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To companies who still buy IT solutions the same way they did 20 years ago: It’s time for a change  If you weren’t already in tech, you might be surprised by how old-fashioned many companies are when it comes to buying new business IT solutions. But if you’re here, you’ve probably already butted heads over purchase decisions with more than a few folks who would seem to be happier if we kept all our data in boxes full of punch cards. The old way to buy IT solutions started back in the ‘60s. That’s when companies outside of academia and defense departments started to see the value of computers and bought them en masse. At that point, hardware and software were seen as separate entities — aside from making sure one was compatible with the other, it made sense to track them as distinct line items. Companies would then plan their budgets based on how long they projected each piece of tech would last, using those estimates of cost versus expense to decide what they’d buy outright, lease, or finance. This old-guard mindset is predicated on the idea that you have to commit to technology for a long time — which makes sense when you’re literally trucking it all in and dedicating rooms to mainframes (or, later, on-premises server racks). But the realities of assembling business IT solutions have evolved, and failing to pay attention often means wasted dollars. A New Approach to Buying Business IT SolutionsIt’s time to shift your mindset. Just because one process has served your company well for the last 10, 20, or even 30 years of shopping for business IT solutions doesn’t mean it still will today. We’re not proposing you throw out all the methods that you know work. We’re just asking you to re-evaluate how you know they work. Let’s start by looking at all the IT solutions out there today. We mean all of them, not just a handful based on what your competitors and “leaders in the space” are doing. Instead of simply following the herd, evaluate each of these options according to your business needs. Sounds obvious, right? We all do this intuitively every day. But intuition doesn’t cut it when deciding what will essentially be a new nervous system for your organization. Formalize your process. That way, you know you’re choosing the right option based on the information available to you — and you’ll be able to prove it to your bosses or investors since a well-sourced spreadsheet goes a lot further than a “good feeling.” Not sure where to start? When we help businesses buy IT solutions at Roundstone we use a rating system that factors in business priorities as well as known and estimated expenses for a range of solutions. Here’s how we used that rating system to help three companies make better buying decisions: From ‘All-In On the Cloud’ to Practical On-PremisesA client in the public sector came to us with a new taxpayer-facing application they planned to deploy. Management said they were going “all in” on moving to the public cloud for this application despite having quite a bit of capacity left on the infrastructure they already owned. That last part rang some alarm bells for us as soon as they brought us in. After a discussion, we took the client through an analysis of the operational requirements of the new workload. We looked at how it would be handled in the public cloud or on-premises using their existing Nutanix deployment. While both would suffice, when we went through the financial analysis, it was clear that on-premises on Nutanix was less than half the cost of the public cloud. Having done their homework and seeing the two alternatives clearly, the client decided to deploy on-premises with Nutanix. Taking a Hybrid ApproachA client in the commercial sector wondered whether the public cloud would be a better place to run infrastructure than their existing, three-tier, on-premises environment. They engaged us to take them through an evaluation of all their options. We looked at the operational considerations of their existing infrastructure, organizational factors, and costs. As a result of the evaluation, the client determined that the public cloud would best serve a small subset of their workloads. The remainder, however, were much better off on-premises. They then asked us whether their legacy three-tier or hyper-converged infrastructure would make the most sense going forward. We’re currently working together to find the answer. Bringing Direction to the DoldrumsA different commercial sector client came to us with a large, legacy three-tier infrastructure. They had been in business for many years, and their staff was set in their ways — they didn’t want to consider more modern alternatives. Working with their management, we explained the need for formal evaluations before deciding which infrastructure options to select. We took the client through our evaluation process and used their numbers to compare their legacy three-tier infrastructure to a modern hyper-converged infrastructure. Both options could support the workloads, but HCI was the clear winner on simplicity and price. In fact, HCI was roughly half the price of their current setup. The client quickly deployed Nutanix for some newer workloads. It’s now moving existing workloads over to Nutanix at an increasing rate. Why the Old Way Keeps Hanging OnLike we said at the start, that old-fashioned approach to buying new-fashioned things is only a surprise if you’re on the outside looking in. But it’s still worth breaking down what contributes to this unproductive mindset so it’s easier to rid your own organization of any similar baggage. This reluctance to change is simple for employees lower on the reporting chain: The manager points them toward a product and leaves no room for questions. Even if the employee suspects alternative business IT solutions would serve their purposes better, they feel too apprehensive about pushing back on these edicts to rock the boat. They keep their heads down and keep moving. For upper management, as we’ve found many times over, it’s simply a case of herd mentality. One example: The headlines talk about a great cloud migration, so managers feel they must join in or risk their boss asking why they aren’t doing anything with all this “cloud” stuff they keep hearing about. But this type of deliberation doesn’t stop to differentiate your company from your competition, which is a fatal flaw for a business decision at any level. Let Us Help You Find the Right FitAll business IT solutions have merits. But those merits are seldom one-size-fits-all. Instead of simply following your intuition — or following what a few high-profile names in your industry are doing — put in the work to figure out what is right for your business.
