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Is the Corporate Data Center Disappearing?

Posted in: corporate, data center, IT Management - Jul 03, 2021

The rise of the cloud has seen Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and others build mega-data centers the likes of which the world has never seen. These tech behemoths custom-built many of their facilities to include revolutionary cooling configurations, massive compute resources, and the ability to store endless amount of data. To make them greener, they added wind, solar, and battery resources. In short, they took the state of the art to a whole new level. 

That, in turn, led many organizations to utilize more of their resources. Over time, they relied less and less on their own internal data centers. In some cases, companies ended the practice of owning and operating their own data centers. 

IT Becoming a Utility?

Some wondered if eventually we would see the end to in-house data centers. Would the IT landscape morph into a wholly utility model similar to the way phone, water, gas, and power are provided – a few compute resource utilities serving the entire populace? 

For the last few years, that looked to be the case. The number of data centers declined. But the latest State of the Data Center report from AFCOM and Data Center World indicates that the end of the data center may well be a long way off. The report highlights the fact that for the second year in a row, there has been a plateau in the building of new data centers and in the renovation of existing data centers. 

The name of the game at the moment appears to be to maximize return on existing spaces in terms of density, efficiency, and return on investment. Thus, data center managers are packing more into the facilities they already have. 

In terms of raw survey results: 

• 62% of respondents are all set in terms of space requirements for the next three years. 
• 48% plan to build data centers or expand existing ones between 12 and 36 months from now.
• 19% intend to deploy at least one new data center and another 19% plan to add two or more.
• 5% stated they’d be building between five and nice new locations over the next 36 months. 

Colo and Hyperscale Expansion

Bill Kleyman, author of the report and Executive Vice President of Digital Solutions at Switch, noted that those building or expanding their data centers are mainly represented by colocation providers and the hyperscale/multi-tenant providers. 

“There continues to be a slow decline in enterprise data centers as leaders in the space focus on the business’s core competencies,” he said. “The way we design and build data centers is changing as well: a broader focus on performance, density, and efficiency.” 

This shows up in ways such as 62% of respondents saying rack density has increased over the past three years. 25% have rack densities as high as 7 kW to 10kW – not so long ago, 3 kW was regarded as being relatively dense.  

The Corporate Data Center’s Not Dead Yet

In summary, then, the corporate data center is far from dead. Those that possess them right now are unlikely to give them up any time soon. They have invested millions in then and in most cases, it would be financially irresponsible to toss those dollars out the window. 

But outside of the mega-providers and largest colos, don’t expect to hear many announcements about new corporate data centers. Instead, organizations are more likely to continue to raise density, keep some workloads in-house, and send others to the cloud. It will be a long time before anything even remotely resembling the current power market business model materializes whereby a few compute utilities serve the multitudes. 

 

Read More: The Data Backup & Recovery Market

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Top Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service Solutions

Posted in: IT Strategy - Jul 02, 2021

Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) was an inevitable development. 20 years ago, IT budgeting might have been able to encompass the building of mirror data centers for DR purposes: just take your existing data center and build an exact replica in another city or state and Viola! Your DR needs are cared for. 

Such concepts were technically sound, but few could afford them. Larger operations tried to reduce costs by using their own regional data centers as failover sites. Each data center was replicated elsewhere so that if one went down, the others could cope. But again, this one only appealed to those with deep pockets. Others figured out some kind of DR plan using colocation services or simply made a few tape copies and shipped them off to Iron Mountain. 

DRaaS is a way to take the infrastructure and financial pain out of DR. You pay a monthly fee to a provider who keeps your data safe and available in case of an outage or event. It is often bundled with online backup of colo services. 

DRaaS Market Variants and Features

This market covers a variety of different approaches, platforms, and capabilities. These days, it generally deals with server images and production data replication to the cloud by a service provider. As vendor sophistication increases, providers add in features such as the creation of DR run books, automation of server recovery, failback to and from the cloud, support for virtual and physical servers, and guaranteed Recovery Time Objectives (RTO). The more you pay, the better the level of service. At its most basic level, DRaaS is largely self-service and little more than an online repository should you ever need it.  

