NetAppChat

IT as a Service Provider
Join a panel of industry experts to discuss how to best align IT with the business.
   10 years ago
#NetAppChatYear of the Hybrid CloudJoin a panel of industry experts to discuss how to best take advantage of the hybrid cloud in 2014
   10 years ago
#NetAppChatFind Your WinIT is in a state of transition – how do you win during these challenges and navigate these changes?
Data Definer
Q8: What technologies have the biggest impact on delivery of IT services? And why?
Nick Howell
Smart phones is an obvious one. But I believe the apps that are being developed on these platforms and hosted in the cloud, albeit with a consumer focus, will eventually shift, and "versions" will begin to be made for enterprise ops.
Jesse Anderson
The flexibility and power of FlexPods with Cisco and NetApp have had a large impact on IT. Virtualizing the hardware with UCS and the features of Cluster ONTAP with NDO and scale have been a big hit for customers.
mpclark3
Every question up to this point has circled around the same basic areas which comprise the cloud; Compute, Memory, and IO. IO is, and always have, trailed behind compute and memory capacity. Mostly the culprit in performance and scaling systems is IO.
John Zemonek
I think mobile technology has changed the way we approach all problems and solutions today. Remote employees can be as connected as those in the office. The business is pushing IT to find ways to support the employee in the field.
Nick Howell
We would be remiss to not give VMware credit for what they have done for the industry, and starting this whole ITaaS and "cloud" model. They have definitely had one of, if not THE, biggest impact on delivery of IT svcs.
mpclark3
The blending of spinning GB capacity and SSD IO capacity will continue to have the biggest impact on hitting delivery goals in the cost constraints of today's businesses.
John Zemonek
@datacenterdude how do you think open stack changes the VMware game? Especially if more enterprise looks towards open stack.
Nick Howell
@John_Zemonek OpenStack will likely embrace portability between H/V’s, whereas VMware probably will not.
Data Definer
Q7: What are some of the top reasons for using a Hybrid Cloud instead of a public cloud-only approach? Security? Control? Performance? What else?
mpclark3
Unless I am starting from scratch, I already have some kind of infrastructure. I need to use what I have to its fullest and bridge the public cloud into it. As an industry our biggest risks for security and performance are as much internal as external.
Jesse Anderson
Hybrid cloud comes down to control. The customer controls some aspect of security, performance, vendor selection that they might not get with a public only solution.
Nick Howell
With control comes security and performance. They beget each other. Flexibility. Choice. There are a finite number of options to choose from that offer all three today, but opening the conv to adopting hybrid cloud presents a wealth of add'l opportunities.
Sean Luce
For the time being, I think it is performance. Many tier 1 applications still need low latency to provide the experience users are accustomed to.
Data Definer
@seanluce Yep, I sit in LOTS of discussions about performance and role of tier 1 apps with hybrid cloud.
John Furrier
I am hearing data and SLAs are tops. The ability to "look under the hood" for the stack of technologies. that being said interoperable between purpose built and open software solutions is ok norm
John Zemonek
Manufacturing companies still maintain their mainframe environments which have been around forever almost forcing IT's hand unless they can commit to a big change while exploring the big scary cloud. :)
Sean Luce
Tell them the cloud is just like the mainframe, just lighter, more robust and more flexible :)
CrowdFather
Security is the number on thing. CIOs need protection. The vendors that provide the protection will win the game
Data Definer
Q6: What are the advantages of having your data center model span private and public clouds?
mpclark3
Simple... get my cake and get to eat it too.
Nick Howell
True public cloud offerings seem to be focused on the consumer market, but I believe we'll begin to see Enterprise apps move there as well. Eventually you get a choice of moving data between, or going "whole-hog" and working out of the Cloud directly.
Ed Morgan ☁️🦄
A lot of companies aren't ready to put all their data in the cloud - a hybrid model enables them to keep physical ownership on what the business decides is too valuable to trust outside of their hardware... Still lots of trust issues around cloud storage..
Data Definer
By having a common data platform, it enables entirely new capabilities such as automatic translation between VM formats whenever data is moved. What else?
Sean Luce
Geographic redundancy; being able to maintain SLAs during site disasters or maintenance windows.
Nick Howell
Advantages of a hybrid model include moving CapEx spend o OpEx "subscriptions" with pay-as-you-go, off-site DRaaS, and the removal of the need to maintain monolithic datacenters and the required staff.
