ABSTRACT
Before cloud computing, IT shops functioned as general contractors responsible for the detailed design, physical construction, and long-term maintenance of the systems that delivered essential IT services to an enterprise. Vendors supplied the raw materials for these construction efforts in the form of data center hardware and telecom circuits. Business applications were either developed internally or licensed from commercial vendors. IT shops hosted the majority of their business applications and supported a diverse array of server and storage technologies in their data centers.
