Enterprise Cloud Deployment: Integration Patterns and Assessment Model

The term "cloud" is increasingly used in association with the trend of using IT services supplied by a third party over the Internet to support business, consumers, and general users. Although the cloud can be confusing because of the breadth of services made available, the technology has clearly gained significant momentum in all industries. This article presents an approach for assessing the suitability for building or migrating enterprise-scale IT applications to the cloud. Because integration is a key factor influencing cloud deployment, the authors describe several patterns as a basis for enabling enterprise cloud solutions. Building on the integration patterns, the authors propose a method for an initial evaluation of the risk and effort required to move new and existing applications to a cloud service provider by assessing a range of additional factors that influence the complexity of cloud deployment. Hence, this article presents a set of patterns and processes intended to serve as a practical guide for technologists deploying cloud-based solutions.