For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Low-Hanging Fruit That Service Operations Teams Should Consider Now

by Evelyn Hubbert, November 13, 2009

Some IT organizations are confident that they can weather the storm of our current economic situation. Others believe they can maintain their current staffing level, and some are saying that they can maintain their current IT technology investment levels. . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Q&A: New Workload Adoption On System z Mainframe

Why Linux, Why Mainframe, What "Best Fit" Workloads?

by Brad Day, November 13, 2009

Over the past six quarters, IBM has been very busy turning out a raft of customer case studies on new workload adoption on its System z mainframe, letting customers tell their feature/function/benefit impetus for deciding on the System z mainframe as . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Aligning Your VMware Licensing Strategy With Your Broader Virtualization Plans

by Christopher Voce, Galen Schreck, November 12, 2009

It's not easy for enterprises evaluating their licensing options with VMware. In addition to worrying about the mechanics of how an enterprise licensing agreement (ELA) fits with your internal deployment plans, you need to consider a shifting competitive . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Unified Communications Vendor Selection Criteria

Many Categories Of Products Make Vendor Selection Challenging

by Elizabeth Herrell, November 6, 2009

Unlike most commercial software applications that have a preset number of features, unified communications (UC) provides a software framework for linking multiple discrete applications on a common platform. UC integrates enterprise mobility, conferencing, . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Q&A: IT Asset Disposition

What Infrastructure And Operations Professionals Should Know When Disposing End-Of-Life IT Assets

by Doug Washburn, Onica King, October 30, 2009

While all organizations dispose of IT equipment in some way, IT asset disposition (ITAD) has long been an afterthought. But recent changes — from increasing data security and environmental regulations to firms seeking opportunities to reduce costs and . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The State Of WAN Services Adoption In North America 2009: CIOs Lead On Cost Reduction

by Phil Sayer, October 30, 2009

The need to cut costs dominates North American enterprises' 2009 plans for wide-area networks (WANs). This is the top priority for almost three-quarters of enterprises as part of IT budget cuts mandated at board level. At the same time, network traffic . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

How Efficient Is Your Storage Environment?

The KPIs That Matter Most In Enterprise Storage and How To Measure Them

by Andrew Reichman, October 22, 2009

Building an effective storage environment is a balancing act between performance, reliability, and efficiency. For years, improving storage efficiency took a back seat to the other goals. Now, with infrastructure budgets being cut and data growth continuing . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Twenty Mobile Device Management Best Practices

How To Improve Mobile Support For Your Anytime, Anywhere Workers

by Benjamin Gray, October 21, 2009

As workers become increasingly distributed and mobile, work will no longer be confined to always-connected devices. And as firms onboard this younger and more tech-savvy generation of employees (Millennials), who have loftier mobility expectations of . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Trends In Enterprise 802.11n Adoption, 2009  (427 KB PPT)

by Chris Silva, October 15, 2009

A data chart that looks at 802.11 adoption trends.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Windows 7 Commercial Adoption Outlook

Anticipation Is High As Firms Start Preparing For Their Next PC Standard

by Benjamin Gray, October 15, 2009

Windows XP won't be around forever, and the anticipation for commercial adoption of Windows 7 is reaching a boiling point. With Windows 7 available now for volume license customers and for everyone else on October 22, IT professionals should start preparing . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Client Virtualization Adoption Trends, 2009  (528 KB PPT)

by Natalie Lambert, October 6, 2009

A look at the most recent client virtualization adoption trends.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

UK Firms Continue To Look To Green IT For Cost Reduction And Business Benefits

Findings From The UK Green IT 2009 Conference, May 2009

by Onica King, Doug Washburn, October 2, 2009

Findings from Forrester's second joint survey collaboration with Tech:Touchstone Events, organizer of the Green IT 2009 Conference in London, uncovered that after a year of economic turmoil, financial drivers and efficiency gains are still the core motivation . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

TechRadar™ For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals: Cloud Computing, Q3 2009

As Much Diversity Of Maturity Across Categories As Confusion Among Them

by James Staten, October 2, 2009

The No. 1 challenge in cloud computing today is determining what it really is. What categories of services exist within the definition and business model, and how ready are these options for enterprise consumption? Forrester defines cloud computing as . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Twelve Criteria For Contact Center Outsourcers

Questions Companies Need to Ask When Engaging A Contact Center Outsourcer

by Elizabeth Herrell, September 10, 2009

Many companies consider outsourcing their contact center or customer service centers to improve operational efficiencies and to increase customer satisfaction. However, many decision-makers know little about potential contact center outsourcers, and they . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Best Practices: Infrastructure-As-A-Service (IaaS)

by James Staten, September 9, 2009

It seems as if every CIO comes back from a conference cocktail party demanding IT "move to the cloud." While this can mean many things, including using software-as-a-service, managed hosting, or application service providers, the demand often centers . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

IT Compliance: From Painful To Pleasant

by Khalid Kark, July 31, 2009

With increasing workforce mobility and the extension of the business supply chain globally, organizations are struggling to keep up with increasing corporate and regulatory compliance requirements. Regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Market Overview: Client Management Suites

Evolving Computing Market Shifts Focus To Security And Virtualization

by Natalie Lambert, July 29, 2009

Desktop operations managers are watching their computing environment change. There are now more types of devices and more varieties of operating systems entering the enterprise than ever before. This is leading to an architectural shift, one that moves . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Case Study: How PerkettPR — An All-Virtual Organization — Is Powered By Remote Workers

How A Virtual Firm's IT Can Be Greener, More Accessible, And More Redundant Than Traditional Office Environments

by Chris Silva, Doug Washburn, July 28, 2009

PerkettPR made its strategic, and definitive, decision to focus investment on quality staff — not office space. Since its inception in 1998, the company has been a virtual organization with no intent of transitioning to a traditional office environment. . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Green Checklist For Remote Workers  (32 KB XLS)

by Chris Silva, Doug Washburn, July 27, 2009

This worksheet acts as a simple yes/no checklist for green capabilities that remote workers can adopt.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Home Office Checklist For Remote Workers  (32 KB XLS)

by Chris Silva, Doug Washburn, July 27, 2009

A workbook spreadsheet detailing the requirements that all remote workers should follow.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Vendor Landscape: Enterprise 802.11n Infrastructure

by Chris Silva, July 24, 2009

The most recent iteration of the Wi-Fi standard, 802.11n, has held out great hope, with greater speeds and greatly improved signal range, but as a newly ratified technology it has yet to be widely adopted due to perceived interoperability issues, higher . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Plan Now For Licensing Windows 7

Analyzing Your Options For Upgrading Today Can Save You Down The Road

by Christopher Voce, Benjamin Gray, July 22, 2009

Windows XP has remained the corporate desktop operating system (OS) standard for most enterprises for several years, but its reign will end with the availability of Windows 7 to IT professionals as early as August 6, 2009. Windows 7 is shaping up to be . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

European Telecom Operator Managed Services Deals Survey: H2 2008

by Phil Sayer, July 10, 2009

Forrester's sixth survey of managed services deals signed in Europe by telecom service providers reviews 476 contract wins recorded in the second half of 2008. The number of deals increased from the 407 that we tracked in H1 2008; however, the total contract . . .

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

Assess Your Infrastructure Virtualization Maturity

Here's How To Move To The Next Stage

by James Staten, Galen Schreck, July 10, 2009

Why are most organizations not achieving more with infrastructure virtualization? They just aren't ready to. Through more than 200 enterprise interviews, correlated with survey data, Forrester has identified four clear stages of infrastructure virtualization . . .