VMworld 2010 session offers insight into myriad tools that can help IT managers track performance, storage and more in virtual environments – without spending budget dollars.

By Denise Dubie

VMworld 2010 in San Francisco is flush with sessions on technologies to manage, secure and optimize VMware environments. Yet one session educated conference attendees on tools that could help them do all this – at no cost.

David Davis, vExpert, VCP, CCIE and video training author at TrainSignal and Kendrick Coleman, vExpert and blogger, teamed up to present a list of several free IT tools for vSphere management. The joint presentation offered insight into more than 10 tools and each speaker offered their take on why the free application helped monitor performance, migrations or storage, for instance. The endorsements by Davis and Coleman should cause many IT managers to at least check out the no-cost technology.

Here in no particular order are 10 of the many free tools mentioned during the presentation.

VMware Guest Console

Veeam FastSCP

Trilead VM Explorer

XtraVirt: vSphere Client RDP Plug-in

VKernel Capacity View

vSphere Mini Monitor

RVTools

Vizioncore vFoglight QuickView

Xangati for ESX

SolarWinds VM Monitor

Also for more information on vSphere management and additional detail on free tools, check out Davis’ blog here and catch up with Coleman’s posts here.

What free tools do you depend on to manage your virtual environment? Are there downsides to using no-cost applications? Please leave a comment here or let me know directly via e-mail at Denise.Dubie@ca.com.

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VMware announces at VMworld 2010 San Francisco that it plans to acquire management software maker Integrien, with company leaders declaring VMware’s intentions to became an IT automation provider.

By Denise Dubie

Mergers and acquisitions happen often in the high-tech industry, but some stand out more than others either for their huge price tag, their strategic nature or the "game-changing" implications of the deal. VMware’s announcement Tuesday that it entered into an agreement to acquire management software maker Integrien proves the hypervisor vendor wants to make more money with customers by selling them management and automation technology.

Integrien Alive addresses virtual performance

At the opening keynote during VMworld 2010 San Francisco, Stephen Herrod, chief technology officer and senior vice president of R&D at VMware, revealed the hypervisor vendor had entered into agreements to acquire Integrien and separately security vendor TriCipher. Both planned acquisitions seem to address the need to provide management and automation, as well as security for the hybrid cloud environments VMware says it wants to enable.

“We need to innovate in this layer primarily around automation and management. We need to make it cheaper to operate this new infrastructure and automation has to span all of the resources in the data center,” Paul Maritz, president and CEO of VMware, said during the keynote Tuesday, reinforcing the upcoming news. Maritz went on to explain that VMware is talking about delivering “data center management and data center automation."

Continue reading "Things that make me go hmm: VMware set to acquire Integrien" »

Reflex Systems survey shows that enterprise IT managers continue to face challenges managing virtual environments.

By Denise Dubie

Virtualization has its benefits, but enterprise IT managers admit without being able to adequately manage virtual environments, those advantages can be more difficult to achieve.

How to use virtualization to leap into the cloud

Reflex Systems this week at VMworld 2010 in San Francisco released the results of a survey of 300 enterprise IT managers. The data showed that many of those polled experienced challenges when approaching traditional IT management practices in the virtual realm. And perhaps part of the reason lies in the fact that many say they have already virtualized or plan to virtualize more of their environment by year-end.

For instance, more than half of the respondents said “at least half of their business critical applications will be virtualized by the end of this year,” according to a Reflex Systems press release. That figure represents a 17% increase from current utilization, the virtual systems management and security vendor reports. Survey respondents said in addition to hypervisors they also plan to invest in virtual storage and virtual management tools in the next six months. Among the reasons cited for investing in additional management tools (above and beyond those provided by the hypervisor vendors) were performance, security and auditing/reporting, Reflex Systems reports.

Continue reading "What’s virtualization without management? Difficult, survey says" »

Virtualization offers a lot of benefits, one of them being a clear path to developing a private cloud.

By Denise Dubie

Virtualization enthusiasts came out in droves Monday as VMware hosted its annual VMworld 2010 conference in San Francisco’s Moscone Center.

With more than 16,000 reported attendees, VMworld saw many shut out of sessions, due to long lines and a no standing-room only policy (everyone had to be seated). That led to some show goers passing the time with ping pong, air hockey or pool, while others lined up to get a coveted spot in the next session.

The day also featured presentations from folks such as Anil Karmel, solutions architect for the network and infrastructure engineering and production systems group at Los Alamos National Laboratory in northern New Mexico. In 2006, Karmel explained to attendees that his organization began its journey to the cloud by first implementing virtualization. He made it clear that “virtualization is not cloud computing,” but it is a great starting place for those hoping to establish a private cloud.