DRaaS Evaluation Tips

Here are a few tips in vendor selection: 

• Match providers to the type of workloads and recovery locations you need. Obviously, someone operating on your cloud platform would be a good fit. But beyond that, providers need to offer the protection you need such as being familiar with your applications, and offering locations outside of your area, etc. 
• Do a thorough cost analysis. Compare all the costs involved in keeping DR in-house with both the setup costs for DRaaS, monthly subscriptions, and any additional charges if recovery is necessary.  View this over a 5-year or 10-year period and include scenarios such as two minor and one major disaster. 
• Ask plenty of questions. Research the vendor’s ability to recover, their experience in doing so, and the results/timelines of any recent recoveries. 
• Ask what DR and failover plans the provider has to protect their own services. 
• Determine HOW data is going to be retrieved by you and how long it will take in the event of a disaster. Large amounts of data moving across a standard network can take a long time. Some providers offer premium services for recovery or will ship a box to you containing all your data to cut down delays. 
• Choose DRaaS solutions that have built-in data deduplication and WAN optimization to reduce storage footprint and bandwidth utilization. 

Top Vendors

Here, then, are the top ten DRaaS providers, in no particular order: 

iland

Value Proposition

iland is regularly highly rated by Gartner as a top DRaaS provider. iland Secure DRaaS, like all iland services, is built on VMware-based technology. It operates globally to provide protection for critical applications from unplanned downtime and ensure the long-term viability of any business. The iland cloud platform has built-in multi-layer security, compliance credentials, visibility and management through the console and 24 x7 support. The company also has a Cloud Backup offering facilitated by Veeam Cloud Connect. Its recovery service can offer a RTO/RPO of up to 24 hours. 

Key Differentiators

• Secure Cloud Console provides management, control, and visibility across all iland services including public and private clouds, data protection, and disaster recovery
• A dedicated compliance team helps make the transition to th cloud easier from a compliance standpoint, and tackles geographic and/or industry-specific concerns
• Network Support services and multi-cloud connectivity offer the flexibility to maintain and preserve existing network policies and investments to ensure workloads can communicate
• A dedicated project manager and cloud services engineers ensure that data is migrated safely and securely to the iland Cloud Platform
• Replicate all IT workloads and applications from public or private clouds, and for both virtual and physical environments
• iland Secure DRaaS includes managed security across the recovery environment 
• Can includes built-in data protection services
• iland provides cloud planning and design services leveraging iland Catalyst, an environment assessment tool to model and ensure application performance requirements are met prior to DRaaS deployment.

Sungard AS

Value Proposition

Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS) Cloud Recovery product suite delivers a fully managed, financial penalty-backed RTO service level agreement (SLA) for physical, virtual, and IBM iSeries platforms. Fully managed service includes design, deployment, maintenance, updates, test and recovery execution. Cloud Recovery’s backend is built on hardened cloud infrastructure with a 99.99% availability SLA and encrypted performance storage that delivers recovery for customers in an easily scalable model and a usage driven architecture.

Key Differentiators

• Business applications vary in criticality, so not all applications must be recovered at the same time. Sungard AS Cloud Recovery offers three tiers of validated RTO SLA, ranging from two hours to eight hours to align RTOs to business requirements and optimize recovery design and spend.
• Tiered RTO SLA paired with DRVerify Automated Testing helps customers achieve an optimal DR solution aligned to business objectives and lower spend on recovery solutions.
• Built on a cloud consumption model, Sungard AS offers flexibility in contract term and subscription models.
• Broad platform support includes physical and virtual machines, as well as IBM i Servers.

Infrascale 

Value Proposition

Infrascale Backup & Disaster Recovery (IBDR) is a hybrid cloud disaster recovery solution that helps mitigate the downtime caused by server crashes, ransomware attacks, or natural disasters. IBDR does this through backup and restore of files and folders, or full server and virtual machine failover and failback 

Key Differentiators

• Cloud-based data protection for MSPs and VARs who service SMB and mid-market customers 
• Quick setup and use of all of the data protection solutions in one unified console 
• Encrypted data and data transport
• Boot-ready time for failover in under two minutes
• Choice of local or in-cloud DR 
• No additional fees for testing or for spin-up on appliances or in the cloud
• One-stop-shop for all backup and recovery needs and includes the ability to set backup settings and schedules and configure your recovery network

IBM DRaaS

Value Proposition 

IBM is one of the few vendors offering non-x86 workload and mainframe recovery. Like Sungard AS, it has a long track record in DR and has supported thousands of companies in their recovery efforts. IBM DRaaS reliably helps recover critical IT business processes and data to support business resiliency. It also provides comprehensive disaster recovery services, including health monitoring as well as continuous replication of applications, infrastructure, data and cloud systems.

