IT Exchange Zone

Can Virtualization Save the Day?

Business requirements are changing almost as fast as the weather during a hurricane. Legacy servers lack the flexibility your data center environments demand to keep up the pace—including limited I/O and memory capacity. There are a variety of reasons that virtualization is in the catbird seat, among them the need to reduce the 70% spend of time and budget to maintain existing infrastructures, leaving only 30% of resources to devote to innovation.

The impetus for virtualization is the promise that it may just flip those two statistics to help IT provide improved value mapped to business performance. Confirming this intention is a recent survey that reported the top CIO priorities to include data center consolidation, server and storage virtualization and energy savings.

But, even more critically, the increasing demand for 24/7 IT services is adding pressure to how IT resources are applied to meet those business demands. With the year-over-year demands for IT to do more with less, something has to give. And, it must “give” without impacting the quality of service delivery, access to information, data and people. Trying to improve the way you’ve always done it to create new IT capabilities without virtualization will be a costly undertaking as most existing systems are likely approaching capacity levels and not agile enough to deliver on new business requirements.

As you look to virtualization to “save the day” there are a few things to consider:

• Performance levels of new systems must have adequate processing power and bandwidth to sustain workflows and response times.


• The system must be easy to manage and energy efficient to contribute to reduced operating costs.


• Consider the ease with which you’ll be able to create high-performance connections between servers and storage networks to enable the increased need for reads and writes that will be demanded of the infrastructure by consolidating applications. Costs also play here.

Virtualization can offer a lot of benefits to meet today’s needs, as well as tomorrows. If deployed purposefully, in line with business performance objectives, it can definitely help your IT department save the day.

UC Business-Enabled Processes are the Future

Blended-premise services is the next big thing on the horizon for unified communications (UC), according to research firm Gartner.  This is a complete UC suite that can be on-premise, network-based or both. It represents a "seamless blending" of enterprise and cloud-based implementations, says research analyst Bern Elliot.

While the "telephony centric" approach (which extends the IP PBX and unified messaging) and "email collaboration" approach (which extends email and Web collaboration with IM, presence and a unified client) are well established in today's enterprises, the blended-premise approach is yet to be fully embraced.   

Elliot argues that unified communications and collaboration are now becoming one market. Technologies that previously were considered to be distinctly in the realms of communications (such as voice infrastructure and call centers) or collaboration (such as team work spaces or social software) are now coming together in unified offerings.

Such moves point to the coming adoption of communication and collaboration enabled business processes.

• The current reality: Whenever human intervention or a decision is required, the process must stop and move to a different infrastructure/process chain — whether the voice or messaging event touches the CRM, ERP or back office system.


• Future potential: Human intervention may still be required, but with communications integrated into the process — presence, messaging, real-time voice — the delays become minimal. The business application will directly contact the appropriate person using a communications application.

Indeed, Elliot sees three "killer applications" for unified communications:

• Context-specific presence lists. Dynamically created lists based on specific current needs; determines who is available to assist; may be integrated with location services.


• Flexible escalation and conferencing. Interaction starts one way, escalates to another, invites others; chat, to audio, to Web, etc.; know who is available.


• Intelligent notification services. Personalized group or inter-enterprise; role-based escalation and cascading; channel-independent; find me/notify me. Notifies individuals of events, alerts or calls via preferred method.

Elliot also offers some thoughts on UC adoption. Organizations that are "aggressive" adopters of UC will deploy the latest of all main UC components within the next year, he says. They will replace desktop phones with mobile and soft-phones between 2011 and 2014. And, between 2014-2020, they will eliminate PBXs. They will embrace ubiquitous collaboration and focus on implementing UC-enabled business processes.

Enterprise IT Gives Storage Virtualization a Thumbs Up

What's driving today's interest in virtualized storage?

