Navigating the hard parts
Organizational change for cloud enablement

James Bennett
Enterprise Platforms, Indiana University

Enterprise Platforms

  • Part of central IT at IU: UITS
  • Combination of several former groups:
    • Cloud Support
    • Linux Administration
    • Database Administration
    • Systems Integration/Middleware
    • Web Hosting

IT at IU

  • Heavily centralized
  • New CIO started in October
  • "Cylinders of excellence" and "Crimson tape"

Cloud at IU

  • Cloud opportunistic (On-premises first)
  • 199 open cloud accounts
  • Primarily research and teaching & learning use cases

The Goal

To create a community that provides the expertise, support, and resources necessary to enable groups at IU to effectively leverage cloud technologies for enterprise, research, and teaching & learning use cases.

Create a Cloud Center of Excellence.

Motivating factors

  • Pockets of expertise
  • Meetings are 🦗🦗🦗
  • VMware isn't getting cheaper
  • Hardware scarcity
  • Planning for ERP replacement
  • It is going to take time 🐌

First steps

  • Implementation of Enterprise Linux 10
  • Push for Infrastructure as Code
  • Start this work on AWS instead

General roadmap

  • Start small, build incrementally
  • Build solutions with others in mind
  • Make them self-service
  • Training/Projects/Repeat

Law of Diffusion of Innovation

Share a vision

Image credit: Greg Rakozy/Unsplash.com

Law of Diffusion of Innovation

Additional partners

  • Storage and Virtualization
  • Security
  • Networks
  • Dev teams

Potential outcomes

  • Worst case we invest in engaged people
  • More familiarity with cloud technologies
  • Best case is we start a path towards a CCoE
    and build an exit strategy
  • Biggest unknown is how long it will take

Questions?