Key Differentiators

• Scores high in Gartner and Forrester DRaaS comparisons
• Reliable DR orchestration with automation and quick provisioning in a software-defined recovery environment that helps reduce errors, risks, and resources for testing and documentation
• Optimized resiliency and a risk-based approach to protecting critical IT services 
• Cloud testing and DR process validation offers insight and scenarios to help organizations bolster resiliency and recovery time
• Setup and implement DRaaS on IBM Cloud in under an hour without causing disruption
• Provides disaster recovery services such as monitoring, reporting, testing and workflow automation capabilities

Intervision

Value Proposition 

Intervision acquired DRaaS provider Bluelock in 2018. Its DRaaS simplifies the failover and failback process. It boasts high client satisfaction scores and SLA guarantees. Its Recovery Assurance process means the DR service is up to date and ready for any disruption. To guarantee successful recovery, it is backed by the strong service level agreements (SLAs). 

Key Differentiators

• Solutions tested on a regular basis
• Guarantees a 100% success rate for client DR testing
• DR procedures are developed and documented during implementation into a customized playbook, which is updated regularly
• AWS Premier Consulting Partner 
• Partnerships with Carbonite, Zerto, and VMware 
• As replication traffic is already be running, a recovery point objective (RPO) doesn’t change.

Expedient 

Value Proposition 

Expedient offers a suite of DRaaS solutions for both virtual and physical environments, with RPOs and RTOs that ensure your critical applications are protected and available when you need them. It partners with Zerto, Cohesity, and VMware to provide a variety of services, price points, and recovery rates. It is designed to ease the transition to the cloud through dedicated on-premises cloud resources coupled with managed disaster recovery from your location to any one of Expedient’s 11 data centers.  

Key Differentiators 

• Push Button DR service offers rapid, total network failover between disparate locations at the push of a button, without IP or DNS changes. 
• Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) are measured in minutes. 
• Testing of DR plans with dedicated infrastructure and unlimited self-service or supported tests. 
• If disaster strikes, 24x7x365 Operations Support Center is available. 
• Hyper-granular journaling 
• Push Button DR powered by Zerto offers a 15-minute RTO and protection against ransomware. 
• Push Button DR powered by VMware offers a 5-minute RPO and 15-minute RTO for workloads that need to be replicated between your on-premises VMware environment and the cloud. 
• Recognized in Gartner MQ’s for DRaaS. 

TierPoint

Value Proposition 

TierPoint’s Hypervisor-based replication protects virtualized production environments in any cloud. With recovery times measured in minutes, it partners with the likes of VMware, Microsoft Zerto, Nutanix and Dell to be able to replicate from anywhere and meet any RPO or automated failover requirements. 

Key Differentiators 

• In the event of an outage, TierPoint coordinates and automates the orderly replication and recovery of the environment to Microsoft Azure using Azure Site Recovery to bring critical systems back online with speed.
• Enable business continuity quickly and securely with replication to a secondary location. 
• Protect non-virtualized physical servers on your premises or colocated in a TierPoint facility, as well as multiple types of virtual servers. 
• TierPoint protects Hyper-V and VMware VMs, as well as physical environments, regardless of underlying hardware

Recovery Point

Value Proposition 

Recovery Point DRaaS delivers orchestration, automation, and rapid provisioning of end-to-end software-defined resilience solutions. In addition to protecting against the impact of disaster events, hardware failure, human error, cyber-attacks or even planned outages, it can help drive down RTOs and RPOs and align a resilience posture with regulatory and compliance requirements. 

