Latest News from HP Virtualization Journal

HP Announces Future Support for Microsoft RemoteFX

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:45:00 EDT

HP, a provider of Windows embedded thin client hardware, on Thursday announced plans to support Microsoft RemoteFX, a set of technologies designed to enhance the end user’s computing experience over a remote connection. HP also introduced the availability of the HP Remote Desktop Client (RDC) add-on for its industry-leading, Windows Embedded Standard (WES)-based thin clients. These solutions further expand HP’s Thin Client and Client Virtualization solutions portfolio. Integrating Microsoft RemoteFX, a new feature being developed for Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1, enables future WES-based HP thin clients to deliver a richer, local-like user experience for Microsoft session-based desktop and virtual desktop infrastructure customers. By leveraging the power of virtualized graphics and advanced codecs, remote workers will be able to access any type of application or screen content, including rich media and 3D applications.

World Wide Technology Awarded $27 Million Department of Defense Contract

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:06:22 EDT

World Wide Technology, Inc. (WWT), a market-leading systems integrator that provides innovative technology and supply chain solutions, announced today that it has been awarded a two-year, $27 million contract by the Department of Defense (DoD) to meet the technology and supply chain needs of the Tri-Service Medical Education and Training Campus (METC) at Ft. Sam Houston. Through this contract, WWT will support the largest consolidation of military medical training in DoD history with the design, procurement, installation and integration of advanced technology solutions.

Intel Launches Secure Data Center Processor

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:01:00 EDT

Combining security, performance and energy efficiency, Intel Corporation on Tuesday launched the Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series. The new processors deliver two new security features -- Intel Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions (Intel AES-NI), and Intel Trusted Execution Technology (IntelTXT) -- that enable faster encryption and decryption performance for more secure transactions and virtualized environments, providing data centers with a stronger foundation for cloud security. These are also the first server and workstation chips based on the groundbreaking, new Intel 32nm logic technology, which uses Intel’s second-generation high-k metal gate transistors to increase speed and decrease energy consumption. The Intel Xeon Processor 5600 series supports up to six cores per processor and delivers up to 60 percent greater performance than the 45nm Intel Xeon processor 5500 series. In addition, data centers can replace 15 single-core servers with a single new one, and achieve a return on their investment in as little as 5 months.

Akorri Named to The Wall Street Journal's Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies List

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:30:02 EDT

Akorri, Inc., the leader in virtual infrastructure performance and capacity management for the dynamic data center, announced today that it has been ranked 43rd in The Wall Street Journal's list of the Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies with the most potential to become "the next big thing," published in the March 9, 2010 edition. In addition, Akorri was among the companies featured in an accompanying WSJ article titled Tech Start-ups Cope With Data Flood.

How to Create Data Center Automation Priorities

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:50:00 EDT

Data center automation is one of the most prevalent areas today when it comes to IT spending. In fact, data center automation is included in about 50 percent of all spending plans in IT organzations in the United States. This puts data center automation firmly in the top 10 priorities for IT spending.

Why is automation becoming such a priority? To be sure, automation makes some big promises. Automation is said to not only improve service levels, but to free up resources that can be then used to invest in data center infrastructure.

In fact, data center automation is becoming a necessity. When you combine low cost servers, tends toward consolidation and the increasing demands of operations, automation is the last best hope for reigning in the chaos that comes with a data center. In addition, virtualization is one of the key components of being an adaptive and flexible enterprise. Virtualization is almost necessary if service oriented architecture and virtualization are to be fully and effeciently implemented.

Still, data center automation is a rather broad category. Originally, data center automation applications were simply provisioning tools used for server management. Today, data center management is a much broader area. It brings in server administration, maintenance of applications, management for stoage and more. It's no surprise, then, that adoption of data center automation is growing, when you look at all of the various aspects it includes.

There are data center automation products available from many well-known and respected vendors in the IT field. Computer Associates offers data center automation solutions, as does HP. While some of these solutions tend to be a bit proprietary and focused on a particular vendor's product, most have applicaitons outside of that narrow focus. Indeed, if a product can't stretch into multiple areas it becomes much less useful, at least to a heterogeneous environment.

Data center automation must be personalized and customized, if it is to be effective. Some automation efforts won't make sense in some data centers. For example, virtualization is not always a good option for every application, or even for every organization.

Rather than throwing money randomly into the data center automation bucket, an organization needs to do some real legwork. They need to know what options are available to them, but more importantly they need to be able to decide what options are most useful for their organization.

In order to realize the benefits of data center automation, the project team has to focus efforts where they'll bring the biggest payback. Data center automation efforts are only as good as the process used to implement them.

