As cloud computing becomes more hybrid, it by definition becomes more complex. While there is no shortage of issues associated with building and managing hybrid cloud computing environments, it’s clear that among the thorniest is going to be the management of data.
Making that all the worse is the fact that not only is the volume of data that needs to be managed increasing, but hybrid cloud computing is going to cross a lot of so-called “shadow IT systems” that a lot of IT organizations don’t currently actively manage.
To help IT organizations get their arms around data management in the age of the hybrid cloud, Informatica recently released Informatica Cloud Spring 13, which adds templates for integrating the Amazon Redshift data warehouse and applications such as Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft TFS, Oracle CRM On Demand and QuickBooks.
Darren Cunningham, vice president of marketing for Informatica Cloud, says hybrid cloud computing represents a unique opportunity for IT organizations to exercise more control over shadow IT systems. Individual business units are starting to realize that by investing in these systems they have deployed applications that over time become too unwieldy to manage.
At the same time, the boards of companies are starting to understand that not only are shadow IT systems creating duplicate amounts of data that make it difficult to ascertain what the true state of the business is, they also create any number of potential compliance issues that could result in fines and penalties.
Cunningham says organizations are once again trying to apply greater amounts of rigor to these systems, which is one reason why the latest release of Informatica Cloud includes a new data masking capability that reduces data breach risks.
In addition, Informatica is adding support for business process workflows via application software it gained with the acquisition of Active Endpoints last February.
For all the turmoil in enterprise IT these days, the rise of hybrid cloud computing actually represents an opportunity to apply a modicum of control to a situation that has long spiraled out of control. Regaining that control may not happen overnight. But like most things in IT, whoever ultimately controls the data usually winds up on top.
