Enterprise and telecommunications solutions are quickly evolving toward cloud infrastructures where the actual location of devices is becoming irrelevant. Yet, devices, applications and databases still need to managed and controlled to ensure availability and performance. WebNMS allows cloud platform vendors and service providers to roll out new services and provide visibility for their end customers giving them confidence in their cloud environment.

However, IT professionals with enterprises that haven’t yet adopted cloud computing have apprehensions about the adoption. Server and storage managers generally think that adoption of cloud computing in the enterprise would jeopardize their jobs. The truth is that IT professionals will not become redundant but will serve the organization best by donning the hats of strategic partners who will be able to manage storage in different dimensions. Architects and developers using WebNMS can modify and control system behavior and can change the GUI look and feel with speed by simply changing XML configuration files or programming to APIs.

More and more organizations are adopting private and public cloud platforms, some opting for the hybrid, which is a combination of the two. IT professionals in their newer role as strategic advisors can help the enterprise manage their storage optimally instead of being elbows-deep in motherboards and memory. Their new role is a combination of hands-on work and sourcing, depending on the type of cloud environment they choose for their enterprise.

The new IT professional will manage storage arrays in a private cloud, in the data center or in a chosen cloud service provider’s services. He will be expected to manage storage, integration with existing IT infrastructure, performance etc., while avoiding vendor lock-in. If the enterprise chooses public cloud, direct operations become less; management of cloud vendor relationships becomes more important. If it is a private cloud, the IT professional will have a more hands on role and the hybrid will have its own demands. IT professionals will be able to provide metrics on application performance and network performance as cloud specialists to allocate bandwidth in the best way possible.

IT professionals can use their expertise to find the best types of cloud storage for the enterprises, evaluate providers, and create a business case for choosing one over the other so that informed decisions can be taken. As cloud computing evolves, IT professionals can position themselves as cloud specialists. They can choose their roles as cloud security specialists, cloud architects, cloud developers, cloud infrastructure managers, and cloud provider specialists. They can easily add needed skills to their existing knowledge and expertise.

Very soon we will see IT professionals specializing in cloud architecture supporting the backbone of a company's operations. They will be in charge of optimizing performances, improving security. They can help increase reliability and enable access to latest mission-critical applications. Instead of being generalists they will gain greater insight into the inner workings of the business and work as specialists.

IT professionals are best positioned to recommend which computing, storage and virtualization resources to choose and they can suggest the policies. They can suggest plans, suggest products and vendors that offer productivity suites that add scalable services to the business while saving a significant amount of capital.

 WAN optimization-as-a-service is another option IT professionals can consider as they move toward cloud computing. It is best for organizations that prefer the predictability of an operating expense with benefits of traditional WAN optimization appliances.

IT professionals can seize the opportunity to be cloud specialists by examining the IT infrastructure from every facet of the organizations. Instead of fearing that they would become redundant, they can learn to play a strategic role in delivering the next generation of the enterprise network. Embracing the cloud will make IT professionals vital to the future of the organization.

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