Lower Operational Costs Through Process Automation

Click here to download the IDC white paper to learn:

An introduction to orchestration and process automation
Making the business case for automation and orchestration
Process Automation and Orchestration Use Case Scenarios

Gartner Ups Its PC Projections

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 23:30:00 EST

Gartner is now projecting 19.7% growth in worldwide PC shipments this year. That would mean 366.1 million units with tablets accounting for 10.5 million. Gartner expects revenues to increase 12.2% to $245 billion, which is way more than the measly 1.9% increase it was projecting in December. That was when it was only figuring on 13.3% growth in demand before HP and Dell’s early results turned more upbeat. All the action of course is in the mobile space. Gartner figures mobile PC growth will be up 90% over the next three years. Mobile is expected to account for 70% of demand this year, up from 55% last year.

HP to Take On iPad

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:00:00 EST

Sometime this year the slate HP demo’d at the Consumer Electronics Show is going to go into competition with Apple’s newfangled iPad. HP is kinda ticked that Apple is stealing its thunder. It’s been working on the dingus for five years and says it could have put it out two years ago but it would have cost $1,500. Now it’s got a cheap Atom processor, touch-aware Windows 7 and the idea that iPad is too limited. What people want, HP CTO Phil McKinney says, is a whole multimedia-capable widget so, unlike iPad, the slate will have Adobe’s Apple-scorned Flash as well as AIR so Flash can run outside the browser. It’ll also be able to run multiple applications at the same time, another thing iPad can’t do. The New York Times figures the HP device will have a lot shorter battery life than the ARM-based iPad.

Everything Channel Honors Leading Vendors at the Annual CRN Channel Champions Awards Ceremony

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:00:23 EST

Study is Premier Resource to Evaluate Channel Vendors, Products and Services

CA Receives Top 'Product of the Year' and 'Partner of the Year' Honors from Programmer's Paradise

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:30:24 EST

Best-Selling CA ERwin Modeling Suite, Three Other CA Management Solutions Win Across 10 "Riding the Crest" Award Categories for 2009

Lake Land College Selects Enterasys Over Cisco and HP for Fixed/Wireless Upgrade

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:30:05 EST

Enterasys, the network infrastructure and security division of Siemens Enterprise Communications Group, today announced that Lake Land College of Illinois has deployed Enterasys solutions to provide fixed and wireless IT infrastructure for its 7,400 students and 600 staff across its main campus and four satellite locations. Through Enterasys solutions and support, Lake Land's IT staff of five has realized its goal of implementing multimedia technology in all 120 classrooms, and can easily manage day-to-day network activity while achieving comprehensive network visibility and protection.

Datatel Adds IT Infrastructure Partners to Help Clients Build Strategic Academic Enterprises

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:15:55 EST

Datatel has partnered with Sirius Computer Solutions and VCOMP Solutions to provide Datatel clients with a secure source for advanced infrastructure design, hardware and software products, and professional services. Both companies bring extensive knowledge, experience and expertise to help build Strategic Academic Enterprises that support student success through optimized IT environments.

AFCOM's Data Center World Kicks Off in Nashville

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:00:26 EST

AFCOM'S Data Center World (http://www.datacenterworld.com), the world's leading data center industry conference and two-day expo, officially opens today in Nashville, TN, gathering more than 800 data center management professionals through March 11 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. This year's show features live data center tours, educational and tutorial sessions encompassing all aspects of the data center, a keynote session by Equinix CIO Brian Lillie on aligning your business strategies with those of your customers, and the revealing of AFCOM's Data Center Manager of the Year award recipient.

GTSI Produces Solid Fourth Quarter and Year-End Results

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:02:10 EST

GTSI Corp. (NASDAQ:GTSI), a systems integrator, solutions and services provider to the government, today announced its financial results for the three months and twelve months ended December 31, 2009.

BrightTALK Hosts Cloud Security Summit

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:00:04 EST

HP Is Cirious About Clouds

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:45:00 EST

HP Labs has opened an advanced research facility in Singapore, where it means to re-examine data center and application design principles to explore how future cloud computing needs will be met. The facility will support a number of cloud initiatives already underway at other HP Labs sites, collaborating closely with the Service Automation and Integration Lab (SAIL) in Silicon Valley and the Automated Infrastructure Lab (AIL) in England. Together, the three will work on Cirious, HP’s vision for creating an enterprise cloud software platform. Through applied and exploratory research, Singapore is supposed to work with customers, partners, HP business divisions and the academe to generate advances that drive Cirious research.

