Kevin McIsaac

In spite of changes over the last decade the Microsoft Windows Server licensing is still rooted in the physical machine era of the ’90s. However, most organisations run the majority of their x86 workloads in virtual machines. Microsoft’s disconnect with the virtualisation realities of the last five years can result in licensing confusion. Organisations that choose the wrong licensing approach will either greatly over-spend on Microsoft licences or, more likely, not be compliant.

In spite of some benefits in security, remote access and speed of deployment, VDI has remained a niche product. This has largely been due to the higher complexity and much greater capital cost compared with a Full Desktop. However, as VDI infrastructure innovations continue to close the gap, the adoption of VDI will increase beyond this small base. Due to the risks and costs of switching from a well understood model to a relative unknown model, the adoption will increase at a moderate rate and there never will be a “year of VDI”.

No, and there never will be “the year of VDI”. However, now that the capital cost of VDI is close to that of a Full Desktop the adoption of VDI will begin to increase beyond its current small niche. The large capital cost and complexity of replacing the existing desktop fleet, the perceived risks in using to a new desktop approach, and a general lack of experienced staff will ensure adoption of VDI will proceed slowly. For the next 5-7 years organisations will continue to use a range of desktop deployment techniques (such as Full Desktop, Laptop, Remote Desktop Services aka Terminal Server) with VDI being just one of many.

As discussed in “Backup is not Archive!”1 all IT organisations should evaluate the deployment of an archival platform to reduce storage costs and improve unstructured data management. Our 2008 survey found archiving in ANZ organisations to be immature and with many risks. A follow-up survey in 2011, and on-going client discussion, shows this situation has improved as evidenced by higher implementation success rates and customer satisfaction scores. We found the products most commonly used in production were Symantec Enterprise Vault and Commvault Simpana. These products were very well rated by the organisations that used them while EMC on the other hand continues to struggle.

The foundation of any BYO device initiative is a robust BYO device policy. The policy must set the boundaries for acceptable use, costs and security. Ensure device security is driven by business stakeholders and is based on pragmatic risk analysis rather than technical concerns from IT staff, or FUD from vendors who are anxious to sell their wares. Robust policy, strong corporate culture and proper training can be more effective than technology in securing corporate data and controlling costs and risk. Use policy, culture and training to drive compliance, minimising the need for complex and expensive technological controls.

The Cloud is a significant long term trend that you ignore at your peril. Like the introduction of the PC and Open Systems in the ‘80s/‘90s, you can either selectively embrace the Cloud or find yourself bypassed by the business units who will introduce Cloud based solutions to suit their tactical needs and political agendas. Unless you embrace the cloud, albeit in a...

The idea of Bring-Your-Own (BYO) Laptop has been bandied about for the last seven years, but it is not as common as implied by the press. Few ANZ organisations have BYO Laptops, however some have implemented BYO smartphones and many intend to do so in the next 18 months. The driver of BYO device in the organisation is not avoidance of the capital costs but rather the need to accommodate users’ expectations of technology, which have been significantly increased by the consumerisation of IT, and largely driven by the iPhone and iPad.

Oracle will continue to excel in the Application, Middleware and Database markets, but it also intends to radically transform and simplify IT infrastructure. Oracle’s strategy is to eliminate complexity, create significantly greater business value and reduce infrastructure costs using an Integrated Systems approach. The objective is to enable customers to focus on applications, instead of infrastructure, in the hope they consume more Oracle software. IT executives should keep abreast of Oracle’s infrastructure innovations, as well as the competitors’, and be prepared to rethink their existing infrastructure approach if an Integrated System can create a significant new opportunity for the business.

Leading IT organisations now recognise that selecting and integrating a mix of best-of-breed servers, storage and networks no longer adds value to their organisation. Instead they are purchasing Integrated Systems from a single vendor that eliminates the cost and complexity of integrating these components; lowers the integration and support risks; and reduces the time to deliver a working solution. To make this paradigm shift most organisations will need to change the kind of relationship they have with their infrastructure vendors from a purely transactional supplier to a long term strategic partner. For many IT, and vendor staff, this will be a difficult and traumatic transition.

The IPv6 day in June attracted significant media attention and raised the profile of IPv6 again. As is typical, the media latched on to the “bad news” and ran headlines stating that the Internet is running out of addresses! While this is correct, most ANZ organisations will not experience any significant impact and the burden of supporting IPv6 will largely fall to the telecommunications vendors, or other organisations that run large public networks. IT executives need to check that their organisation has a strategy for dealing with IPv6, largely at their gateways systems, and ensure that this strategy does not get blown out of proportion.