Do some research to formalize your processes, then apply those processes to all the solutions that may make sense for your business. Even if your formal process does lead you to the same trendy solution, you’ll know why it will work for your company and be ready to use it to its fullest potential. At Roundstone, we’ve helped everything from start-ups to large enterprises find the solutions that work best for their needs. If you want some more practical guidance on how to buy IT solutions that will give you the best results, talk to us first. We’re happy to help.
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For several years, we've asked dozens of our Clients and Prospective Clients how they decide which IT infrastructure to run their workloads on. To date, we've not found any organization that can explain in a clear fashion how they make those decisions. We think that's just bad business.
We think IT infrastructure decisions should be made with both eyes open, with all of the relevant data. Sadly, most decisions are made with a destination already in mind, and that destination seems to be the Public Cloud, more than others. "That's what all the smart people are doing". But to question this approach is to be viewed as the "bad guy", or "the person who doesn't understand". Trust me, I understand very well. I watch IT organizations regularly make questionable decisions that cost them millions more than needed. Public Cloud vendors are laughing all the way to the bank. How do I know? Just take a look at their gross margins. If your company had gross margins anywhere close to those of the Public Cloud you'd be so rich you wouldn't be working anymore. But what do I know? I'm just a guy with decades of experience who has seen end users fall for vendor marketing time and time again. They continue to get burned, and never seem to learn. Here's what Roundstone Solutions and I are all about: We want Clients who make intelligent decisions by using as much available information as possible. We want them to be able to defend the decisions they make because they were sound ones, not because "that's what everyone else was doing". Don't trust marketing from vendors (especially Public Cloud vendors). Seriously, has Public Cloud saved you money? Have you ever scaled down? Has it been any easier managing another IT infrastructure along with the ones you're already managing? Be honest. Stand apart from the rest. Do your homework. Learn about the various options. Of course, we're happy to help you with this. Contact us and let us help.
How hyperconverged infrastructure can save you time and money
Technology evolves at a rocketship pace. If your organization is not keeping up with technological changes, it might find itself left behind.
One example is the legacy three-tier architecture. Decades ago, three-tier was the next new thing. Today, the rocketship has moved on. Companies are finding that new technological solutions are a better fit for today’s hyper-connected, Internet-of-Things world. Where is the rocketship landing? Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI). Let’s look at some of the hyperconverged infrastructure benefits and how you can maximize the benefits of HCI to make sure you aren’t left behind the times. Hyperconverged Infrastructure Benefits
At the end of the day, businesses don’t buy technology because they want to buy technology. No one is in the business of simply owning technology. Businesses buy technology for the value it provides. If your technology isn’t helping you with your core business, there’s no reason to have it. And the more it helps, the better.
When you look at the costs versus benefits of older technologies versus newer technologies, the newer technologies will almost always outperform on efficiency, cost, and performance. Considering that potential business benefit is the most important reason to invest in technology, why would you invest in something that will be slower, less efficient, and cost more? The value isn’t there. The challenge has traditionally been that there wasn’t a better solution than legacy three-tier architecture. Now there is. Hyperconvergence is about moving processes that had previously been handled manually or with multiple different parts from hardware solutions into software. The result is the ability to replicate those processes on relatively inexpensive hardware while simultaneously eliminating the need to be hands-on with running infrastructure. One example is data. Previously, in an IT environment, it was necessary to manually move data from place to place in the storage tier in order to make more room or optimize storage. Today that’s viewed as woefully inefficient. That can be done with software, saving money and time, and that’s what hyperconvergence is all about. 1. Allows for the latest technology
Among the biggest hyperconverged infrastructure benefits is that HCI removes the barrier between your business and the latest technological advances. By combining and automating tasks, the architectural load is migrated from discrete pieces of hardware to a converged whole. And that whole is managed by software.