Chuck Phillips Was Supposed to Become CEO of CA

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST

Oracle co-president Charles Phillips was supposed to become CEO of CA - for all its muddied skirts still one of the world's largest software companies - and then those "soul mates forever" billboards popped up in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco, exposing his near decade-long bi-coastal double life with wife and son in the East and a live-in girlfriend in the West. Six days after Phillips was forced to admit that a picture of him and his ex-girlfriend canoodling was hanging over Times Square, CA named board member and executive chairman Bill McCracken CEO. He's the guy who's been running the company since John Swainson's reportedly forced retirement was announced in September. An ex-IBMer and an ex-Swainson pal, it was no secret he really wanted the job. That was the day after Oracle announced it had closed the Sun deal and Phillips led the victory parade filling in for Oracle's unexpectedly absent other co-president Safra Catz.

Veeam Software Announces White Paper Series from Top Virtualization Experts

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:06:57 EST

Veeam Software, innovative provider of data protection, disaster recovery and systems management solutions for VMware virtual datacenter environments, has worked with leading industry experts and analysts to offer four new white papers focusing on how virtualization can help organizations of all sizes dramatically improve IT services by taking data protection and disaster recovery to the next level, while significantly reducing the cost. Each white paper is available for free download at http://www.veeam.com/go/vmware-vexperts-white-paper-series.

Cisco Cashiers HP from Its Partner Ranks

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST

Cisco is not going to renew HP’s long-time systems integrator contract when it expires on April 30. That means HP won’t be a Cisco Certified Channel or Global Service Alliance partner anymore because Cisco Certified Channel or Global Service Alliance partners get proprietary Cisco information like product roadmaps and discounts and that’s kinda silly when HP and Cisco are competing for business. Cisco sent its senior VP of worldwide partner organization Keith Goodwin out to deliver this message on YouTube. He said Cisco’s “relationship with HP has evolved from a partner to companies with different and conflicting visions of how to deliver value to companies” and that “for Cisco to lead market transitions… we must align with and invest in partners who share our network-centric vision.”

Are SUN to end Hitachi Data Systems OEM Relationship?

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:08:00 EST

On January 26th just prior to the official announcement of Oracle’s takeover of SUN Microsystems, I confidently predicted in my article “SUN’s Oracle Merger” with regards to SUN’s storage portfolio that “One

The 451 Group and Surgient to Host Webcast Highlighting Successful Cloud-Based IT Deployments

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:01:52 EST

Surgient®, the leader in private cloud automation for the enterprise, today announced that it’s teaming with The 451 Group to host a webcast next week on dynamic cloud-based IT. Throughout 2010, industry experts expect that an accelerated transition will occur in the enterprise market from the traditional static IT and infrastructure delivery model to a highly dynamic cloud-based one. The 451 Group Research Director Rachel Chalmers will explore this shift and share her insights on key concerns, real-world case studies, and benefits that can be achieved when implementing private clouds in the enterprise.

Emulex OneConnect 10Gb/s Ethernet and FCoE Adapters Available from HP to Maximize Customers’ Data Center Consolidation and Virtualization Capabilities

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:00:55 EST

Emulex Corporation (NYSE:ELX) today announced that its OneConnect™ Universal Converged Network Adapters (UCNAs) are available for 10Gb/s Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connectivity for select HP ProLiant rack, tower and blade servers and orderable as HP branded products.

Attenda Wins EMEA and Global VMware Service Provider Program Partner of the Year Award at VMware Partner Exchange 2010

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:50:00 EST

VMware Partners from Around the World Take Home Top Honours for Delivering VMware Virtualization Solutions to Companies of All Sizes

London, February 26, 2010 - Attenda Limited, the Always On Managed Services company, today announced that it has been recognised by VMware as a winner of a VMware Partner Network Award in the EMEA and Global VMware Service Provider Program Partner of the Year categories. The award was presented at VMware Partner Exchange 2010, VMware's annual partner event, on February 9th in Las Vegas.

Simon Hansford, VP Service Strategy & Marketing, Attenda comments "This award is further validation of our investment and success in deploying cloud-based solutions for enterprise-class clients. By leveraging the functionality of the VMware platform, we have been able to deliver for our clients greater agility at higher availability and reduced costs."

During 2009, more than 50 clients were deployed onto Attenda's cloud services, Attenda RTI, all recognising that cloud services bring new levels of agility and efficiency, delivering their infrastructure as a service.

"VMware's partners continue to be the bedrock of our business, and we are pleased to recognise the great work they have accomplished throughout the year," said Doug Smith, senior director, global partner sales, VMware. "We congratulate Attenda and look forward to continuing our work together to help deliver virtualization solutions for clients building private cloud infrastructures."

