Attend the Culture and Cloud Technology Summit

Posted on by Karen Karger

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Join EasyStreet and other Cloud and virtualization leaders at the Culture and Cloud Technology Summit, hosted by Mosaic Technology.

Want to learn what the cloud can do for you? How about building your own private cloud? Need some tips on managing your cloud environment? Interested in hearing the latest on optimizing for the cloud?

Industry experts from 10ZiG, Dell, EasyStreet, ESET, Fortinet, Microsoft, SilverPeak, Veeam, and VMware will share their insights on these topics and more.

The fun doesn’t end there. We’ll host a networking reception with prize giveaways immediately following the summit. These unique seminars on cloud discussion will surely evoke some lively conversation at this cocktail reception.

  • Thursday, April 26, 2012
  • 2:30 — 7:00 pm
  • Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park Avenue

Agenda

2:30pm – 3:00pm
Registration

3:00pm – 3:45pm
Learn what the cloud can do for you

3:45pm – 4:30pm
Building your own private cloud

4:30pm – 5:15pm
Managing your cloud environment

5:15pm – 6:00pm
Optimizing for the cloud

 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Networking Reception

Benefits of Mobile Computing Becoming Clear

Posted on by gregl

Not many months ago, the explosion of employees with mobile computing devices made corporate IT leaders break out in a cold sweat. Now, with more of the jury in, the effects of laptops, smartphones and tablets are showing astoundingly positive results.

According to a recent IDG Research survey being quoted in an Intel white paper, more than two-thirds of respondents are seeing productivity boosts directly related to mobile computing. Also:

  • 69 percent see overall employee productivity go up.
  • 64 percent see faster access to business-critical data.
  • 37 percent see improved customer service.
  • 30 percent see higher employee morale.
  • 16 percent are experiencing reduced costs.

Still, 43 percent of respondents say data security is the biggest headache. “Data security concerns are magnified by the decentralized nature of computing environments,” according to the report, “and the fact that organizations increasingly rely on a tangle of mobile gear.”

Oversize Waste is also Lost Opportunities

Posted on by gregl

People make “size matters” jokes about all sorts of things, but with oversized data centers it’s seldom a laughing matter. After all, the single largest avoidable cost associated with the typical data center is under-utilization of the physical and power infrastructure – often well under 50 percent, according to Schneider Electric’s Data Center Science Center.

“The plan is that the expected load of the data center or network room load will start at 30 percent and ramp up to a final expected load value,” according to a company white paper. “However, the actual start-up load is typically lower than the expected start-up load, and it ramps up to an ultimate actual load, which is considerably less than the installed capacity.”

“Excess electricity costs are significant when data centers or network rooms are oversized,” the paper continues. “The idling loss of a data center or network room power system is on the order of 5 percent of the power rating. When cooling costs are factored in, this becomes 10 percent. The total excess costs over the lifetime of the data center or network room will on average be around 70 percent of the cost of the power and cooling infrastructure.”

Yes, this is money down the drain, but Schneider points out that the wasted capital and expense dollars also mean lost opportunity costs, “which can be many times larger than the out-of-pocket cost.”

Cloud and Virtualization Poised for Even More Growth

Posted on by gregl

Sixty-five percent of IT managers responding to this year’s Computerworld Market Pulse Survey say the need to provide employees with access to corporate data – anytime and from anywhere – is critically important.

“This type of flexibility is a driving force behind many cloud computing initiatives,” according to Computerworld. “Asked which benefits they expect their organization to achieve through cloud computing, 47 percent cited flexibility, followed by scalability (46 percent), the ability to meet demands for more agile services (44 percent), standardized infrastructures (38 percent) and workload virtualization (35 percent).

And speaking of virtualization, 36 percent of the IT managers say their company has already virtualized half or more of its data center. “On aver­age, IT departments have virtualized 37 percent of the data center—a percentage expected to increase to 51 percent over the next one to three years,” Computerworld reports.

More Data Center Space Being Rented, Not Built

Posted on by gregl

According to a Frost & Sullivan survey conducted last year, enterprises will increase data center floor space 15 percent a year through 2013, but the percentage of that space they actually own will decrease six percent.

How can this be? It means simply that a large number of companies are utilizing colocation platforms.

“Even through challenging economic times, the need for physical data center capacity continues to grow,” according to IT Business Edge. “For some businesses, the driver is expansion into new markets or geographies. For others, it’s the need to deal with growing amounts of data generated by applications with high-capacity demands, evolving end-user abilities, or regulatory bodies that demand ever-increasing quantities of meticulous documentation.

“If your data center is running out of space – or power, which is increasingly an important constraint – you have two options. You can build and operate a new facility, or you can lease the capacity you need from one of a growing number of colocation providers who can solve your problem immediately.”