Other more artistic avenues also explored the “journey to the cloud.” Chalk artists created an image sponsored by CA Technologies that depicted the message “accelerate your journey to the cloud.”

And CA Technologies also drove the point home in its booth. The vendor is campaigning for IT organizations to “quit stalling” with their virtual deployments so they can expand into private clouds. With virtual sprawl comes virtual stall in some cases, but with the right technologies, processes and people, IT organizations can move past the management, security and other hurdles large virtualization deployments can represent, according to CA Technologies.

What are you doing at VMworld? Which sessions did you find most interesting? What did you find disappointing? Please leave a comment here or e-mail me directly via e-mail at Denise.Dubie@ca.com.

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This coming Monday, August 30th is the start of VMworld 2010 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, where CA Technologies has a veritable cornucopia of exciting events planned.

Check out the CA Technologies booth (1119) where you can learn how to eliminate VM stall and navigate through virtualization into cloud computing.

If you are on the exhibit floor you’ve got several chances to win an iPad—we’re talking every hour during the show. And if you are on your game, you could drive away in a Smart Car.

On Tuesday evening, we are hosting a customer appreciation event featuring cirque acts, 3D motion simulations, and plenty of refreshments to get you charged up for the second half of the show. Stop by our booth for more information on how to receive and invitation.

On Wednesday morning (September 1st at 10:30AM, session SP8373), our own Andi Mann and Stephen Elliot will share insights and best practices about how to move beyond the “low hanging fruit” of virtualization.

Whether you participate virtually or physically, stay tuned to this blog for real-time coverage from the show.

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Capacity planning methods need to evolve into real-time management to take on resource allocation in dynamic virtual environments, enabling IT departments to successfully grow their virtual deployments.

By Denise Dubie

IT managers are no strangers to capacity planning, but many have yet to update their practices to account for a fundamental change in how resources are being consumed: virtualization.

Capacity management challenges persist in virtual environments

Virtualization changes a somewhat static environment into a dynamic one in which resources are moving about with relative ease, but not always at the control of the IT managers. Industry watchers have been warning of the need for better capacity planning and ultimately capacity management processes since x86 server virtualization started to take off in enterprise IT shops.

"Capacity planning today is all about trying to ensure that you have enough capacity and memory cycles to meet workload demand. But virtualization causes new variables to be taken into consideration, and power consumption is just one among many," said Cameron Haight, research vice president at Gartner, in a February 2009 interview. "For IT resource planning (ITRP) there are several more elements to consider and the process must become much more strategic within an enterprise."

Continue reading "Are your capacity planning practices obsolete for virtualization?" »

VM sprawl and VM stall can slow enterprise IT organizations' plans to adopt cloud computing, but gaining visibility and control and adding automation technologies could help IT overcome hurdles

By Denise Dubie

Virtualization is an obvious stepping stone to private cloud computing environments, but many IT organizations could encounter obstacles preventing them from evolving their virtual server deployment into a cloud implementation.

Technologies that won’t be ignored

In the past, industry watchers warned of virtual machine, or VM, sprawl in which too many virtual instances were deployed without IT management consent or control. VM sprawl could cause IT staff many problems including loss of licenses, unrealized resources, capacity shortages and overworked administrators, trying to keep up with the multiplying VMs. Now the issue has evolved into VM stall, in which many IT organizations are unable to grow their virtual deployments beyond some 30% of servers or the servers that handle the low-hanging fruit in the environment. VM stall can be blamed in part on VM sprawl, as strange as it may seem, according to Andi Mann, vice president of product marketing for the Virtualization and Automation customer solutions unit at CA Technologies (and a former industry analyst at Enterprise Management Associates).

“It’s ironic that VM sprawl can lead directly to VM stall, but it is one of the reasons virtual deployments simply stop progressing,” Mann says. “VM stall happens when IT departments run out of capacity because of poorly managed and controlled VM sprawl or they run out of licenses and the people to manage the environment. Essentially, IT departments run out of options because they can’t deploy more virtual machines.”

Continue reading "How to use virtualization to leap into the cloud" »

Virtualization, cloud computing and social software are among the buzzier terms, but Gartner says storage, green technology, complex resource tracking and more will be top of mind in the coming months for high-tech leaders.

By Denise Dubie

IT executives could be buried in data, struggling to track resources and looking for ways to go green in the coming years, according to research firm Gartner, which advises high-tech leaders to pay attention to these technologies today.

Technologies that won’t be ignored

While virtualization, cloud computing and social software make it difficult for IT professionals to ignore them, other less hyped technologies could fall off the radar. Gartner recently hosted a Webinar, Technology Trends You Can’t Afford to Ignore, in which Managing Vice President Raymond Paquet detailed 10 technology trends that IT shouldn’t ignore.