As Simon Hansford concludes, "Through adoption of Attenda RTI and cloud based solutions, we shall continue to build stronger and deeper relationships with our clients and strategic partners, to become recognised as a strategic outsourcing partner of choice."

At VMware Partner Exchange 2010, VMware acknowledged key performances and outstanding achievements by the company's ecosystem partners during 2009. Winners from around the world were recognised in 15 categories:

• VMware Service Provider Program (VSPP) Partner of the Year
• Solution Provider of the Year
• Education Partner of the Year
• Distributor of the Year
• Systems Integrator of the Year
• SMB Partner of the Year
• Desktop Virtualization Partner of the Year
• Academic Partner of the Year
• Technology Innovator
• Vertical Trailblazer
• VMware Competency Partner of the Year
• Partner Executive MVP
• Corporate Reseller of the Year
• Federal Partner of the Year
• SpringSource Partner of the Year

- ends -

About Attenda
Attenda (www.attenda.net), the Always On Managed Services company, manages those vital applications that every business relies upon today to function effectively allowing our clients to selectively outsource their IT operations and re-focus on using IT to add strategic value to their business.

Through a commitment to operational excellence, we manage, secure and optimise the performance of their applications, irrespective of the physical location of the infrastructure.

With over 9 years' investment into Attenda M.O., Attenda's operations platform, we provide the people, process and technology to deliver exceptionally high service levels but at a cost that is amortised across Attenda's entire client base - currently 134 of the UK's leading companies.

The company enjoys substantial financial backing, the industry's leading accreditations and an unrivalled portfolio of clients including bmi, Christian Aid, easyCar, Microsoft, NHS, Princes, St. James's Place and Travelodge.

Attenda is ISO9001, ISO27001 and ISO20000 accredited, an HP SP Signature Partner, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, a SAP Adaptive IT Hosting Provider, a SunTone accredited managed service provider and an Accredited Supplier of Buying Solutions, the national procurement partner for UK public services. Attenda is one of only seven companies to have been ranked in the UK's Sunday Times ARM Tech Track 100 for three consecutive years. It was voted Best Managed Services Provider by Data Centre Europe Awards for both 2007 and 2008 and VMware's EMEA Hosting Partner of the Year 2008 and 2009.

For further details, visit www.attenda.net or contact
Attenda Corporate Communications
Simon Hansford +44 (0)1784 211100
simon.hansford@attenda.net

About VMware Partner Exchange
VMware Partner Exchange is the marquis global event for virtualization partners, offering more than 150 sessions and an extensive exhibitor pavilion to demonstrate how partners can best accelerate their virtualization businesses. This year partner attendees received a preview into the next generation of products and programs coming from VMware and offered partners an exclusive opportunity to hear from VMware executives including Carl Eschenbach, executive vice president of worldwide field operations and Dr. Stephen Herrod, CTO and senior vice president of R&D.

Technologent Joins EMC Velocity2 Partner Program

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:30:17 EST

The Cisco and HP Divorce Signals a New Era in Computing

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:12:33 EST

The much anticipated divorce between Cisco and HP that was announced in recent weeks is a harbinger for the network equipment industry. Note Alexander Wolfe’s comments from his Wolfe’s Den blog: Cisco has made what can only be characterized as an aggressive move emphasizing its strategic surge from a networking-centric vendor into a unified computing powerhouse. Earlier in February Wolfe interviewed HP about their entrance into the infrastructure 2.0 category: This may be the most astute move yet that HP has taken to blunt the high profile Cisco has achieved with its Unified Computing System, a competing Infrastructure 2.0 play, which similarly combines servers and networking. Cisco and HP have made it clear to their investors, customers and employees that IT is being swept up into a new era of converged computing, driven by a host of new pressures, including virtualization and consumerization and increasing populations of IP addresses and network-enabled appliances.

WWT Continues Support of Geek Day

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:34:02 EST

World Wide Technology, Inc. (WWT), a market-leading systems integrator that provides innovative technology and supply chain solutions, announced today its continued support of Geek Day, a full-day learning and networking event focused on virtualization technology. The sixth edition of Geek Day is free to attend and will be held on March 25 in St. Louis. For more information or to register, visit www.geekday.com

SNW Spring 2010 to Bring Together IT Management Community for World's Largest Conference on Storage, Infrastructure and the Data Center

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:46:48 EST

SNW Spring 2010 will bring together top information technology executives, providers and industry influencers on April 12-15 in Orlando for the world's largest conference on storage, infrastructure and the data center.