In a recent survey of 180 end-user organizations, Aberdeen Group found that top pressures encouraging the deployment of storage virtualization tend to be related to the growing need for storage and computing capacity. Cited by 84% of responding organizations, the number one issue was increasing demand for storage.

"One contributing factor to this rising demand is the virtualization of servers and PCs, which increases the amount of data that needs to be stored centrally," states the research firm. "For example, each server VM (virtualized OS and application stack) has a copy of the operating system, rather than sharing one copy of the OS across multiple applications on the same server. Storage virtualization enables more efficient utilization of all the forms of storage (NAS, SAN and server-based disk) by collecting and managing them together as a single unit with no stranding of storage assets." 

Aberdeen found that companies that deployed storage virtualization are generally leaders in the transformation of IT data centers. They tend to have deployed multiple forms of virtualized products in their infrastructure. They have virtualized a higher percentage of their applications than others. And they are using more leading edge products than companies with no storage virtualization programs.

Companies that have embraced virtualized storage report benefits associated with reducing the complexity of the data center. Specifically, they point to reduced effort to manage SAN devices (63%), a reduction in number of SAN devices (48%) and reduced time to deploy new servers (44%).

So what does it take to realize storage virtualization success?

Aberdeen cites three best practices:

• Make a plan. It's imperative to clarify one's goals and objectives at the outset. Expect the biggest benefits to come in terms of operational efficiency as opposed to financial gains. Nevertheless, companies should build a case that incorporates some form of financial payback. Reducing the time to deploy new servers, for instance, contributes to financial results.


• Get formal training on tools. Forty three percent of companies deploying storage virtualization cite training as a key enabler of success. Training can ensure tools are successfully implemented and perform as expected.


• Measure your results. Thirty eight percent of organizations with storage virtualization measure IT against cost targets. This provides the insight necessary to take any necessary corrective actions and realize greater value on one's investment.

Through storage virtualization, organizations in this study claimed to address their challenges around low asset utilization.  By making a plan, getting trained on the tools and measuring their results, they realized impressive results through their programs.

Securing Your Network Against Unsupported Devices

As enterprises embrace the “anywhere, anytime, any device” vision of networking, they need to remain vigilant of emerging security risks. Taking steps to address these risks will be critical if enterprises are to confidently capitalize on the new business opportunities that borderless networks represent.

In a study of 512 IT security decision makers (ITSDM) conducted by Cisco and InsightExpress, more than half of respondents (56%) have determined that employees are using unsupported applications on enterprise networks. Among them, the largest proportion has discovered employees using social networking (68%).

In the U.S., more than 60% have discovered use of unsupported collaborative tools such as Google apps. Meanwhile, about four in ten (41%) have determined that employees are using unsupported network devices.  The two greatest risks recognized by these respondents are social networking (51%) and unauthorized network users (55%).

The majority of ITSDMs said they have a complete technical process to lock employees from network access if necessary (74%) and have restrictions on what employees can bring onto the network (79%).  In fact, most enforce policies that restrict network behavior (75%) and impose consequences on those that breach them.  Globally, three out of four respondents said it was the IT department’s responsibility to set, maintain and communicate these security policies – though 40% of respondents in the U.S. stated that such responsibilities belong to human resources.

Interestingly, a majority of respondents (71%) recognize that “overly strict” security policies can negatively affect hiring and retention among employees under the age of 30. So there clearly is a tension between restricting network and device usage and appealing to younger workers. 

But ambitious enterprises need not be paralyzed by these conflicting issues. Intent on helping companies reconcile the challenge of network security with the demand for network accessibility, Cisco recently unveiled its “Validated Secure Borderless Networks” initiative.  The objective is to provide system designs that will secure mobility, strengthen data security and support security management.

Recognizing that key security challenges are associated with today’s dizzying array of point security products, the initiative validates and integrates third-party tools from firms such as ArcSight, Credant Technologies, EMC, HTC, LogLogic, Lumension, netForensics, Nokia,  Palm, RSA, Samsung and Splunk.

