Maximize the business value of the cloud. That simple statement underlies a three-year initiative to transform Intel IT’s cloud strategy:

• Modernize our application stack by abstracting it from the infrastructure.
• Focus on business and application needs not on infrastructure.
• Determine optimal workload placement balancing cost with capability requirements.
• Validate our approach through communication with fellow travelers.

We use application platforms to abstract underlying infrastructure and deployment details. We also provide internally developed database-as-a-service capabilities. These capabilities enable developers to focus on writing the best code possible and allow Intel IT to mature our development standards and modernize our applications. We are also completing an application rationalization process to help determine which applications have reached the end of their useful life and which can be migrated to a more appropriate cloud environment.

The benefits of a business and application focused cloud strategy include the following:

• Intel gains a high level of business velocity and agility.
• Developers can write code without worrying about infrastructure.
• IT makes “best-fit” workload placement.
• A multi-cloud, cloud-native environment furnishes a consistent, enterprise-wide user experience.
• A simplified cloud stack provides outstanding application portability.

Our transformed cloud strategy supports fast, agile application development.