Knowledge and experience sharing seminar: Implementation of Private Cloud based on Open-Source Cloud Stack
Introduction
In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, the adoption of private cloud solutions has become a strategic imperative for many organizations seeking enhanced security and control over their data. Additionally, by opting for an open-source cloud stack as the foundation of their private cloud solution, they commit to achieving greater transparency and vendor independence, among other benefits. However, the practical implementation of such a project is not without its challenges when working with an open-source community.
In this domain, where only a few organizations have hands-on experience, this seminar aims to bridge the knowledge gap by sharing insights and experiences from those who have successfully navigated the challenges of implementing private clouds using open-source stacks.
This event is organized by the Center for Digital Trust (C4DT) and builds on C4DT’s Conference on Trustworthy and Sovereign Cloud Computing, which was held in September 2023 at the Starling Hotel, St.-Sulpice.
What are Knowledge & Experience Sharing Seminars?
They allow participants to deepen their knowledge on specific sovereign cloud-related topics by learning from experts who have hands-on experience gained while working on a sovereign cloud-related project. Participants are not required to contribute but are invited to ask questions and engage in a discussion with the speakers.
The seminars will be held in-person on the EPFL campus or via Zoom meetings and shall not exceed 2 hours in duration. The number of participants will be limited to 30 to allow for more interaction and exchange between the participants and the speakers.
Objective
To share experiences about the implementation of private cloud based on open-source cloud stack.
Target audience
This seminar is for the cloud professional (technical or strategic profiles). The talks will focus more on governance and strategy and less on technical details.
Potential discussion points
There are some of the topics that might be addressed during the talks:
- Business Drivers for Private Cloud:
- Understanding how a private cloud aligns with organizational goals.
- Cost considerations and return on investment.
- Success Metrics and KPIs:
- Identifying key success metrics for the private cloud initiative.
- Establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure progress.
- Risk Management:
- Identifying and mitigating risks associated with private cloud adoption.
- Creating contingency plans for potential challenges.
- Governance Framework:
- Establishing governance policies for cloud usage.
- Compliance with industry regulations and internal policies.
- Working with an open-source community
- Criteria for selecting open-source cloud stack providers.
- Lessons-learned for effective collaboration and partnership.
- Feature management (demand driven by user experience)
- The importance of upstream contributions.
- Security and Compliance Strategy:
- Implementing security measures without hindering business agility.
- Aligning security policies with industry compliance standards.
- User Experience and Adoption:
- Ensuring a positive user experience for employees.
- Strategies for encouraging adoption and collaboration.
- Training and Skill Development:
- Planning for employee training and skill development.
- Ensuring the workforce is equipped to manage and utilize the private cloud effectively.
- Cost Management and Budgeting:
- Developing a cost management strategy for private cloud implementation.
- Budgeting considerations and cost optimization practices.
Schedule
10h00
Welcome
10h05
Experience sharing talks by CERN, ETHZ and UNICC
- Arne Wiebalck, Group Leader, Compute and Devices Group, CERN
- Mattia Belluco, Cloud Architect, ETHZ
- Carlos Correia, Private Cloud (Open-source stack) Manager, UNICC
11h30
Q&A and Experience Sharing
- Allowing participants to share their governance and strategy experiences.
- Addressing general questions from the audience to all speakers