This means you no longer have to keep up with separate servers, storage, and computational assets. You no longer have to maintain or upgrade hardware. Those assets are now being maintained by your HCI provider, who will update and replace them as necessary. This means you get the benefit of the latest advances in technology without having to continually upgrade your equipment. The result: Your business benefits from the efficiency of modern technology without your having to continually chase a moving technological target. 2. Simplicity
In the traditional three-tier architecture, there will be separate storage, servers, and computational architecture, combined with a visualization layer on the front end. And generally, all of these different pieces will be from different manufacturers, housed in different places, and maintained by different people. This can be a compatibility and maintenance nightmare.
HCI combines these pieces into one hyper-converged whole. Suddenly, compatibility ceases to be an issue, and maintenance is simplified. Updates can be applied instantly, no longer requiring significant downtime. 3. Efficiency
In the computing world, the closer your data is to the processor (CPU), the faster your computations will be. If you have your data located close to the CPU without having to go through a bunch of external devices, you will see a performance boost. HCI realizes this boost with architecture that centers data close to the computational center.
Our premier HCI partner, Nutanix, has an HCI infrastructure that was built specifically for this reason. Unlike some major providers who have bolted on HCI to their existing architectures, the Nutanix HCI solution is custom-built from the ground up to harness the benefits and savings of HCI. 4. Closes skill-demand gap
Traditional architectures require a high degree of specialized knowledge to understand and implement. One of the benefits of HCI is that by automating tasks, it takes the need for specialized knowledge out of the equation. The tasks that would have required specialized knowledge are now automated, leaving your highly skilled team members with time for work that adds more value to the business.
5. Staff reallocation
There has been some concern that HCI will lead to people losing their jobs. After all, if we’re automating processes that have traditionally been performed by IT workers, what are those workers going to do?
The answer is they are going to be available to do higher value work for the company. Work that can potentially increase innovation, and with it, profits. HCI automates maintenance tasks, which have traditionally eaten up an outsized percentage of workers’ time. According to a Deloitte report, the average IT department spends more than half of its budget on maintenance tasks, and only 19% on innovation. HCI can upend this paradigm, freeing up IT staff from time spent on maintenance, allowing them to spend more time innovating and adding value to your business. 6. Scalability
One of the biggest hyperconverged infrastructure benefits is scalability. With HCI, you can scale almost infinitely without having to worry about outgrowing your server stack or storage solution. With HCI, you can scale up or down as your business needs change. There is no longer any need to “buy ahead” of need.
7. Cost savings
Finally, perhaps the most important benefit of HCI is cost savings. Traditional architectures require massive server farms, storage solutions, and separate computational resources. With HCI, all of that is converged, considerably reducing the initial outlay.
One of the biggest problems with traditional IT architecture is that, as your business grows, your technology becomes more complex, shifting focus from business problems to technology problems. Your business should be focused on how technology will drive value, not what your business value can do for your technology. To learn more about HCI benefits and how HCI can help your business scale and grow, contact us today. A look at the companies who can help keep your data safe  It’s going to happen eventually. The power will go out, a major storm will come through, or a ransomware attack will hold your data hostage. Whatever it is, it will take your business down if you’re not prepared. Your options when that disaster strikes will depend greatly on the decisions you’ve made beforehand. Specifically, how you back up your data and with whom. The world of data backups is crowded with different vendors. Most of them can do the job. Which one you choose will depend on your needs. To help you pick the right partner for your business, here are some of the most popular backup and recovery vendors and their use cases. Why Back Up?Put simply: You backup so that you can recover. But recover from what? That’s where times are changing. What used to be called disaster recovery is now called business continuity. It’s the science of ensuring that your business will continue if the worst case scenario occurs. One of the most important aspects of business continuity is protecting your data. That’s where backup and recovery come in. Why is backing up important? For example, let’s look at what happened on September 11, 2001. The world remembers that two planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, ending the lives of thousands of people. Far less tragic, but still worth remembering, is the fact that the towers also housed hundreds of businesses. Many ceased to exist after the attack. Not only was their physical infrastructure in the towers, but their data infrastructure was mostly housed in data centers also in the towers. The attack destroyed both their physical infrastructure and their data. Afterward, these businesses were effectively gone and unrecoverable. A disaster on the scale of 9/11 doesn’t have to occur to pose a major threat to your business. Storms, power outages, and ransomware are all existential threats to your data. Backing up your