For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Virtual Machine Consolidation Ratio Benchmark, 2009

How Many Virtual Machines Can Enterprises Fit On A Single Physical Server?

by Rachel A. Dines, Galen Schreck, October 23, 2009

According to a recent Forrester survey, the physical to virtual consolidation ratio of server virtualization users varies significantly by company and industry. If your organization has implemented server virtualization but not realized the expected cost . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Fostering A More Diverse Infrastructure And Operations Department

How To Recruit, Develop, And Retain Women And Underrepresented Minorities

by Rachel A. Dines, October 23, 2009

Diversity in IT departments has always been a sensitive subject. Many firms simply don't get a lot of diverse candidates applying to work in their IT departments, but they don't know why. And the problem isn't getting any better. Over the past few years, . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

A Sample IT Infrastructure And Operations Balanced Scorecard  (41 KB XLS)

by Rachel A. Dines, Evelyn Hubbert, October 1, 2009

The Balanced Scorecard is built around four dimensions that have been adjusted for use in information technology: the value perspective, the user orientation perspective, the operational excellence perspective, and the future orientation perspective. . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Building The IT Infrastructure And Operations Balanced Scorecard

The Eight Essential Metrics That Infrastructure And Operations Should Be Measuring

by Rachel A. Dines, Evelyn Hubbert, October 1, 2009

"You can't manage what you can't measure" is the stated adage, but when it comes to infrastructure and operations (I&O), what to measure is the first challenge. Many firms don't know which metrics to use, or how to collect the information they need . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Colocation Market Close-Up: New York City

by Galen Schreck, Rachel A. Dines, July 15, 2009

New York City is one of the most popular cities in the United States for colocation and other data center services, with more than 40 wholesale and retail colocation providers in the metropolitan area. Forrester estimates that there are more than 2 million . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Forrester's Infrastructure Virtualization Maturity Assessment  (146 KB XLS)

by James Staten, Galen Schreck, Rachel A. Dines, July 10, 2009

Through over 200 client interviews and inquiries, Forrester has determined that the use of virtualization follows a pattern of experience that breaks down into four stages of maturity. Most organizations most pass through each stage of maturity in order . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Role Overview: Virtual Infrastructure Architect

by Galen Schreck, Rachel A. Dines, June 25, 2009

As the adoption of virtualization across servers, storage, and networks continues to climb and organizations push to larger implementations of virtual infrastructure, a new question arises: Who is going to manage your virtual infrastructure? Sure, you . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Virtual Infrastructure Architect - Job Profile And Description  (32 KB XLS)

by Galen Schreck, Rachel A. Dines, June 23, 2009

Position overview: The virtual infrastructure (VI) architect is responsible for managing all of the virtualized infrastructure across technology domains (this usually does not include the virtual desktop).

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Case Study: Graybar Electric Builds Virtualization Into The DNA Of Its Infrastructure

by Galen Schreck, Rachel A. Dines, May 14, 2009

Five years ago, the supply chain management services giant Graybar Electric began to dabble in virtualization technologies. Today, it has a large and successful virtual server and storage environment and has not added a watt to its data center in two . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Data Center Facilities, Q2 2009

by Galen Schreck, Rachel A. Dines, May 8, 2009

In 2008, Forrester fielded 231 inquiries on data centers from IT end user professionals, with 137 on data center facilities specifically. Since when does IT care about data center facilities? Since more and more organizations are running out of capacity . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Best Practices: Aligning Your Infrastructure And Operations Department Around Virtualization

by Galen Schreck, Rachel A. Dines, March 20, 2009

Getting the most out of virtualization requires firms to overcome cultural divides that exist within even the most functional of IT departments. Persuading the business to make the upfront investment in virtualization is no small task, but even companies . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Case Study: The State Of Indiana Tunes Its I&O Department For Virtualization Success

by Galen Schreck, Rachel A. Dines, March 20, 2009

Prior to 2005, the Indiana Office of Technology (IOT) was distributed over 100 agencies and four data centers. By mid-2006, on Governor Mitch Daniels' orders, IOT was completely centralized with only one data center and had dropped from 100 system administrators . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Inquiry Spotlight: Infrastructure & Operations Organizational Structures, Q1 2009

by Doug Washburn, Rachel A. Dines, March 11, 2009

Infrastructure and operations (I&O) departments are currently in a state of flux. Beyond increasing centralization, I&O departments are reorganizing to become service-oriented or are at least considering such a change. Why? When surveyed, IT executives . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Colocation Market Close-Up: Los Angeles

by Galen Schreck, Rachel A. Dines, January 13, 2009

Demand for colocation in large metropolitan areas is very high, driven by local businesses that want nearby data center space for disaster recovery, overflow, or new space. There is significant demand in the Los Angeles metropolitan area for data center . . .