By validating these point solutions as part of larger, integrated solutions, Cisco intends to address the security hurdles associated with complexity, integration and management and we're helping our customers take advantage of these innovations.

 

Resolve Network Security and Access

As enterprises embrace the “anywhere, anytime, any device” vision of networking, they need to remain vigilant of emerging security risks. Taking steps to address these risks will be critical if enterprises are to confidently capitalize on the new business opportunities that borderless networks represent.

In a study of 512 IT security decision makers (ITSDM) conducted by Cisco and InsightExpress, more than half of respondents (56%) have determined that employees are using unsupported applications on enterprise networks. Among them, the largest proportion has discovered employees using social networking (68%).

In the U.S., more than 60% have discovered use of unsupported collaborative tools such as Google apps. Meanwhile, about four in ten (41%) have determined that employees are using unsupported network devices.  The two greatest risks recognized by these respondents are social networking (51%) and unauthorized network users (55%).

The majority of ITSDMs said they have a complete technical process to lock employees from network access if necessary (74%) and have restrictions on what employees can bring onto the network (79%).  In fact, most enforce policies that restrict network behavior (75%) and impose consequences on those that breach them.  Globally, three out of four respondents said it was the IT department’s responsibility to set, maintain and communicate these security policies – though 40% of respondents in the U.S. stated that such responsibilities belong to human resources.

Interestingly, a majority of respondents (71%) recognize that “overly strict” security policies can negatively affect hiring and retention among employees under the age of 30. So there clearly is a tension between restricting network and device usage and appealing to younger workers. 

But ambitious enterprises need not be paralyzed by these conflicting issues. Intent on helping companies reconcile the challenge of network security with the demand for network accessibility, Cisco recently unveiled its “Validated Secure Borderless Networks” initiative.  The objective is to provide system designs that will secure mobility, strengthen data security and support security management.

Recognizing that key security challenges are associated with today’s dizzying array of point security products, the initiative validates and integrates third-party tools from firms such as ArcSight, Credant Technologies, EMC, HTC, LogLogic, Lumension, netForensics, Nokia,  Palm, RSA, Samsung and Splunk.

By validating these point solutions as part of larger, integrated solutions, Cisco intends to address the security hurdles associated with complexity, integration and management and we're helping our customers take advantage of these innovations.

Virtualization on a Fast-Growth Path

Virtualization markets — covering server management, server infrastructure and desktop virtualization — are growing strongly as organizations continue to capitalize on the benefits that such solutions can deliver, according to research firm Gartner.

Here are some of the key findings:  

• The combined market for x86 server virtualization infrastructure, server virtualization management and desktop virtualization software will produce more than $2.7 billion in 2010 and will grow to $6.3 billion by 2014.
• Server virtualization management will deliver a 40% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach $2.0 billion by 2014.
• The emerging desktop virtualization market, which stood at $150 million in 2009, will grow to more than $1.7 billion million by 2014, as organization seek enhanced management and data security for the desktop. That's a CAGR of 63%.

According to Gartner, organizations are beginning to implement virtualization at a brisk pace. "Most enterprise organizations have implemented virtualization for general IT administrative functions, such as file and print," it states. "They are beginning to enter Phase Two, which is starting with mission-critical applications, with an eye for organizational efficiency. Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are also rapidly deploying server virtualization, and they tend to do all their servers within a short amount of time once started, as opposed to enterprises, which are doing so piecemeal."

What explains the growing confidence of organizations with respect to virtualization?

One factor is that virtualization infrastructure and management tools are becoming more mature. With large players aggressively driving the market, hypervisors and management tools are quickly evolving and becoming ever more stable.

Infrastructure virtualization management also is becoming more mainstream as the market shifts from a focus on virtual machines (VMs) and server consolidation to server virtualization management to reduce TCO, improve agility and enhance quality of service (QoS).