Tech Data Partners With FalconStor Software To Expand Data Center Solutions Offering

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:17:46 EST

Tech Data Corporation (NASDAQ:TECD) today announced that it will distribute FalconStor Software’s complete line of data-protection storage solutions. Tech Data—through its Advanced Infrastructure Solutions (AIS) Division—is partnering with FalconStor to enhance its support of IT resellers influencing the storage solutions purchases made by businesses, government agencies and educational institutions nationwide.

Tech Data Strengthens Data Center Solutions Strategy

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:05:33 EST

Tech Data’s (NASDAQ:TECD) Advanced Infrastructure Solutions (AIS) Division today announced enhancements to its go-to-market strategy with the introduction of four new Solutions Groups. Following the successful introduction of the division’s Cisco Solutions Group last year, AIS has built out its data center support structure with the HP Solutions Group, IBM Solutions Group, Software Solutions Group and Storage Solutions Group.

Suburban Propane Optimizes Virtual Machine Performance, Saves on Hardware Costs Using Akorri BalancePoint

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:30:02 EST

Akorri, Inc., the leader in virtual infrastructure performance and capacity management for the dynamic data center, announced today that Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. (NYSE: SPH), a nationwide distributor of propane, fuel oil and related products and services, as well as a marketer of natural gas and electricity, is using Akorri's award-winning BalancePoint software to optimize virtual machine performance and save on hardware costs within its highly-virtualized, centralized data center.

Energy Management and Data Center Costs

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:04:00 EST

Keeping data center costs down is an important priority, especially during tough economic times. One of the areas that's ripe for savings is the area of energy management. Some of the biggest names in IT are working on getting data center costs down in the area of energy demands.

Take, for example, the supercomputing program at Notre Dame. The folks in South Bend are working today with Cisco to come up with a new way to manage energy that will significantly reduce energy consumption. This work is leading to new patents on technology and concepts.

Effective energy management can produce significant cost savings to a data center environment, especially if you know where to start. While progress is still being made, there are things you can do today.

One area to look at is cooling. You need to be able to determine the right temperature for your data center. This will vary based on your particular components and hardware, but even a degree or two difference can make a significant impact on your energy expenditures.

Some of the most innovative energy management ideas related to cooling have to do with breaking free of expensive air conditioning units. While it's not likely that you can support a data center using only outside air during August, in many places across the country and across the world there are several months out of the year that outside air provides a perfect alternative to air conditioning. Air handling systems that incorporate cool outside air can save significant amounts of money.

Energy management software solutions can help, as well. These applications are becoming more and more sophisticated, and able to push power to exactly where it's needed when it's needed. Yes, there is a capital expenditure to get the system into place, but once it's up and running it will reduce your ongoing energy expenditures in a significant way. Cisco's EnergyWise is an example of this kind of solution, and more and more organizations are turning to energy management software as a quick and easy fix.

Virtualization is often bantered about as a way to save money on energy costs. This is true, to some degree, but it's important to look at the larger picture. Taking an inventory of your hardware and applications and retiring inefficient equipment in favor of new equipment or even virtualization can create significant energy cost savings, as well as savings in the areas of ongoing maintenance and support.

Ultimately, you need to take a holistic approach to the issue of energy management. Look at your data center's energy consumption from all angles, and decide where you can get the most benefit for the least cost.

Green Networking in the Data Center

Download this white paper from HP for more information about:

The challenge of a complex data center
Green data center best practices
Power and cooling utilization
Building efficient infrastructures

Knowing Is Half the Battle

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:15:00 EST

There’s a difference between automation and orchestration, and knowing which one you’re really doing is half the battle in achieving a truly dynamic data center.

Randy Heffner on CIO.Com wrote an excellent article on SOA and its value, “SOA: Think Business Transformation, Not Code Reuse.” The problem I had with the article was not in any way related to its advice, conclusions, or suggestions. The problem I had was that I kept thinking about how perfectly much of his article could be applied to data center orchestration, operational transformation, and automation. Simply replace “SOA” with “orchestration”, “software reuse” with “automation”, and “business” with “operational” and you’ve pretty much got what needs to be said. Here, I’ll show you what I mean:

The worst ~~CIO~~ CTO misunderstanding about ~~service-oriented architecture~~ ~~(SOA)~~ orchestration is thinking of it as only another technical initiative for automation ~~software reuse~~. Although ~~SOA's reuse~~ orchestration’s automation potential is real and good, its ~~business~~ operational impact goes much further: In Forrester surveys, 38 percent of Global 2000 ~~SOA~~ orchestration users say they are using it for strategic ~~business~~ operational transformation. ~~SOA's~~ Orchestration’s true source of power is in its ~~business~~ operational design models, not its technology — and this means that ~~SOA~~ orchestration provides a broad foundation for a much larger shift in ~~business~~ operational technology (BT) architecture that goes far beyond ~~SOA~~ orchestration itself. By correctly understanding orchestration ~~SOA,~~ ~~CIOs~~ CTOs can lead their organizations on a solid and well-managed path toward a strategic technology future and greater business value.