To start, IT leaders can expect what Gartner dubbed a “data deluge.” Paquet said on the call that enterprise data growth is expected to growth 650% in the next five years, and that 80% of that data will be unstructured. That means what is budgeted for storage today is insufficient, according to Paquet.

Energy and green technologies should also be taking a higher priority for IT leaders. “We need to start developing metrics that force us to review the efficiency of IT,” he said. “And it causes us to work with facilities.”

Continue reading "More technologies that won’t be ignored, according to Gartner" »

Participate in Network Instruments survey to share details about your network and your IT management strategy.

By Denise Dubie

Ever wonder if what you’re doing with technology stacks up to your peers? Or are you curious about the latest technology advancements and how they might impact your network? Network Instruments hopes to answer these questions with its fourth annual State of the Network Survey.

Network engineers embrace cloud computing, Cisco Live survey says

The vendor’s 2009 survey revealed that three-quarters of the more than 440 IT professionals polled had implemented virtualization, but the same percentage noted they lacked adequate tools, visibility and information to troubleshoot problems. The economy played a big role in the survey as well with 73% of respondents reporting that they were being asked to do more with less. Yet nearly two-thirds of IT staffs had not experienced layoffs.

Continue reading "What’s the state of your network?" »

Online IT games challenge players to showcase their project and portfolio management skills and network management know-how. Can you compete?

By Denise Dubie

IT professionals aren’t all about business. Many enjoy some friendly competition in the form of online gaming. Two such free online games challenge players to put their IT-specific skills to work in winning them PPM Hero or Network Rockstar status.

PPM Hero, created by CA Technologies in association with The Burton Group, asks players to answer questions on three floors (or game levels) to eventually achieve the status of PPM hero. Using project and portfolio management expertise, players would advance through the levels dubbed Information Technology, Business Operations and The Executive Offices.

The game offers some bonus features as well as some potential pitfalls. For instance, answering questions marked “Q” will give players the opportunity to boost their budget. Yet every wrong response takes budget dollars away and the more time you take the more likely the cash reserves will continue to shrink. Red “Project Police” could cause issues completing tasks, but blue shields can protect against the potential danger the police present.

Successful players that reach PPM Hero status can then challenge friends and submit their own questions for future gamers. IT professionals looking to increase their skills for the game could check out CA Technologies’ PPM blog and the company’s IT governance blog.

And if you’d rather get down and dirty with network know-how, don’t forget to test your network management skills with a game created by NetQoS (acquired by CA Technologies). In the Network Rockstar Challenge players are asked tons of technical trivia only those proficient in network technology could know.

Network Rockstar players choose an online persona and fielding questions through several rounds. The more rounds completed, the higher the status of the character. The game quizzes players on their high-tech knowledge with questions ranging from what does the acronym ATM stand for to what is the speed of an OC-3 network line. Players nailing seven out of 10 questions successfully earn the right to go on tour. Those that fall short get bounced to the alley.

Know any online games that test IT skills? Please share them with me by leaving a comment here or e-mail me the information directly at Denise.Dubie@ca.com.

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Intel to Buy McAfee for $7.68 Billion to Add Software

The multi-billion dollar deal that would put McAfee in the hands of Intel took over high-tech industry news this week. Bloomberg Businessweek analyzed the chipmaker’s largest acquisition to date and speculated the addition of McAfee security software to Intel’s arsenal could make for faster chips and longer battery life as well as make Intel a security powerhouse.

Facebook Unveils New Batch of Updates, Features

Social networking is all the rage and industry giant Facebook decided to add more features to its platform to keep users enthralled with status updates. According to an article posted on CIO.com, beta tools such as Facebook Questions and an updated photo-viewing interface will provide users with additional information and ease of use. And for privacy concerns, Facebook extended its application to enable users to change security settings from a mobile device.

Who Should Hewlett-Packard Buy?

In the food for thought category this week, Informationweek presents its “Desirable Dozen” list of vendors that could potentially help HP continue to maintain its lead as the world’s largest computer vendor. Among the finalists are Silver Peak for its application acceleration technologies, SAP for its mother lode of enterprise software and RIM to make up for the Palm mistake and to compete in the enterprise smartphone market.

Microsoft Won’t Showcase Hyper-V at VMworld

With VMworld 2010 in San Francisco right around the corner, one might expect to find the latest and greatest virtualization wares from big-name vendors. According to Network World, one heavyweight won’t be contending for VMworld attendee attention at the show. The vendor said it would have a booth at the show and it would showcase its Azure platform, but those looking for Hyper-V demonstrations will have to keep looking. Microsoft cited a VMware clause telling vendors not to show competing products.

