Over 40% of organisations are planning to unify and converge their data centre platforms

An in-depth survey conducted by NextiraOne, in conjunction with Data Centre Solutions, has highlighted a growing need for Unified Computing Platforms as IT directors focus on increasing performance whilst reducing space and power requirements. The survey revealed that over 40% of respondents are currently implementing or planning to adopt converged, unified platforms for their Data Centre and Cloud needs.

The survey, aimed at IT and Data Centre decision-makers in public and private sector organisations throughout the UK, was conducted online over a two-month period. Respondents were asked to give their views on topics such as their use of Cloud, co-location and other outsourcing options, plus the provisioning of server and storage capacity. The results have provided important insights into the requirements and concerns of today’s businesses and the migration strategies of respondents. In particular the high number of those planning to use public or hybrid Cloud services (44%) and those considering co-location (32%) highlight the need and demand for new Unified Computing Platforms to manage these issues. A further key indicator was that 57% of respondents felt that it takes too long to be able to provision new server or storage capacity.

Geraint Davies, NextiraOne’s Head of Business Development, Data Centre, said: “These findings confirm what we have been hearing directly from our customers. The survey shows that the industry is at the tipping point of a massive change as organisations streamline their infrastructure and move from silos containing storage, networking and servers towards Unified Computing Platforms.”

NextiraOne’s Data Centre strategy has been developed to reflect this trend and the company’s experience with customers. According to Mr Davies, over the coming years small to mid-sized organisations and enterprises are likely to shift more of their budgets towards the support of their Cloud-based strategies. NextiraOne is increasingly being asked to design and implement Unified Computing Infrastructure solutions to meet this requirement and works with key technology partners to make this transformation as simple and cost-effective as possible.

“The new generation of Unified Computing Platforms combines storage, networking, servers and hardware, replacing multiple hardware appliances by combining best of breed technologies from industry leaders. We can help to reduce the time taken to evolve existing architecture to support Cloud Computing by implementing a Unified Computing Platform – the deployment of virtualised servers and applications takes dramatically less time than previous options,” says Davies.

Unified Computing Platforms operate as a single infrastructure and therefore simplify the process of adoption of Cloud Computing for organisations with small generalist IT teams that lack the resources to manage multiple separate pieces of equipment. One such solution is FlexPod™ which includes components from a number of technology partners including NetApp® unified storage systems, Cisco® Unified Computing System™ servers, Cisco Nexus® switches and a Cloud Management software solution. The FlexPod architecture scales up to any requirements and can be optimised for a variety of mixed workloads in both virtualised and non-virtualised environments.

NextiraOne is already implementing and integrating FlexPod solutions for its customers. The company provides professional services, support and managed services to consolidate, centralise and support a seamless and scalable migration to the Cloud.

“We have recognised the trend, listened to our customers and responded to their needs. The survey is just further confirmation that we are on the right track,” concludes Geraint Davies.