Key Differentiators

• Enhanced dashboards and reporting tools to validate readiness continuously with real-time reporting at the server level.
• On-demand, nonintrusive recovery exercising 
• Offline sandbox environments to test upgrades in isolation
• Application resilience through workflow automation across heterogeneous environments
• As well as virtualized x86 environments, Recovery Point has decades of experience supporting complex, heterogeneous environments including IBM Z mainframe and IBM i, AIX, HP-UX, and Oracle
• Software and technology agnostic
• A frequent leader in Gartner DRaaS MQs

The post Top Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service Solutions appeared first on CIO Insight.

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COVID’s Impact on Agile Project Management

Posted in: agile, agile manifesto, Agile Project Management, change management, Collaboration, Covid-19, data best practices, Kanban, News & Trends, Project Management, Project Management Tools, Scrum, virtual meetings, Zoom - Jul 02, 2021

Since the Agile Manifesto was published in 2001 to radically change the way software was developed and delivered, its methodologies have spread beyond the software world into other managed projects with a specialist-client structure. Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the way all of us work changed dramatically, Agile has transformed traditional project management with its focus on iterant, concrete deliverables and frequent communication about challenges and scope changes. Read on to learn more about how COVID has impacted Agile project management practices and how they continue to spread and evolve in new industries.

More on the History of Agile: The Agile Manifesto

What’s Changing in Agile Project Management?

• Virtual Meetings Over Onsite Visits
• Stronger Data Management Practices
• Growing Involvement in Change Management
• Moving Agile Beyond the Software World

Virtual Meetings Over Onsite Visits

Agile and the Agile Manifesto traditionally prize face-to-face meetings for brainstorming and determining the next iterations in an Agile project. The face-to-face approach is still preferred, but the interface has gotten an upgrade, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person meetings became near-impossible. 

Some of the changes we saw that are likely to stick around:

• More regularly scheduled brainstorming and update meetings among project managers and their developer staff will happen over Zoom and other virtual meeting platforms.
• Although some clients will always prefer onsite visits for the discovery stage, planning, and delivery of project points, many others will prefer to conduct these update meetings and feedback sessions over virtual platforms, due to the flexibility of format and time.
• More screen sharing, video demonstrations, and virtual libraries will be used to communicate what’s happening at each stage of software development.

The switch to more virtual meetings came as an emergency measure in 2020, but many organizations have quickly discovered the benefits of a flexible meeting format. Because they can work from home and travel less, many team members on both sides of a transaction are more willing to collaborate with each other after traditional business hours. This opens up the opportunity for employees and customers from different areas of the world to collaborate on a project, working with teams of experts that best serve their needs.
More on the Future of Teleworking: The Post-COVID Future of IT Remote Work

Points to Consider as You Move to a Virtual Meeting Format

The virtual move for Agile project management meetings has benefited many teams, but before your own team takes on a client with this approach, there are a few things that both teams need to consider:

• Your customers need to receive basic information about the Agile methodology from the outset. They need to know what to expect from you on deliverables, how each team can cross-plan and collaborate, and what you expect of them as a contributor at each stage of development. Setting these expectations upfront ensures that nothing gets lost in translation over future virtual meetings or email communications.
• Virtual etiquette should be very similar to in-person etiquette with a client. Both teams should respect each other’s time by arriving at virtual meetings on time with an understanding of the set agenda. Regular deliverable iterations cannot succeed if both teams are not fully aware of what’s happening.
• Without in-person communication, you’ll need a strong project management platform to act as your Agile backbone. There are many tools that use Agile approaches, such as scrum or kanban, to help you manage roles, responsibilities, project scope(s), and deadlines across both teams. Outside of regular virtual meetings, this is the main space where both teams should communicate about an Agile project, that way no team members are left out of the loop on priorities that should involve them.

Helpful Tools for Agile PM: Best Agile Software & Tools for Project Management

Stronger Data Management Practices

Although Agile project management is all about delivering a major project in smaller iterations along the way, many practitioners of Agile have discovered the value of gathering and organizing all of their client’s relevant data at the start of the project. Especially when in-person discovery sessions weren’t possible during COVID lockdowns, it became even more important that Agile project managers ask the right data questions and that Agile clients know how to retrieve and deliver the needed data for the project.