Getting Ready for the End of Open Source

CTOEdge delivers a report this week that scratches the surface of Oracle’s lawsuit against Google over Android. Since Oracle acquired Sun Microsystems, developers using Open Solaris have been told there will be no further updates, the report states. And MySQL competes with Oracle’s database products so industry watchers speculate how long it has as well.

What's on your reading list this week? Please leave a comment here or let me know directly at Denise.Dubie@ca.com.

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About one-quarter of small to midsize businesses surveyed are exploring their options with cloud computing, but others are holding back due to worries over unproven technologies and security concerns.

By Denise Dubie

Cloud computing is among the technologies that Gartner says cannot be ignored, but that doesn’t mean some IT managers aren’t biding time until they see evidence that cloud computing will provide benefits without their companies incurring risk.

High-tech careers, IT cost management and cloud computing

A recent survey of 1,500 IT professionals conducted by free IT management software maker Spiceworks showed that cloud computing is being considered among the vendor’s customers, which are predominantly small to midsize companies. According to the Voice of IT survey results, 14% of SMBs are currently using “cloud solutions” and 10% intend to deploy cloud services in the next six months. The Spiceworks survey revealed some interesting facts about which SMBs were more likely to adopt cloud than others.

Continue reading "Concern over unproven technologies stalls SMB cloud computing adoption plans" »

There is no single IT process framework to help companies establish IT governance, but there are processes from multiple frameworks that could go a long way to ensuring success.

By Denise Dubie

IT process improvements aren’t a new thing to many high-tech leaders. Acronyms such as ITIL, COBIT, CMMi and others have been among the buzzwords for IT managers looking to streamline processes, improve security and mature IT operations. But can the same frameworks be applied to IT governance efforts? Yes and no, says CA Technologies’ IT Governance Evangelist Steve Romero.

Check out Romero’s blog here: The Future of IT – What do you think?

“There isn’t one framework that could give me all the things required for IT governance, but there are so many frameworks out there that many of them touch parts of the processes required for IT governance,” Romero says. With five principles of IT governance and five decision areas (IT archetype, architecture, infrastructure, applications/systems and investment), IT governance efforts need to incorporate 11 processes, he says.

Continue reading "Dipping your toes into the ocean of IT governance, Part 2" »

CA Technologies’ IT Governance Evangelist Steve Romero explains why most companies are only dealing with the tip of the iceberg when it comes to IT governance.

By Denise Dubie

IT governance makes sense. Appoint decision-makers and create policies around the IT decision-making processes within any given business, doing so to better ensure that the projects IT undertakes best suit the business needs. But despite the simplicity behind its mission, implementing IT governance can become quite involved and often result in piecemeal approaches to bits and pieces of the overall effort, according to Steve Romero, CA Technologies’ IT governance Evangelist.

Check out Romero’s blog here: The Future of IT – What do you think?

IT and business leaders realize it would be remiss to not want to put in a safeguard of sorts to ensure that the technology investments, projects planned and enterprise architecture chosen were ideal for a company’s needs. But the hurdles with IT governance don’t emerge until the efforts are under way and stakeholders realize perhaps members of the group weren’t all on the same page, Romero says.

“Years ago, the view of IT governance was associated solely with risk control related to regulatory and legal requirements for compliance and governance for IT audit,” he explains. “More recently, there has been a chronic misunderstanding that IT governance is associated primarily with IT investment, or the investment decision-making aspect of IT, which is a great place to start, but still both of these areas are only a subset of IT governance as whole.”

Continue reading "Dipping your toes into the ocean of IT governance, Part 1" »

Budget dollars or not, Gartner says there are some technology trends that IT organizations cannot afford to ignore.

By Denise Dubie

Economic experts warn of a double-dip recession, but IT industry watchers say technology trends won’t slow down in the next two years, forcing high-tech leaders to take notice.

Check out the Gartner Webinar: Technology Trends You Can’t Afford to Ignore

Gartner Managing Vice President Raymond Paquet recently hosted a Webinar to detail the 10 key trends the research firm was tracking in the coming months. Not surprisingly two of the trends are virtualization and cloud computing, and a third involves social software. This blog will explore those three areas because frankly one can’t go online without running into multiple instances and references to the technologies.

Virtualization could be an obvious pick, considering its increase in popularity over the past several years, specifically x86 server virtualization. Yet Paquet pointed out that network, storage and desktop virtualization demand attention as well. The fact that server virtualization allows IT departments to consolidate resources and eliminate power and cooling costs provides an obvious ROI, according to Paquet, who also pointed out that client virtualization needs to be approached a bit differently.

“We cannot consolidate desktops. PCs by definition have a one-to-one ratio,” Paquet explained. “The return on investment model is fundamentally different even though the technology is fundamentally the same and therefore will not have nearly as high the potential ROI.”

Continue reading "Technologies that won’t be ignored" »