Cloud services are rapidly changing how business users store and access information, resources and applications, so it's no wonder that it has become a major inspiration for service providers crafting the next generation of business services. The size and potential of the market has become a rallying point for all kinds of service providers-both traditional facilities-based network operators and Internet-based public cloud service providers.

As they build and expand their cloud services infrastructures, carriers need to be sure they don't end up rebuilding the mainframe computer. The monolithic icon of a bygone computing era isn't what service providers are aiming for as they look to enable their customers to store and access data and applications from cloud. They want to be able to leverage a more distributed pool of resources that are aligned with their business objectives.

There may be no potential customer more in need of a cloud services transformation than the service provider operation itself. Internally, carrier organizations have long been haunted by the challenges presented by rigid service system siloing and complex capacity planning procedures for each and every service they offer, with very little elasticity on the supply end.

The distributed cloud can greatly enhance productivity, flexibility and cost-efficiency for both service providers and their customers, but the emergence of such a dynamic environment also puts a tremendous onus on a service provider's management system capabilities.