This is true for SOA, and it’s true for cloud computing, where it is the orchestration of the data center infrastructure that brings the value to the table through making more efficient the operational processes codified to automate and integrate systems.

AUTOMATION is HOW, ORCHESTRATION is WHY

This very short (perhaps too short) post on differentiating between automation and orchestration last year kicked off a very interesting (and also short) discussion on Twitter with the core theme appearing to be “why differentiate in the first place?” Why, indeed. I can answer that question with a question of my own: why differentiate between “software reuse” and “SOA”? After all, aren’t they the same thing?

They are not the same, as Randy very eloquently pointed out above. The biggest difference is that discrete components like services and automation are designed from the top-down; that is, they are not necessarily taking into consideration the business side of the processes.

Automation is akin to expert systems: it is the codification of a set of steps to perform some action. That action may be conditional upon variables extracted or shared by other systems within the environment, but they are environmental and focus on specific properties such as CPU utilization, number of connections, or even the user invoking the automation. Automation can answer the question “how do I do this?”

Orchestration, however, resides on the process level and more specifically on the business process level. Business process in this case relates to the operational IT processes which seek to achieve a specific business goal in its execution. Orchestration can answer the question “why do I do this?”

The subtle but significant difference between automation and orchestration is important if you’re looking to realize the maximum benefits from an implementation. Automation will reduce time spent on tedious tasks, yes, but orchestration can streamline processes by discovering – and one hopes ultimately eliminating – redundancy, and aligning the technical aspects of IT with the business.

Oh how you hate that “align IT with the business” line, don’t you? It’s fluff, you’re thinking; just another buzz phrase. In some cases when it’s used, yes, it’s just a phrase. But in the case of orchestration there isn’t a truer set of buzzwords that have been strung together in quite some time.

ORCHESTRATION is BUSINESS, AUTOMATION is OPERATIONAL

That’s because the goal of orchestration is to make operational decisions based on business goals and needs in real time. Instead of thinking about bandwidth in terms of how much an application might need, you start making decisions based on what it uses and what it costs and what the prioritization of the business function the application serves. Yes, you probably do factor those variables in today, but orchestration makes them an integral part of the decision making process and uses automation to make the adjustments required without human intervention. Orchestration is the art of tying together those integrations in such a way as to automatically execute against business logic based on operational and business requirements. In the case of orchestration, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts because the integration and collaboration that happens in an orchestration is enabled by automation, but not made from it.

Just as JBOWS (Just a Bunch of Web Services) don’t make a SOA, neither does a bunch of disconnected scripts automating IT tasks make an orchestration. It is the integration and flow of systems from the top down, with a view from the business layer of the stack, that makes an orchestration valuable to both business and IT folks alike. SOA is an architecture, not an implementation. So, too, is orchestration an architecture and not an implementation.

I think some folks from an EDS (HP) said it best in their vision paper: “Orchestration for the Business-Driven Data Center”

Orchestration technology is not the same as systems management, provisioning, workflow management or “run- book” automation (a type of workflow management). These disciplines seek to automate the tasks required to manage elements of the IT infrastructure, such as servers, network devices, storage or databases. The primary goals of automation are to improve response times, reduce errors, reduce IT staffing needs, avoid redundant manual procedures and improve consistency. These are operational goals specific to the mechanics of managing technology.

Orchestration, by contrast, focuses on business goals such as improving business up-time, improving customer satisfaction and retention levels, reducing order processing and delivery times, and reducing missed business opportunity costs.

DOES IT REALLY MATTER WHAT I CALL IT?

Well, no. Not really, unless you’re implementing discrete automation points and calling it orchestration. The reason it matters then is that you may not know that you could be realizing more benefit out of the automation if you really were doing orchestration. If you’re doing orchestration and calling it automation, well, a rose by any other name, right?

What you call it isn’t nearly as important as recognizing that there are differences between the two and then applying that knowledge such that you can achieve the best benefits from what you’re trying to do.

Cause knowing is half the battle, right? The other half requires lasers…and for those, you’re on your own.

