AKIBIA'S PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY
Monday, February 02, 2009
“Practical Use” Fills the Gap Between Idea and Implementation
It’s no longer a question of if you will deploy virtualized environments but when you will deploy them. In fact there are many technologies at this same point somewhere between idea and implementation, including WAN optimization, security consolidation technologies, Microsoft initiatives and contract administration consolidation. These solutions will cross the chasm into main stream deployment mainly because they reduce costs and increase efficiencies.
Gartner states that less than 20% of the industry has virtualized their environment, proving broad adoption has yet to take place. Yet Gartner has already moved past virtualization and on to hyping the latest and greatest technologies around cloud computing. Gartner's role is to stay ahead of the curve and identify the next big technology. Other organizations, such as The Tolly Group take these newer technologies and validate that they do what the vendor says they do - also needed in the ever changing world of technology. Still, a large information gap exists between the introduction of the product and practically deploying it.
What resources can we leverage to find the information we need in the crucial deployment stage? Most typically, we mine this information from trade rags, peers, proofs of concept, consultants, and ultimately trial and error. This approach is costly, time consuming and confusing. It adds significant overhead to every new deployment. There needs to be a better way to leverage the experience of your peers across vertical markets and gain easy access to the right processes, procedures, and pitfalls to avoid when deploying these technologies. Solution-based approaches are the first step to solving this issue, but there is a requirement for more. This next generation approach—Practical Use - incorporates evaluation, optimized deployment, disaster recovery and business continuity considerations, process, support, and maintenance, while taking into account the evolution of the environment and technology to maximize cost savings and increase efficiency in your real-world environment.
- Robert Klotz, vice president of technology at Akibia.
