“Enterprises that have mature server virtualization deployments that include workloads beyond basic IT services require more management functionality to reliably deliver applications and efficiently utilize the underlying IT infrastructure,” Bowker said. “At small scale, low consolidation and less critical workloads, the standard vCenter management console offers most of the features and functionality an administrator requires. As IT rapidly scales virtualized environments, drastically increases consolidation ratios and focuses its efforts on the next tier of applications, they need improved visibility, reporting and analytics that ultimately are geared towards driving automation into IT processes. vCenter Ops is focused on exactly this.”

via VMware Simplifies, Automates Virtual/Cloud Management – Network Computing.

The session I presented further confirmed:

• There is interest in moving towards more of an integrated computing approach, but most end-users are still absorbing how and why they would transition from their current infrastructure deployment model and what their options are.
• Many end-users are still very concerned about vendor lock-in, hardware lifecycle, and cost.
• The transition from DIY (Do It Yourself) to integrated computing is a long term strategy that vendors have the opportunity to accelerate during hardware refresh cycles.
• The integrated computing options are not well understood. Many end-users were surprised to see the list of 9 different vendors with integrated computing products.

You can find more information here: http://esgnext.com/nevmug/session-vci.html

You can read Mark’s other blog entries at Liquefying IT.

You can read Mark’s other blog entries at Liquefying IT.

“It’s no secret that storage is the biggest challenge in a virtual environment,” Bowker said. “Storage is VMware’s No. 1 support call issue. Virsto snaps into customers’ existing architecture, and can address storage contention issues.”

Bowker said that adding VMware support should significantly increase Virsto’s market presence. “You almost never find a customer not doing server virtualization, so this is an opportunity for them to go in to any customer now,” he said.

via Virsto sets sites on improving VMware storage performance.

As a response to this elevated market interest and transition to integrated computing platforms, ESG published our latest Market Landscape Report: Virtual Computing Infrastructures: The Movement Toward Integrated Computing: The Foundations for Cloud.

The report is available to premium subscribers at the ESG website.

IT is at a tipping point as more organizations consider investing in this new consumption model. This report helps to identify:

• The key benefits and driving factors of virtual computing infrastructures
• The primary challenges and concerns surrounding virtual computing infrastructures
• Tips for IT to use to help decide when to make a shift to a virtual computing infrastructure
• Approaches for making an educated investment that fulfills short-term growth requirements and accommodates long-term IT strategies
• Potential vendor solutions

You can read Mark’s other blog entries at Liquefying IT.

The idea that virtualization technologies are revolutionizing the market is no longer novel. Though the conversation has shifted toward cloud computing, server virtualization remains the foundation. Driven by numerous benefits including lower capital and operational costs, greater IT efficiency and agility, and improved application performance, server virtualization is being deployed rapidly and near-universally by large midmarket and enterprise organizations. These benefits, realized by neophyte adopters, are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg; organizations with more extensive deployments have realized improvements in application provisioning, automation of IT tasks, application availability, disaster recovery, business continuity, and application development.

The acceleration of server virtualization investments and cloud computing initiatives, combined with the potential change in IT infrastructure consumption, is rapidly transitioning the IT conversation away from a technology focus to more of a business-oriented approach. Today, the discussion is more about operational efficiency and economics. While the initial success of server virtualization was tied to the reduction of capital expenditures and containment of IT resources, the next phase is poised to focus more on its operational benefits and less and less on the technical nuances of one solution over the other. Procuring virtual computing infrastructures is going to become more of a business decision than most IT organizations are accustomed to. The buyers of virtual computing infrastructures are not concerned with the “speeds and feeds” of the infrastructure; they are focused on business priorities, time to market (cycle time), and ultimately improving IT service levels to the businesses they support. Server virtualization and cloud computing are acting as the ideal catalysts to introduce this strategy to mainstream IT and change the way businesses consume IT infrastructure.

IT is at a tipping point as more organizations consider investing in this new consumption model. This report will help to identify:

• The key benefits and driving factors of virtual computing infrastructures
• The primary challenges and concerns surrounding virtual computing infrastructures
• Tips for IT to use to help decide when to make a shift to a virtual computing infrastructure
• Approaches for  making an educated investment that fulfills short-term growth requirements and accommodates long-term IT strategies
• Potential vendor solutions

Though the report will discuss the deployment options that best suit future cloud initiatives, it will focus on the foundational infrastructure for x86-based server virtualization, not on the managerial add-ons and solutions that enable organizations to achieve the primary tenets of cloud computing. As a result, while some vendor solutions incorporate one more of these tenets, the solutions themselves center on virtual computing infrastructures.

• Executive sponsorship
• Long term forward IT thinking (Note: this is difficult to find since most CIOs get bonuses on a yearly basis and not for long-term cloud strategies)
• Self assessment and discovery to identify successful opportunities
• A skill set mix that breaks down the barriers between IT disciplines and flattens the IT organization
• Application experience to truly understand the application, its impact on IT infrastructure, and more importantly, its impact on the business
• Economic and financial analysis that involves the CFO and key stakeholders in the business
• Legal and contract knowledge to negotiate and help transform the business to alternative consumption models
• And perhaps most importantly, transparency. From an end-user’s perspective, the transition to any internal, external, hybrid, public cloud strategy should be completely invisible and transparent.

There is not a single solution that is going to solve your cloud computing initiative. Rather, it is a set of services, education, and training that will shift IT into the next era of computing.

You can read Mark’s other blog entries at Liquefying IT.

You can read Mark’s other blog entries at Liquefying IT.

via 5 Tips and Tricks to Take With You — Virtualization Review.

The top priorities for IT spending on virtualization initiatives in 2012, according to the study’s results, include plans to improve business agility, deliver cost savings, meet increasingly demanding user expectations and manage the growing mobile workforce.

via OC METRO – Quest Software survey reveals emphasis on virtualization in 2012.