Should Business Move to the Cloud?

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Part Two Inform ation Technology Infrastructure

S h o u l d B u si nes se s M ov e to the Cl ou d?

C A S E S T U DY

loud computing has just begun to take o ff in the business world. The biggest player in the cloud computing marketplace is one you m ight not expect: Am azon. Under its than ever, companies are turning to cloud computing providers like these for their computing resources. Zynga is a good example o f a com pany using cloud computing to im prove its business in a new way. Zynga is the developer o f w ildly popular Facebook applications like FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and many others. With over 290 million m onthly active users, Zynga’s computing demands are already signifi­ cant. When Zynga releases a new game, however, it has no w ay o f knowing what amount o f computing resources to dedicate to the game. The game might be a m ild success, or a smash hit that adds millions o f new users. The ability to design applications that can scale up in the number o f users quickly is one o f Zynga’s com petitive advantages. Because o f the uncertainty surrounding resource usage for new game launches, Zynga uses Am azon’s cloud computing platform to launch new offerings. That way, it can pay only for the resources it ends up using, and once game traffic stabilizes and reaches a steady number o f users, Zynga m oves the game onto its private zCloud, which is structurally similar to A m azon’s cloud, but operates under Zynga's control in data centers on the East and West coasts. Zynga's own servers handle 80 percent o f its games. (Zynga recently started selling extra capacity on zCloud to other game-makers.) Tb streamline the process o f m oving application data from Am azon to the zCloud, Zynga has automated m any computing tasks, selected hardware and chip configurations that are very similar to Am azon’s, and makes significant use o f virtualization. There are a few reasons w hy Zynga is well- suited to use this combination o f public and private...