These data management best practices are becoming increasingly common in Agile project management, helping both the vendor and the client to reach deliverables along the way by informing early goals with accurate data:

• Using data annotation tools to prepare for AI/ML builds
• Creating data models, often with data modeling software, to clean client data before analyzing it and working on project scope
• Building data visualizations for clients at different stages of iterative development so that they can visually understand and provide their feedback, regardless of its technical  complexity at a given project stage

Growing Involvement in Change Management

The Agile philosophy is based on regular, segmented delivery of product features to the client, so several iterations of project development are necessary. But with so many companies simply working to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic and likely during the aftermath, several Agile clients want and need direction on change management strategies too. 

Agile already encourages flexibility, feedback, and collaboration at every stage, so the PM style naturally fits with and assists with change management needs. Project leaders are now expected to work beyond the parameters of the project and assist their clients with bigger picture thinking and business intelligence, so that their projects can be sustained in a supporting business infrastructure. 

As businesses continue to recover and figure out how they can support their operations post-pandemic, Agile project managers should consider acting as their clients’ guide for network security software and AIOps tools that can help them to maintain the complex tools that are being built for them.

Moving Agile Beyond the Software World

The Agile philosophy originated in and is mostly applied to software development, but it’s increasingly becoming a staple in other areas of project management, especially as COVID necessitated a more flexible approach with more reliable deliverables. 

A traditional project involves features like a task list, milestones, Gantt charts, resource leveling (who’s doing what and when), dependencies, a forward schedule, and a backward schedule. Looking at a project with all of these variables can become overwhelming, and especially since traditional project management is firm on sticking to the original scope and deadlines, it can be difficult for both teams to determine if they’ve budgeted the proper finances, time, and team members to any given task. Especially in times of chaos and change, an original scope may not fit the organization’s goals or needs in a year or even a month.

But when you apply an Agile methodology to a major project like this, you can suddenly break a long-haul task into iterations that allow the project to change and evolve as you go. For example, you can get 20% of a client’s ERP software set up by completing the testing of the manufacturing line. When you deliver that particular segment to the client, they have the opportunity to not only concretely see the project, but also to give approval and feedback before your team moves on to the next section. 

With an Agile approach to project management, both teams can achieve new efficiencies through transparent communication and collaboration efforts. In all likelihood, this collaborative piece of Agile methodology will stick around long after pandemic doubts and fears fade.

Read Next: Three Key Advances in ERP for 2021

The post COVID’s Impact on Agile Project Management appeared first on CIO Insight.

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HRIS Trends for 2021: The Future of HR Management

Posted in: AI, compliance, dashboard, Enterprise Apps, enterprise resource planning, ERP, HCM, HR apps, HRIS, HRMS, human resources, human resources management, IT Management, News & Trends, UX/UI - Jul 01, 2021

HR management has grown increasingly complex over the years, especially with growing remote work and globalization trends in the workforce. When your employees all work in different departments, specializations, and locations, the right HR software makes all the difference in organizing and delivering the best user experience to your employees. The drive for HR quality explains why companies’ expectations of human resource information systems (HRIS) continue to grow and change.

A traditional HRIS system focuses on managing all of the backend administrative tasks, policies, and checklists for your organization’s employees. These features can include anything from recruiting and training to benefits and compensation to performance management. But with a changing workforce and growing technological capabilities, HRIS software is evolving into a more all-encompassing workforce tool. Four particular HRIS trends stand out in 2021, paving the way for the future of HR management.

More on Remote Work Trends: The Post-COVID Future of IT Remote Work

HR Management Trends in the HRIS

• Adding AI to the Hiring Pipeline
• Creating User-Friendly, User-Facing Dashboards
• Automating Compliance Features
• Integrating or Moving Beyond the HRIS

Adding AI to the Hiring Pipeline

Artificial intelligence is ramping up and automating many of the most mundane and repetitive tasks across enterprise software architecture. HRIS software platforms are among those continually growing their AI capabilities, particularly in keeping the hiring pipeline filled and flowing efficiently. Some HRIS AI features that are starting to benefit recruiting and HR staff, as well as applicants, include:

• AI readers that merge text from candidate resumes into applications and background check submissions to eliminate frustrating, repetitive data entry. Many of these same readers also provide sorting and scoring metrics to help recruiters find the most promising applicants first.
• AI-powered candidate matching criteria for the hiring team to review.
• Chatbots and automated checklists for existing staff and new hires to get the answers they need related to benefits and company policies.
• Technology deployment checklists launched for each new hire and automatically run by an in-system assistant. This trend is especially important with a growing number of remote and international employees who require equipment deployment from a distance.

