IT organizational evolution for vCloud computing begins with the VMware design guideline for virtualization operations—create a Center of Excellence (COE). The COE is central to successful operation of a virtualized environment, and it is essential for vCloud operations. For a detailed description of a COE, see Section 5.2.1, vCloud Infrastructure Operations Center of Excellence.

Initially, the COE is the focal point for architecting, engineering, and administering the vCloud infrastructure. As vCloud computing takes on a more prominent role and purpose-built management tools mature, the organization adopts an increasingly service-driven approach. This paves the way for the next phase of the vCloud operations evolution, in which the focus shifts from the vCloud infrastructure to the services that are offered through it.

In the second phase, the COE includes responsibilities for current and new roles focused on the following:

At this point, automation capabilities begin to drive increased operational efficiency, which leads to increased productivity and frees people up to work on other value-add initiatives. Meanwhile, improved management tool capabilities enable greater visibility into the infrastructure, applications, and user experience, all of which help to identify problems before they can lead to unacceptable performance or outages.

Eventually, purpose-built management tools and automation of business-aligned services progress to the point where vCloud operations evolve from proactive service operation to predictive, policy-driven, end-to-end, vCloud-based service operation. Discrete operational and functional roles evolve into COE roles and skill sets that are focused on management tools and automation capabilities. Operational domain knowledge remains essential, but now supplements deep management tools and automation expertise.