The increasing use of virtualization and private cloud computing solutions is creating highly complex datacenter environments. This paper discusses how provisioning and orchestration can help with effective private cloud operations.

If your organization is looking to work faster - and with greater agility - you probably know that a private cloud could be a good solution. But you should also know that traditional methods for implementing an automated private cloud using PaaS can take up to six months. With IBM Private Modular cloud, however yours can be deployed in weeks. Learn how IBM Private Modular Cloud can help you build and deploy a security-rich private PaaS cloud environment that leverages customizable modules which can scale to meet your specific business and IT needs.

Cloud computing represents an opportunity for enterprise and service provider datacenters to become more agile and flexible by using self-service infrastructure provisioning; automated, dynamic resource pooling and scaling; and consumption-based metering to improve accelerate cloud infrastructure configuration, provisioning, and life-cycle management. Integrated systems, such as the IBM PureFlex System, pre-integrate and optimize software stacks with compute, storage, network, and management software resources to enable optimal performance of mission-critical applications and workloads. Many IT organizations are using integrated systems as core platforms to enable private clouds and public cloud service delivery environments. IDC interviews show that organizations using IBM PureFlex System as the infrastructure platform for cloud realized over $640,000 in benefits related to improved infrastructure deployment, performance, and operational economics.

To keep up with the demands of mobile usage and social business you have to manage huge amounts of data. This means you need your IT to support rapid development of new applications, particularly mobile and social apps, to keep pace with the competition. You need to be able to analyze big data to uncover new insights, business models and revenue opportunities. You have to be able to act quickly so you can respond while findings are still relevant. Cloud computing is the delivery model that can support these imperatives. Over 10,000 clients rely on IBM technology to optimize their social, mobile, and big data workloads on cloud infrastructure. PureSystems solutions build on this cloud experience, integrating it into the system to improve efficiency and simplify deployment.

The cloud decision may be the easy part. For most businesses, the benefits promised by cloud computing - including agility, process optimization, speed to market, and cost reduction - warrant a closer look, if not a test drive. At least at the decision-table, curiosity and hope in the potential for transformation are winning out over caution. This practical guide offers steps for moving your company into the cloud, at whatever pace you prefer, with a focus on the SmartCloud Services portfolio offered by IBM and its partners.