Entisys Solutions Establishes Infrastructure Architecture Group

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:00:09 EST

Strengthening its position as the West Coast's leading consultant and integrator of virtualization solutions from the data center to the desktop, Entisys Solutions, Inc. today announced the launch of its Infrastructure Architecture Group. This team of dedicated professionals will focus on providing products and services that support the integration of HP Enterprise products and virtual infrastructures.

HyperIP Positioned for Cloud Infrastructures & Virtualization Applications

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:30:32 EST

Enabling Infrastructure as a Service

TheInfoPro’s 2010 Information Security Study Reveals Budget Changes, Cloud Concerns, Potential M&A Targets

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:17:28 EST

TheInfoPro, an independent research company for the IT industry, today released the results of its Information Security Study, which showed that 40 percent (40%) of enterprises are planning to increase their 2010 security budgets. After a year of restricted spending and delayed projects, major infrastructure upgrade initiatives are finally happening for security IT departments. The study shows that enterprises are favoring the safety of one-stop, all-inclusive vendors, and consequently, the data shows Cisco rising as a formidable security provider.

Veeam Software Annual Revenue Grows 127 Percent and Customer Base 300 Percent in 2009

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:36:00 EST

Veeam Software, a provider of data protection, disaster recovery and systems management tools for VMware virtual datacenter environments, experienced exceptional growth in every area of its business in 2009. Total bookings revenue grew 127 percent over 2008, and the customer base has grown over 300 percent, now exceeding 8,000 customers worldwide. Veeam built a strong worldwide sales and channel organization and established itself as the technology and innovation leader in VMware data protection, disaster recovery and systems management during a year of rapid growth and continued success for the company.

AppDynamics Redefines Application Performance Management for Today's Cloud, Virtual, and Physical Environments

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:17:09 EST

Founded by Industry Experts from Wily Technologies, AppDynamics Emerges from Stealth Mode

Citrix & Novell to Collaborate on Cloud Computing & Virtualization

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:30:00 EST

Citrix Systems and Novell have announced a collaboration that expands choice for customers through increased virtualization interoperability and new assessment tools to help pinpoint the economically most advantageous approach to virtualization. Through this new partnership, Novell has certified SUSE Linux Enterprise Server as a “Perfect Guest” running on Citrix XenServer and both companies will provide joint technical support to customers. As a result of this agreement, the more than 4,500 enterprise applications certified as Novell Ready for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server are now Citrix Ready community-verified when running in a SUSE Linux Enterprise Server guest virtual machine on XenServer. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server is the only Linux operating system that has been optimized to be the perfect guest on all major hypervisors, with outstanding performance when running on XenServer. Now customers and cloud providers gain the added value of the free XenServer as an enterprise-class virtualization platform for Linux and Windows environments, providing them with an expanded set of technologies and processes to run and manage heterogeneous data centers.

Comport Consulting Announces Expansion of Solution Center

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:30:02 EST

Comport Consulting Corp., a leading expert in the design and implementation of information management solutions for enterprises and healthcare providers, announced that it has completed an expansion of the demonstration capabilities available to its customers and IT partners for 2010. Over 40 demonstrations are now available at the Comport Solution Center, covering a wide spectrum of hardware, software, and information management products.

With Market Accelerating, HP Raises Guidance

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:30:00 EST

After things clicked for HP in the January quarter and it sniffed an “accelerating market,” it decided to raise its outlook for the year believing it can outperform the market. CEO Mark Hurd says 2010 ain’t gonna be 2009 redux, at least not for HP. He’s predicting growth of 6%-7% and an earnings tickle of 14%-15%. He also means to hire, at least in sales. In its first fiscal quarter HP’s net revenues came to $31.2 billion, up 8%, making for earnings of $2.3 billion, or 96 cents a share, up 25%. It earned $2.7 billion before charges. It exceeded its own and Wall Street expectations on the revenue side by better than a billion dollars. Hurd’s cost-cutting didn’t hurt the earnings.

HP Reports First Quarter 2010 Results

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST

HP on Wednesday announced financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31, 2010, with net revenue of $31.2 billion, up 8% from a year earlier and up 5% when adjusted for the effects of currency. In the first quarter, GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) was $0.96, up from $0.75 in the prior-year period. Non-GAAP EPS was $1.10, up from $0.93 in the prior-year period. Non-GAAP financial information excludes after-tax costs of approximately $0.14 per share and $0.18 per share in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 and 2009, respectively, related primarily to the amortization of purchased intangibles, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges. “HP is well-positioned to outperform the market,” said Mark Hurd, HP chairman and chief executive officer. “The strength of our portfolio, leaner cost structure and accelerating market momentum give us the confidence to raise our full-year outlook.”