data is how you ensure that, should that data be damaged, you can recover it. Testing Is KeyA key part of any backup strategy is testing. Remember, the idea of backing up anything in the first place is that, at some point, you will need to recover it. So it’s important to test that process. It can be more complicated than you expect, and the last thing you need when something bad has happened to your data is to run into complications while trying to restore it. Testing is also important because sometimes a backup will simply not work. Companies fail, outages happen, and sometimes things break. So you want to test your backups from time to time to ensure that the process works and that the data you need will be there when you need it. RansomwareIn the past, the main driver of backup and recovery solutions was the threat of physical loss — a fire, flood, or terrorist attack. That was then. Now, the main threat to data is ransomware. Nearly 500 million ransomware attacks were detected in 2022, and the projected cost of ransomware attacks is expected to reach $265 billion every year by 2031. If you’re not protecting your data, the next attack could be against you. In a ransomware attack, someone is intentionally trying to move your data from where it lives (your system) to another location (their system) so that they can hold it hostage and demand payment. In the process, your data is likely to be deleted from your system entirely and potentially corrupted. Even if you were to pay the ransom, what you get back might be useless. Malicious actors only have to get it right once to take your business for everything you have. You have to be secure every single time. Business continuity requires an enterprise solution provided by reputable backup and recovery vendors. Backup and Recovery VendorsBackup and recovery vendors come in roughly three flavors:
We’ll take a look at and give some examples of each. Legacy VendorsLegacy vendors are the “old guard” of backup options. These are typically large companies that have made their reputations on hardware and have bolted on backup and recovery services after the fact. These vendors have huge install bases, but their businesses are built on legacy infrastructure using old technology. Commvault is probably the largest example of this type of vendor. They offer comprehensive data backup and recovery for both physical locations and cloud servers, and they do it very well. The advantage of using a legacy system provider like Commvault is familiarity. It’s always worked, your IT department understands it, and it’s reliable. The downside is they’re often expensive and lack the modern features of modern, hyperconverged solutions. IBM and Dell are also very strong competitors in the legacy vendor space. Software OnlyThese vendors offer predominantly on-site backup solutions that are software only. This means they require access to hardware you already have installed or will install. Veeam is likely the biggest name in this space, offering backup and recovery solutions to businesses of all sizes. HYCU is also a major player in this space, especially with its Nutanix integration. HYCU positions itself as a Backup as a Service (BaaS) provider with hybrid cloud and multi-cloud services. The major advantage to backup and recovery vendors like Veam and HYCU is cost. When you’re only buying software, you can save tremendous amounts of money. The challenge is you have to get the hardware from somewhere. If you already have a large investment in hardware resources that are robust and reliable, a software-only vendor might make sense for your enterprise. But if you’re investing in a backup and recovery solution from scratch, an all-in-one provider like the ones below might make more sense. Modern Software and Hardware VendorsCohesity backup is a modern backup and recovery solution that utilizes hyperconverged architecture and a “single plane of glass” management console, allowing users to manage the entire backup and recovery process from a single UI. Cohesity offers on-site hardware to store your backups and host the Cohesity software. It works with the public cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) environments. Rubrik is another reputable hyperconverged backup and recovery vendor. These two modern backup and recovery vendors have essentially rearchitected the way backup and recovery works. Instead of starting with legacy systems and bolting on hyperconverged architecture and backup and recovery systems, they’ve built their backup and recovery systems from the ground up. In the case of ransomware, Cohesity backup as a service also offers a service called “Fort Knox,” named after the gold repository in Kentucky. Fort Knox is a truly last-line-of-defense solution. It stores a copy of your data in a server located somewhere other than the main backup server in a location the user can’t access. That way, if an attacker gains access to your servers and backups, they will not have access to Fort Knox. It’s called an immutable backup, and it could mean the difference between saving your data and having to make a payout to attackers. Backup and Recovery VendorsRemember, you backup so that you can recover. Whatever the size of your business or the investment you have already made in IT infrastructure, there’s a backup and recovery vendor that’s right for you. For more information about backup and recovery vendors or to get a consultation on the right solution for your business, reach out today.
Successful migration ultimately comes down to time, effort, and cost — discover which strategy offers the best outcomes for your business
If you’ve already weighed the cost of moving to the cloud and are dead-set on migrating, there is no shortage of options. However, choosing the most effective cloud migration strategy is not a decision to be taken lightly, and making the wrong decision can lead to spending more money on infrastructure than it brings in.
