The cloud conversation in enterprises is beginning to shift, from “Should we do it?” to “What have we done?”
But it’s not a case of buyer’s remorse. Instead, CIOs are simply coming to terms with the real pros and cons of the cloud.
The cloud has not been the cost-saving salvation that many initially thought. For some enterprises, the cloud’s easy accessibility has become a kind of double-edged sword. Like giving everyone a corporate credit card, giving everyone the ability to purchase cloud services can lead to an “overdraft” on the cloud that escalates spending. Cloud performance can also be underwhelming, as it is still determined by an enterprise’s network connection to the cloud. And then there is the ongoing issue of security, which remains a point of concern in a world where data theft is rampant and data privacy is paramount.
The good news is that hosted solutions are not the only alternative for enterprises that want to reduce IT complexity. They can achieve the same levels of scalability, efficiency and simplicity in their own data center with a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI). HCI basically reduces IT infrastructure down to small building blocks that are essentially a data center in a box. Each node contains storage, server CPU, networking and VM-centric backup/replication that can be virtualized and easily scaled in granular increments.
In an HCI environment, everything is integrated and can be managed from a single console, which has a dramatic impact on IT complexity. It reduces the number of different hardware, software, management systems and vendors that you have to manage. It eliminates the need for siloed IT teams dedicated to storage, networking and servers; everyone becomes an HCI expert by default. And it simplifies the technology refresh cycle by avoiding the requirement to buy separate storage, server and networking boxes or update third-party data deduplication/compression and optimization software. Once you buy the node, all you need to worry about is network connectivity, power/cooling and a rack to store it—resulting in a significantly reduced footprint to enable your Green data center initiatives.
All of this consolidation has a significant impact on cost.
On average, we’ve seen enterprises save 20-40% by moving applications from a public cloud environment onto a premise-based HCI environment such as HPE Synergy. Obviously, mileage may vary depending on the size and type of application. (You can learn more about the total savings in our free eBook, The Shocking Truth About Private Cloud Cost of Ownership.)
Of course, HCI isn’t the answer to everything, but it’s often the best answer for scenarios such as VDI, Remote Office Back Office, Tier 2 and Tier 3 applications, Dev/Ops and, ultimately, for data center consolidation/modernization. In the meantime, enterprises should be aware that they don’t need to keep feeding the beast of a traditional data center. As enterprise data continues to grow and backup/disaster recovery requirements become more complex, the case for moving to HCI is very compelling—especially when you factor in new technologies like SimpliVity that can radically improve data storage and performance. So keep having those “innovation conversations”—and don’t forget to invite Rolta AdvizeX to the table. We can help you achieve the scalability, flexibility and simplicity you need without leaving the “home” of your own data center. (We’re also cloud experts, but that’s another story.)
In my next blog, I’ll be discussing how enterprises can reduce their data storage requirements by 90% and fully restore databases from backup in less than one minute with HPE Synergy featuring SimpliVity.
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