Companies could change their game with virtualisation

The majority of IT managers are holding back on virtualisation, a potential game changer, because they think it is too risky, says Jeff Echols, Senior Director of Product and Solutions Marketing, CommVault Systems.

Source: CommVault.
Echols.

“Virtualisation can easily become very much a double-edged sword. Point solutions supposedly built for virtual platforms lack the necessary scalability, integration and enterprise capabilities to meet business demands or account for new models of computing such as cloud infrastructure. What's more, they're increasing complexity, costs and management overhead to the detriment of virtual machine (VM) and application performance.”

Why go in for it then? The technology has advanced to the point that there are now specific tools and management software products available in the market that can optimise VM backup and recovery while offering more complete cloud management, Echols explained.

“Companies regardless of their size should leverage the benefits of virtualisation. Virtualisation is a major driver, particularly as organisations deal with hybrid cloud environments whether they are using on-premise or off-premise data. Small organisations want to seamlessly manage data across different repositories.

"There is a necessity for information management vendors and IT staff to advise small organisations on the best data management strategy to adopt and determine what should be virtualised and what should move to the cloud. With the introduction of its new solutions sets, CommVault is effectively making it easier for small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) to protect, manage and maximise the value of business information amidst a rising tide of data and compliance requirements,” he said.

However, organisations in Asia Pacific tend to overlook the long term view when getting into virtualisation, Echols cautioned. “Organisations will not completely benefit from virtualisation if they neglect the process of virtual machine resource allocation. In fact, this is precisely what can lead to VM sprawl. There is a need for information management companies to educate organisations on virtualisation better.

Echols says there are three basic rules to remember about VM management:

1. Pick the right tool for the right job

“Not all VMs are created the same way, so you don't protect them the same way. Choose the lowest cost data protection method to meet the recovery requirement,” he said. “Companies should look for solutions that can balance cost and management requirements with VM recovery and retention needs, preferably in a single, scalable approach that can apply each method where it makes the most sense.”

2. Reduce, reuse and reclaim VM resources

“You can get more from your VM investment by controlling the proliferation of VMs, managing software licensing costs and reducing your hardware spend. The appropriate governance policies can also control how the VM is built and the amount of resources it can consume,” said Echols.

3. Build your private or hybrid cloud the way you want it

Automating cloud resource management can help businesses maximise agility and flexibility, said Echols. “The addition of automated, customised policy-driven processes to the backup and recovery tools already in place on a single platform makes it simple for organisations to build, protect and optimise their virtualised and cloud infrastructure. That way, organisations can concentrate on growing their business,” he said.

Businesses in both Asia Pacific and the West need to understand that data will always be central to gaining insights and supporting decisions to innovate and enhance service delivery, Echols added. “This means technology alone is not enough. A combination of tools, methodologies and information management styles and sources need to be adopted, and that is certainly a globally consistent factor. CommVault effectively brings an answer to this challenge by helping organisations to protect, manage and access their companies’ most important business assets through one single platform,” he said.