During the opening months of the pandemic, many organizations needed to rapidly transform their infrastructure to continue remote operations. As a result, they wasted a lot of money because they simply didn’t have the time to do the research. Now that things have settled down, it’s worth it to take the time to investigate all the options. No one gets extra credit for overspending, so applying an intelligent, research-based approach to determining the most appropriate cloud migration strategy will help you minimize costs while maximizing operational efficiency in the cloud. We’ll break down the four most common cloud migration strategies, provide the pros and cons of each, and give you our recommended approach. That way, you’ll have the information you need to make smarter, more informed decisions about the cloud-based future of your business. 4 Common Cloud Migration StrategiesStrategy #1: Lift and Shift
A lift and shift strategy is exactly what it sounds like: You are lifting the applications out of your current on-premises data center and shifting them to a public cloud data center.
Lift and shift migrations are fast and cost-efficient — at least at first. Because you’re just moving infrastructure to a new location, it will operate exactly as it did on your old data server. You’re not unlocking the real benefits cloud infrastructure provides, and if it ran poorly before, it will run poorly on the public cloud. What’s worse is that now you’re effectively paying double for the same outcomes you had before. This is the fallacy of the public cloud — you’re moving applications over just to spend more money without receiving additional value. Pros: Migration is quick and less expensive than other strategies. Cons: You won’t see added benefits from the cloud without significant time investment, meaning you’re paying more for the same output. Strategy #2: Refactoring
Refactoring is the process of taking your current setup and rebuilding it from scratch to take advantage of the unique benefits of the public cloud. It’s a software optimization process — your applications are effectively running on different hardware, so you’re reoptimizing the software to run in this new environment. Refactored public cloud infrastructure is typically far more efficient than those that undergo a lift and shift migration.
This sounds great on paper. The problem with refactoring is that doing it right takes an enormous amount of time to set up and a significant amount of effort to pull off. Many businesses use hundreds of applications to keep day-to-day operations running smoothly. IT departments must refactor each of these applications to maximize efficiency within the cloud. No team has the staff or finances available to complete a project of this scope in a reasonable amount of time, and many refactoring projects simply never get finished. Pros: Allows infrastructure to unlock the full potential of public cloud infrastructure efficiencies. Cons: Requires excessive time to achieve, and many refactoring projects are never completed. Strategy #3: Lift and Shift on Bare Metal
A lift and shift approach on bare metal moves your infrastructure onto private compute environments rather than shared ones. Bare metal also provides direct access to the hardware. This allows for far greater control over configuration, potentially making your infrastructure faster and more efficient. Conceptually, it’s no different than paying for your own on-premises infrastructure — you’re merely paying a platform like AWS or Google Cloud for the privilege.
However, building cloud infrastructure on bare metal is far more expensive than running infrastructure on shared servers. On the public cloud, you’re sharing the platform’s infrastructure with other users, where both the cost savings and provider profits come from — choosing a private configuration increases costs significantly. And if you’re not refactoring your infrastructure to take full advantage of the additional compute benefits, you’re better off sticking with on-premises infrastructure. The additional benefits of bare metal won’t outweigh the cost. Pros: Offers more granular control over leased hardware and is not shared with other public cloud customers. Cons: More expensive than shared public cloud options. Strategy #4: Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) on Bare Metal
Hyperconverged infrastructure uses bare metal cloud hardware as its base but places a software layer between the hardware and your applications, allowing you to run your applications as if they were on-premises.
HCI allows your infrastructure to receive both the benefits of bare metal hardware configurations and application refactoring for a fully performance-optimized compute environment without the labor, knowledge, or time required to do so. The software layer essentially does the refactoring for you — so while you’re paying more for the bare metal hardware and software integration, you’re saving both money and time that would typically result from a lengthy migration process. Pros: Offers significant improvements to infrastructure efficiency with little investment in time or labor. Cons: Bare metal infrastructure and necessary software are more expensive than other strategies. Which Cloud Migration Strategy Should You Choose?
Bare metal configuration options are more expensive than shared public cloud infrastructure. But if you can’t get your applications refactored quickly enough, shared infrastructure will increase your costs without adding any benefit. So, what cloud migration strategy should you choose?