This said, Gartner notes that concerns over "payback" for server virtualization are rising as many organizations claim that total IT costs have increased rather than decreased since introducing server virtualization. Working with the right IT partner can help to mitigate that outcome.

Regardless of cost concerns, the research firm contends that interest in cloud computing will represent another driver in virtualization growth in the coming years. "Virtualized servers are a key component in enabling public and private cloud computing," it states. "Expect the cloud hype to continue to rise...and with it the importance of virtualization in delivering on-demand and user-administered components of cloud computing."

People Drive Collaboration, Not Technology

If you want to fully maximize your investments in collaboration technology, you'll need to focus on your people and not just the technology. That's the assessment of Chris Dowse, president of Neochange, a research firm specializing in IT adoption.

Interest in the concept of "Enterprise 2.0" is now on the rise, but full adoption of the tools and technologies expected to make organizations more agile and collaborative has not yet occurred. As a result, many organizations have yet to achieve promised business value. Or, as Dowse puts it, we are still at the bottom of the adoption S-Curve — a pattern experienced in the early days of such solutions as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).

What will it take to jump the S-Curve?  [PDF] Well, first, greater understanding of what Enterprise 2.0 actually represents. While "millennials" may be more familiar with social networking tools than some of their older colleagues, it's clear that success in collaboration technology adoption lies in answering one simple question: What's in it for me? 

Dowse sees three barriers that need to be addressed to get the enterprise on board:

1. Organizational culture. This is an organization's set of beliefs, structures and practices. "Even though humans like to engage and share, the average corporate workplace is hardly conducive to care-free, selfless information sharing," argues Dowse. "The key is to focus collaboration efforts on the areas of practice that the company values most — whether that be product innovation, cost cutting in core processes or exceptional customer service." 


2. Competition between individual and organizational needs. While organizations may be focused on such matters as visibility or workflow control, their people may value education, mobility or personal productivity. These values can come into conflict. To create alignment, the organization's objectives and values must be credibly articulated and defined. "If employees do not believe that the organizational value being targeted is achievable, the quality of technology usage will suffer greatly," contends Dowse.


3. The paradox of information sharing.  The challenge here is that employees are far more likely to share common information as opposed to insights that are truly valuable.  "To prevent this paradox, companies should start by setting the expectation that the organization is looking for unique information, rather than just the common banter that drives social cohesiveness," states Dowse. "Incentives should be focused on the nature of information shared, not the volume."

By considering such issues in their rollouts of collaborative and Unified Communication technologies, enterprises dramatically increase their ability to accelerate adoption and value realization.

Secure Your Kingdom with Identity Management

At the heart of our endeavors to create dynamic networks that drive collaboration, information sharing and business performance to new levels is the essential concept of identity management.  If IT managers are to provide extensive access to the kingdom without compromising it, they must ensure that the barbarians remain beyond its perimeter.

As Tom Gillis argues in Securing the Borderless Network, conventions of the past have been blown away by the considerable demands and risks of the present:

As businesses embrace collaboration and globalization, the hard connection between policy and physical infrastructure becomes strained. To transact business without borders, we need security policies that express simple ideas about which workers can access which applications and data, without being hard-wired to IP addresses, subnets, and the complex infrastructure that powers all networks.

In short, security can no longer be tied inextricably to the physical infrastructure underneath it. The unconstrained access to information we seek requires an advanced security system that abstracts the underlying network fabric. The system needs to enable businesses to express policies in terms of who a user is, what applications he or she uses, and what content he or she accesses. It must work both inside and outside the traditional corporate network to meet the security challenges of today’s decentralized and highly collaborative work environment. And it must enable an enterprise that transcends borders, where users, assets, and critical information are all protected.  

Cybercriminals are everywhere now – prepared to unleash their malware, steal data and initiate all manner of destructive chaos. They have even become quite skilled at mimicking the identities of legitimate users.

Unfortunately, the challenge of determining identity is more complex than ever, particularly as users switch between locations and devices (corporate- and non-corporate issued).

