMMEND WHAT WINDSTREAM BRINGS
One-stop shop
Offers complete mix of public, private and hybrid cloud options
24 x 7 x 365 physical and digital security
HIPAA or Sarbanes-Oxley compliant
Customized solutions
A pioneer and has developed technology over a few years
Experience in a variety of cloud implementations
Strong relationships with other tech vendors in the space
Case studies or testimonials
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Single provider for cloud services, including data, network and voice
Public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud and cloud storage
24 x 7 physical security and uptime guaranteed by industry-leading SLAs
SSAE16 Compliant Managed Hosting Solutions and 16 certifed data
centers with PCI DSS and HIPAA compliance standards
Personalized service with fully customized solutions done right the frst time
Provider of choice for four out of fve Fortune 500 companies with
more than 8 years in the cloud business
Over 60% of Windstream clients have a hybrid solution
Partners include Cisco, EMC, Microsoft, NetApp and VMware
See case studies >
SOURCE: IT BUSINESS EDGE, TIPS FOR FINDING A REPUTABLE CLOUD PROVIDER HTTP://WWW.ITBUSINESSEDGE.COM/SLIDESHOWS/SHOW.ASPX?C=85803&SLIDE=3
2014 Windstream Communications. All Rights Reserved
CONTACT A
WINDSTREAM
EXPERT
855.989.8191
windstreambusiness.com
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