My 2cents worth. Virtualization driving data growth by as much as 8x… according to Gartner.

[Randy_Serafini]

Not being a big fan of long blogs (particularly the dry ones), I’ll try to share with you what I’m thinking about today with a bit of brevity.   As we, the collective group of industry veterans and new-comers alike who live and breathe Enterprise-class Information Technology and Management, march down the path of virtualization, we are coming face to face with what is generally being called the ‘Next 1/3’ of virtualization.

Simply put, the ‘First 1/3’ is done.  Most IT organizations screaming down the path of virtualization have moved their Tier-3 apps to virtual environments.  Pretty safe bet.  ‘Let’s make sure this virtualization thing really works, demonstrate a reduction in our overall data center costs and footprint, and if it crashes, well… we won’t be self-inflicting too much pain and damage to the business.’  For the most part… mission accomplished.

The challenge I’m seeing with many ‘First 1/3’ plans is the general lack of an ‘Enterprise-class’ thinking and mind set.  I’m referring to the widespread deployment of point solutions, data protection and deduplication, that are generally not well integrated, if at all.  Maybe expedient and ‘cost effective’ for ‘testing this thing out’ but not what I think the CXO team would want to bet the ranch on as one moves into the ‘Next 1/3’, virtualizing Tier-2 apps.  Finally, let’s not forget about the ‘Last 1/3’, the hold your breath and pray as you virtualize those Tier-1 business, or mission-critical applications.  Keeping in mind that if they fail, and you don’t recover, you (and everyone else) better start dusting off your resume.

Virtualization driving data growth by as much as 8x… according to Gartner.   Yes, I said this earlier and again to make a point.  I suspect most living in the Enterprise are just a little bit concerned on how to protect this mind bending growth in data as a result of rampant virtualization… according to Gartner.  I’m also thinking that if you are not thinking about Enterprise class deduplication, to go along with your plans to virtualize those “Next and Last 1/3” enterprise apps, well maybe it’s something you might want to start thinking about.  If fact, wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t actually have to think too hard, and with just a click-of-the mouse, you could fire up dedupe everywhere all from a single award winning Enterprise-class data protection platform for both virtual and physical environments, with fully integrated, highly scalable “end-to-end” global deduplication.  Wouldn’t that be great.

I'm thinking next time…  More on Deduping the Enterprise.

That’s my 2cents worth and thanks for listening.

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