Transforming Your Tech Approach: What Does Digital Transformation Mean for IT?

Creating User-Friendly, User-Facing Dashboards

Employees are spending less time reading employee handbooks and sitting in mandatory onboarding sessions. Instead, onboarding is assigned, administered, and tracked inside the actual HRIS system. A trend that shows no signs of slowing down is the focus on creating dashboards that make navigation easier for all users, regardless of their role with the company. Traditional HRIS software prioritizes fancy design and a large number of HR modules, but with a growing focus on the UX/UI of a dashboard, HRIS platforms are moving toward a simpler, more navigable design that works on both mobile and desktop platforms.

Beyond aesthetics, the HRIS dashboard is also moving away from heavy hiring and benefits data to a stronger emphasis on the “people side” of HR. That’s not to say that users can’t easily find their benefits and payroll information in a sidebar or tab. But on the dashboard itself, employees can now keep track of coworkers’ birthdays and “workaversaries,” recognition of accomplishments, and other ways to engage. In an increasingly remote and hybrid workforce environment, this HRIS trend offers another resource for making employees feel connected to their company’s community.

Automating Compliance Features

Compliance is a top concern in all areas of a business, but especially in the area of employer-employee relations. Local, state, and national regulations require extensive documentation at all stages of a person’s employment. But these processes and checklists can become overwhelming for your HR team, especially as regulations change and the company grows.

That’s why many HRIS platforms automate compliance features, making it easier for employers and employees alike to update their information, policies, and procedures.

• Automated scheduling of compliance procedures, with alerts to appropriate administrative employees prior to deadlines for upgrades and audits.
• Automated reminders and instructions for both new hires and existing employees to correct and update their personally identifiable information (PII), as well as any requirements for background checks and contracts.
• Integrated self-service help for employees, including compliance training, FAQs, and a knowledge base platform for any HR or compliance questions.

Integrating or Moving Beyond the HRIS

HRIS systems have traditionally been siloed from other company software, owing to the presumption that employee analytics don’t affect revenue or business intelligence directly. However, many businesses are starting to recognize the fallacy in that belief, noting that data metrics such as key hires and performance of tenured staff vs. newer staff directly impact an organization’s KPIs and business intelligence for future planning. 

Knowing that employee data can inform other kinds of business data has increased the focus on easing integrations between HRIS and other business software. Take Paylocity, a major HR vendor as an example: they launched their Paylocity Integration Marketplace in 2018, and since then, they have expanded their integration options and their open sandbox capabilities for further app development. Whether it’s through an open API key, a dedicated devOps team, or a large library of pre-existing partnerships and integrations, many HRIS vendors are working to show how their portfolio will work with other business technology solutions.

Taking it a step further, many users are transitioning beyond the limitations of an HRIS platform to tools that include more payroll and business intelligence capabilities internally. These tools include human capital management (HCM), human resources management systems (HRMS), and even enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms that offer an HR management module. 

HR software continues to be an important component of business technology, but many organizations are finding that these HR management trends in HRIS software provide the only solution to wholly integrate HR data into the infrastructure of the whole company. Whether you already have an HRIS tool that you need to upgrade or you’re looking for a new solution that meets more of your organization’s growing needs, dozens of larger and smaller HR vendors should be able to speak to trends in the HRIS marketplace and how they are responding.

The post HRIS Trends for 2021: The Future of HR Management appeared first on CIO Insight.

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Why Software That Unlocks Microbiome Data Could Be Key in the Climate Change Battle

Posted in: Business Intelligence - Jun 30, 2021

A pioneer in applying network science to biology discusses how data science, and data management in particular, are starting to generate highly useful life sciences insights.top