Cloud can work out of the box

Scott Murphy talks up the benefits of cloud-based app development and testing

Organisations with an active application development programme often struggle to keep communication flowing between the hardware, development and testing teams.

This is especially important when Agile methods are being used, due to the near continual demand for new features and capabilities. Development and testing costs take up a large proportion of the IT budget.

Bundling server automation with testing tools and blade server hardware in one appliance, which means developers, testers and the IT department can work in a common environment, will improve communication and reduce provisioning times, as well as enhance new application quality.

Cloud-in-a-box offerings can help customers implement a private cloud, which will improve accuracy and reduce admin costs without similarly reducing production system standards. Results can be achieved within the first month.

You may choose third-party software stacks via a portal, and have resources allocated and deployed automatically.

Customers can pay on a subscription basis, and costs can be more than halved.

Meanwhile, the channel benefits from an easier sell with a single part number that includes software, hardware and support services, and a "ready-to-install" offering that is targeted to a specific group of customers.

Scott Murphy is the HP division leader at Avnet