Cloud Reference Model

Moving applications into the cloud is becoming more and more of a priority for development teams inside and outside the Harvard Community, and IAM is taking note. Last month, the IAM team created a Cloud Development Reference Model describing the key infrastructure components required for cloud adoption.

John Platonov, senior cloud infrastructure engineer and creator of the reference model, shared his thoughts on IAM’s work in the cloud:

“I created the reference model to help describe what we are building in the cloud.  We here on the IAM team have used the cloud for two Java EE applications: the Admin App and Harvard Connections. Other groups using the cloud will have very different requirements than we did in these cases, so should use the document as a reference of what the IAM team is doing.”

In addition to the Cloud Development Reference Model, the IAM cloud team offers Cloud Formation templates. Using these, developers can define resources and requirements as they are needed for the application. The Cloud Formation template is a set of instructions that developers can execute as code to start building infrastructure. 

“These materials are an excellent jumping-off point for groups to realize what the IAM team is doing in the cloud, but they need to be aware of their own requirements before getting started,” Platonov said. “Do they need VPN? Do they need a database? Each resource you create in the cloud costs money. Some are very cheap, but some, like databases, can be very expensive. That’s where the savings really comes into play — recognizing which resources you need and tailoring an application to your exact requirements.”

Interested in moving to the cloud? Start by looking through the reference model and Cloud Formation templates, and don’t hesitate to contact the IAM team for more information.

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