Next-gen IT infrastructure strategy to guide digital transformation

• 
  Article

  Smart technology, automation shifts the IT department's future

  Cutting-edge business tech makes it possible for almost anyone to do tasks that used to be reserved for those with technical training. These "citizen technologists" are forcing sweeping changes to how IT departments function, and the changes may already be happening: As technology becomes ubiquitous, industry insiders say IT departments are becoming increasingly smaller and more heavily automated. Read Now

• 
  Article

  Idaho insurance company opts for hyper-converged IT infrastructure strategy

  When Idaho Farm Bureau Insurance's growing IT demands started outpacing its virtualization infrastructure, the property and casualty company based in Pocatello, Idaho, completed an infrastructure overhaul. Adam Waldron, director of information systems at the company, discusses why adopting hyper-converged technology was vital to the process. Read Now

• 
  Article

  IT infrastructure: Should CIOs outsource or upgrade?

  A host of new business tech can help upgrade legacy IT infrastructure to meet modern business demands. But for organizations still sorting out which applications belong in the cloud and which should remain on premises, upgrades may be on the back burner. Here's expert advice about how to determine when the best IT infrastructure strategy is someone else's. Read Now

• 
  Article

  Networking's crucial role in a digital transformation framework upgrade

  Digital transformation puts more pressure on the network to support the new technology required to support a business. It also puts more pressure on network managers who must learn new skills and adapt new ways to interact with the business. Read Now

1Adapting IT for hyper-converged storage

Proponents of hyper-converged technologies tout its benefits such as providing IT administrators greater control over storage provisioning in virtual server environments and single pane-of-glass management capabilities. In this section, learn how hyper converged storage and infrastructure are contributing to modern organization's digital transformation.

• Article

  During HCI implementation, remember the virtualization layer

  It's important to remember that the virtualization layer is vital to an HCI system implementation: Without it, the HCI implementation would be nothing more than a pile of hardware. Virtualizing the physical components also helps IT admins better use resources while improving flexibility and scalability. Read Now

• Article

  The hyper-converged cloud: Partners in IT architecture

  A hyper-converged infrastructure and a public cloud platform share a number of core principles, including virtualization of resources. Here's advice to reap the benefits of combining the two as part of IT architecture. Read Now

• Article

  HCI technology expands its data center role

  Hyper-converged infrastructure products were once confined to a limited, niche set of use cases. But modern HCI technology applications have evolved to reach the corporate data center and created multifaceted relationships with the cloud. As it takes over swaths of IT infrastructure strategy, organizations are entrusting HCI with applications ranging from scientific computing to core business systems. Read Now

• Article

  In HCI, hyper-converged network becomes the norm

  Network virtualization in a hyper-converged system can be difficult. There are products available, however, that can help achieve some of these network virtualization goals. Read Now

• Article

  HCI architecture: The buying mistakes to avoid

  Many enterprises are transitioning their general-purpose data centers into HCI facilities that collapse core storage and compute functionality into a single, highly virtualized system. But before making a decision, it's important to steer clear of these 10 key mistakes that frequently trip up new HCI adopters. Read Now

2Prepping IT for network virtualization

When done correctly, virtualization can help optimize network speed, reliability, flexibility, scalability and security. In this section, learn about the best practices to make sure your IT department is ready for a network virtualization project.

• Article

  The networking technology evolution has begun

  The future of networking technology is well underway. To avoid being left behind, IT managers must understand how evolving concepts like hyper-convergence, software-defined WAN and intent-based networking will work together in the next-generation organizational network. Read Now

• Article

  A guide to choosing the right virtualization hardware for your business

  There are several questions to consider when choosing virtualization hardware. There's a fine line between not having enough resources and spending too much on something you don't necessarily need. To get you started, this guide provides help to choose the best hardware for virtualization. Read Now

• Article

  SDN use in the enterprise moves toward programmability, automation

  In 2018, "more" has become a big part of enterprises' software-defined networking use: Expect the trend of more SDN vendors, more options and more deployments to continue. As the variations of SDN become more prominent, organizations are now increasingly seeking the technology's programmability and automation benefits. Read Now

3Cloud management in the hybrid IT environment

A hybrid cloud environment has become typical at the modern, digitized enterprise. That doesn't make a hybrid cloud strategy any easier to implement -- wide-ranging questions about budgeting, infrastructure and responsibilities must be answered first. In this section, learn strategies to make sure your IT infrastructure strategy resources are ready to make the most of hybrid cloud.

• Article

  CIO: Connect cloud metrics to business value

  As CIO and vice president of corporate strategy at software company Laserfiche, Thomas Phelps IV incorporates a cloud strategy that goes beyond simply considering the cloud's typical IT benefits. Instead, Phelps evaluates what should move to the cloud based on metrics tied to business value -- an approach that analysts say more leading CIOs are trying to undertake. Read Now

• Article

  Emerging cloud platforms offer attractive capabilities -- with unexpected cost

  As enterprises move more parts of their IT environment to the cloud, cloud service providers have developed a wide-ranging inventory of easily deployable services. But companies must first answer budgeting questions, as these next-generation platforms come with unforeseen expenses. Read Now

• Article

  Tips to assess cloud management platforms, products

  A cloud management platform is valuable software that can help manage how applications are deployed and operated in multi-cloud computing environments. William Van Order, who works on cloud service management at Lockheed Martin Corp., breaks down evaluation criteria of these platforms into three categories: technology and architecture, operational, and business and acquisition. Read Now

• Article

  Cloud use continues to influence CIO roles, responsibilities

  The modern CIO role has evolved from being a responder to business demands to become a driver of business innovation. Cloud computing is hastening this evolution because it ultimately frees up members of the IT department to help enable business initiatives. Read Now