Nick Howell
Focus on DevOps, and shift staff accordingly.
John Zemonek
Having the flexibility to choose which applications reside in which environment gives IT leaders options they may not have otherwise.
John Furrier
handling the diversity of workloads becomes a concern for CxOs and there is no one solution.
Data Definer
Q5: How do you see the Hybrid Cloud continuing to evolve in 2014? And beyond?
mpclark3
In the same way apache accelerated web deployment, great open source cloud tools for both internal and external clouds take some of the cost penalty of the cloud out of the equation and open new opportunities.
Jesse Anderson
I believe we will see more robust offerings with hybrid clouds instead of trying to get a pure cloud solution. This gives customers local control yet still leverage cloud services as needed. Heavy apps can still run in house and off load other services.
Nick Howell
Companies will dip their toes in the water. I believe we'll also start to see some crossover from some of the consumer platforms into the enterprise, with different offerings. I've always believed BizCon and DR would be the 1st entry for most.
mpclark3
I see a number of companies moving away from commercial hypervisors and towards kvm and openstack. As NetApp and Cisco have embraced openstack it starts to break some of the assumptions people were making even a few years ago about the future of Cloud.
Jesse Anderson
@datacenterdude I see DR cloud installs now while keeping a main data center in house. I think we will see more of that as people offload the DR in the cloud for an "as needed" approach.
mpclark3
It is also not just the infrastructure. I think there are new companies as service layers to connect apis and services and replace things we all have had as whole teams to do in house in the past.
Sean Luce
I think we are going to see more automation and intelligence. Remove the decision making process when provisioning new services. Let the "system" decide where to place resources to meet target SLAs.
Data Definer
@mpclark3 I like this analogy!
John Furrier
automation and orchestration is the key to the cloud hybrid equations one that has to enable #devops; apis will be table stakes
Data Definer
Q4: As CIOs begin to manage cloud services and look at internal IT as a service option, what does this mean for customers and solutions?
Nick Howell
Two-sided question that's a win-win. CIO's have more of a "buffet of a la carte svcs" and customers receive better and faster response than "It's going to take 6-8 weeks to get your new server."
Data Definer
I've heard some CIOs say this is an opportunity to funnel resources away from maintaining legacy systems and accelerate the development of new systems. Agree?
Sean Luce
I think we will begin to see more "self-service" solutions as well. If the application development team needs a new server, they will be able to spin one up themselves.
Nick Howell
Completely. It's the futuristic form of the "tech refresh." Some will want to maintain control of all their own gear, sure. But I believe a lot will soon reach a point where the "cost-effectiveness" conversation must be had. Bang-for-buck, etc.
Jesse Anderson
The hope would be customers don't see anything on their end. Hybrid cloud solutions will leverage both internal control as well as leveraging advanced mobility options with going to a cloud solution. Flexpods and Cluster ONTAP are examples of solutions.
Ed Morgan ☁️🦄
That's true, our company slogan is "let us manage and maintain so you can change and improve.."
mpclark3
If done right, makes everything faster and cheaper. Unfortunately politics and the status quo too often prevent the win from being achieved the first time around.
John Zemonek
The IaaS model changes the way a CIO can support their internal customer. Nick nailed it on speed to market and the way it affects your strategy.
Data Definer
Q3: We all know IT has evolved to support a highly-mobile workforce, ever-expanding data storage, and security threats. How have sources outside Enterprise IT transformed the role of IT delivery?
mpclark3
it's not just the highly mobile workforce, the challenge extends to who our customers are and how they interact with out services.
Nick Howell
NetApp is an excellent example of this, specifically with FlexPod. Removing complexity and standardized CapEx spend allows IT depts to predictably plan budgets for years in advance, while eliminating weeks and months of "rack-n-stack"
Jesse Anderson
There is a whole new generation of IT workforce who see flexibility as a perk for working. Consumer product technology advancing at a rapid pace has really pushed for a younger workforce to have control of how they work.
Nick Howell
There are many sources from hacker guilds testing security, to VARs bringing extra value svcs after the sale, and helping guide the business into more of a ITaaS model.
mpclark3
Consumer services have set very low expectations around the cost of storage and services. Gmail's "unlimited" storage, other photo services and their "free" 1TB, even cheap 1TB drives sold at department stores all set unrealistic cost expectations.
Ed Morgan ☁️🦄
People are used to the App Store and Google Play as a method for delivering a service (or software), they expect this from the IT department as well..