TechTarget Grows its European Capabilities with New Partner in France

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:04:39 EST

Technology media company TechTarget, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTGT) has formed a strategic partnership with Emagine Médias SARL, the parent company of LeMagIT.fr (www.lemagit.fr), to improve the ability of technology marketers to reach the best technology prospects in the most important markets through TechTarget. LeMagIT.fr has already launched topically focused, co-branded sections of the LegMagIT.fr in the model of TechTarget and began promoting these sections to its 36,000 French enterprise IT pro member base.

GraphOn Announces Free GO-Global Personal Edition Software

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:07:55 EST

GraphOn Corporation (OTCBB: GOJO), a leading worldwide developer of application publishing and Web-enabling solutions, announced two new application virtualization software products: GO-Global for Windows Personal Edition and GO-Global for UNIX Personal Edition. Both are available for free and can be downloaded at www.graphon.com/content/view/118/219.

F5 Improves Customers’ IT Infrastructure Agility

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:04:00 EST

F5 Networks on Tuesday announced availability of a free trial version of its new virtual appliance, the BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) Virtual Edition (VE). The combination of virtual and physical Application Delivery Controllers (ADCs) is a major milestone in delivering on F5’s vision for dynamic IT infrastructure. The free trial is now available at http://www.f5.com/trial/.

Veeam nworks Smart Plug-in™ Achieves VMware Ready™ Status

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:00:55 EST

Veeam Software, award-winning provider of systems management tools for VMware virtual datacenter environments, today announced that the Veeam nworks Smart Plug-in™ (SPI) for VMware has achieved VMware Ready™ status. This designation indicates that the Veeam nworks SPI has passed a detailed evaluation and testing process managed by VMware, and is now listed on the VMware Partner Product Catalog.

Does IBM Power7 Processor Announcement Signal Storage Upgrades?

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:30:00 EST

The Power7 is the latest generation of IBM processors (chips) that are used as the CPUs in IBM mid range and high end open systems (pSeries) for Unix (AIX) and Linux as well as for the iSeries (aka AS400 successor). Building on previous Power series processors, the Power7 increases the performance per core (CPU) along with the number of cores per socket (chip) footprint. For example, each Power7 chip that plugs into a socket on a processor card in a server can have up to 8 cores or CPUs. Note that sometimes cores are also known as micro CPUs as well as virtual CPUs not to be confused with their presented via Hypervisor abstraction. Sometimes you may also here the term or phrase 2 way, 4 way (not to be confused with a Cincinnati style 4 way chili) or 8 way among others that refers to the number of cores on a chip. Hence, a dual 2 way would be a pair of processor chips each with 2 cores while a quad 8 way would be 4 processors chips each with 8 cores and so on.

App-DNA and Citrix Sign Global Agreement

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:45:00 EST

App-DNA Inc. has signed a global agreement with Citrix Systems covering its AppTitude application compatibility testing product. The agreement gives Citrix Consulting Services access to AppTitude, and will be used to help Citrix customers accelerate implementation of on-demand applications in a virtual desktop deployment.

App-DNA et Citrix signent un accord global

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:57:39 EST

App-DNA Inc. a signé aujourd'hui avec Citrix Systems Inc. un accord global concernant AppTitude, son produit de test de compatibilité applicative de pointe. L'accord permet à Citrix Consulting Services d'accéder à AppTitude, et sera utilisé pour aider les clients de Citrix à accélérer le déploiement d'applications à la demande dans un environnement de bureau virtuel.

Arrow ECS, Riverbed Sign Distribution Agreement

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:32:31 EST

Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions, a business segment of Arrow Electronics Inc. [NYSE: ARW], and Riverbed Technology [NASDAQ: RVBD], the information technology infrastructure performance company for networks, applications and storage, have signed a North American distribution agreement.

Vartopia Releases First Portal for Multi-Vendor Deal Registration

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:22:06 EST

New Web Service Streamlines Deal Registration Submissions, Provides Increased Visibility for Profit Margin Management, and Increases Access and Awareness of Deal Registration Programs

Dell’Oro Group Forecasts Data Center Products to Drive Future Ethernet Switch Market Growth

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:17:36 EST

According to a recent report by Dell’Oro Group, the trusted source for information about the networking and telecommunications industries, the Ethernet Switch market is forecast to return to growth in 2010 and continue to grow annually through 2014. This growth is expected to come in large part from sales of Ethernet switches optimized for larger datacenter deployments that are being driven by virtualization, together with the improved economics of fewer, larger datacenters.