ABSTRACT
The key to where clouds need to go is through provisioning applications or suites of applications for a task rather than getting caught up in the details of virtual machines. From an enterprise information technology (IT) point of view, administrators would rather ask the cloud to set up an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system rather than having to define which virtual servers, with what kinds of resources and network connectivity, are needed to deploy that same ERP system. Packaging the cloud is the logical next step, as the ability to define multiple system dependencies creates methods for defining heterogeneous system relationships. The same goes for clouds, and IT professionals' starting point really needs to be an inventory. The old writer’s checklist of “Who, What, Where, When, and How” is wonderfully appropriate when creating a “scope of protection” for single systems or clouds.