Going forward, security systems will have to be smart enough to detect the precise identity of the user – no matter what device is being deployed. Indeed, devices must be fully authenticated. Policies must clearly define which actions can be performed and which cannot.

“To reduce this complexity, the security architecture of tomorrow must operate at a high level,” concludes Gillis. “Identity is the foundation of this system, and it is the common language that will enable businesses large and small to collaborate with confidence.”

Borderless Networks - The Driver of Business Advantage

Mobility, remote workers and flexible work styles are putting more pressure on companies to remove the borders that keep employees from being productive—no matter where they are or on what device.

The results of the Cisco Connected World Report were released this week, reflecting the perspectives of employees across 13 countries about the concepts and challenges related to mobility. One thing you may find surprising is that 66% of respondents said they'd choose a job that offered lower pay but more flexibility over a higher salary without mobility.

Reviewing the perspectives across all the countries reveals a few interesting insights:

• 88% of US workers without remote access said not being able to work remotely didn't bother them. Only 25% of workers from India agreed.
• The biggest obstacle to working remotely is reported as job role.
• More people in the US say they have no limitations on accessing information they need on the corporate network than in any other country.
• 49% of US workers say they work an additional hour per day with remote access. However, 19% of workers from Spain say they are always working during their waking hours.
• The top challenge for supporting a mobile workforce is, you guessed it, security. In second and third place are corporate cultures and budget limitations.

Take a look at all the study results. Enabling workers to work from anywhere on any device should be making its way onto the top of your priority list if you want your company to have a global business advantage.

Cisco Connected World Report

View more presentations from Cisco Systems.

Video Conferencing Impacts the Meaning of Communications

Video conferencing has been around in one form or another since the 1970s. It’s hard to believe since it’s only gained widespread acceptance as a business communications tool in recent years. Businesses of all sizes have been challenged to improve their communication methods to drive a number of strategic objectives. Some of the most commonly known reasons are reducing travel costs and increasing employee productivity.

What you might not know is that video conferencing is within reach for any business. Yes, from web cams attached to PCs to online conferencing to full-fledged Telepresence, getting face-to-face “virtually” can now be accomplished more easily than ever. And, in case you haven’t been convinced yet about the impact video conferencing can deliver for your business, we’ve got a few reasons you may want to reconsider.

In a recent interview with CBC Magazine, our CEO, Chris Tjotjos, discussed the massive difference in having the meaning of communications more readily understood when using video conferencing instead of relying on written or audio methods to share information.

“We have reviewed studies that examined the three levels of communication – written, which includes e-mails and text messages, audio, and video,” he says. “It was revealed that only 8 percent of the meaning comes through when a person uses the written method. That number jumps to 37 percent for audio, and increases to nearly 100 percent when video is used.”

You have to agree that there’s a huge variable in the level of understanding based on the form of the communications. Imagine the difference clarity of meaning can make within your organization for project completions, product development or any other type of process that requires human interaction.

But, beyond that, you may find it interesting to know that the October 12th Harvard Daily Stat stated:

“The average organization has the potential to more than double its ability to make and execute key decisions. On a decision-effectiveness scale of 0 to 100, the best companies score an average of 71, while most companies score only a 28, according to Marcia W. Blenko, Michael C. Mankins, and Paul Rogers, authors of Decide & Deliver: 5 Steps to Breakthrough Performance in Your Organization.”

Makes you wonder if most companies are relying on written and audio communications instead of embracing video conferencing, doesn’t it?

How much could your company benefit from incorporating video conferencing into your business processes? Considering Gartner predicts that more than 200 million workers worldwide will run corporate-supplied video conferencing from their desktops by 2015, it’s time to get started.

Check out the CBC Magazine article to learn more from our CEO, Christopher Tjotjos, about how video conferencing is being used in different industries and get some key pointers on what to do before you implement it from our COO, Stefanie Clemens.