If management requires that your business moves its operations to the cloud, we recommend an HCI on bare metal approach, utilizing Nutanix public cloud software — specifically, Nutanix NC2. Nutanix NC2 provides the efficiency of refactoring for the public cloud without the time and financial expense required to actually refactor your infrastructure. You won’t need to change any configuration, so you can move applications back and forth between the cloud and on-premises infrastructure as required. Your team won’t need any additional knowledge beyond what you’ve already gained by operating on premises, and it won’t need additional staff to manage the extra load. Migration becomes a relative snap compared to other options, and you can quickly satisfy upper management’s requirements by moving operations into the cloud. Nutanix also eliminates the need for separate servers, storage, and storage network components by putting everything in a single box. Because these components operate much closer to the core, performance will be higher than infrastructure configurations where these components are spread out. And unlike public cloud costs — which arrive monthly and fluctuate based on unforeseen spikes — Nutanix is paid for up-front, and pricing is based on how many processing cores you need over a specific period. Ultimately, all the decisions surrounding cloud migration come down to which option will allow you to sell more products more efficiently and with the optimal ratio between expenses and revenue. HCI on bare metal with Nutanix NC2 will help you achieve the added benefits of the public cloud without spending too much time, energy, or resources to get there. Still Unsure? Let Us Help
If you’re looking for more information about these migration strategies or want to learn more about what a cloud migration with Nutanix NC2 looks like, we can help. At Roundstone, we pride ourselves in being able to help businesses build modern, more efficient IT infrastructure that makes sense for their unique use cases. We’ve spent years connecting organizations with the knowledge they need to make smarter decisions and vendor partners that can make those decisions a reality. Want to get started? Contact us today.
More businesses than ever before are turning to public cloud infrastructure — but does it actually save you money?
Every business wants to be more efficient and innovative; many see the cloud as the easy and smart solution. But will the cloud will actually help them achieve this goal? Maybe. Maybe not.
Taking a chance on new technology might be a worthwhile risk in a booming economy. At the very least, it’s easier to justify. However, that’s not our current financial reality, and CIOs must defend the budgeting decisions they make now more than ever — especially when it comes to investments that are difficult to reverse. An assessment of public cloud vs on premises cost is crucial for any CIO looking to justify whether they should stick with their current infrastructure or proceed with migration. But analyzing cost is only a part of the whole picture — we’ll help you fill out the rest of the details so you can make a fully-informed decision. Public Cloud vs On Premises Cost: Which to Choose?
Providing a definitive comparison between cloud vs on premises cost is more difficult than crunching a few numbers and arriving at a simple numerical answer. Everyone’s needs differ; some organizations have workloads that are compute intensive, others are more storage heavy. The point is that every organization is different, which means that the best IT infrastructure for them will differ.
As you’ll see, cost is the last factor to consider, not the first. Especially since it’s generally known that the Public Cloud is typically 30-50% more expensive than on-premises IT infrastructure. The proper way to analyze the cost of the Public Cloud versus other options is to start with the Operations characteristics of the workload.The easiest way to start is to understand what characteristics of workloads each infrastructure option requires and see how each provider generates prices to provide those resources. The following table compares common resource requirements and how each option approaches them.
But these comparisons only start to get at much larger questions: Will migrating to the cloud save your business money and make operations more efficient, or is maintaining on premises infrastructure the right call?
The answer? It depends — but on-premises infrastructure is usually the better financial choice. For example, start-ups are trying to build a viable product, and investors don’t want to pay for infrastructure until necessary. These businesses are usually better off renting compute power and storage from the cloud or software-as-a-service providers than spending that money on managing on premises architecture as most venture capitalists want to see their money going into shippable products. Meanwhile, manufacturing companies often have very stable workloads and don’t usually see many spikes that would require rapid scaling. For them, offloading these processes to expensive public cloud platforms doesn't make sense. Ultimately, whether or not you stick with on premises architecture or migrate to the cloud should be based on the kind of workloads your architecture handles — not necessarily the industry you belong in. Tools like email, video conferencing, and archival systems are perfect for the public cloud because these systems form the plumbing that makes the rest of your network operate efficiently. Meanwhile, most workloads are stable and predictable and don’t necessarily need to be performed in the cloud. Despite this, there is a massive push from cloud providers and the surrounding industry that feeds into them to get businesses to move into the cloud. Forecasts from Gartner that predict massive cloud infrastructure spend add to this feeling of inevitability. “Everyone is moving to the cloud,” these reports proclaim. “If you don’t migrate too, you will be left behind.” The problem is that no one is doing the math or analysis for themselves. We’ve spoken with over a dozen CIOs who have migrated to the cloud and asked them about their process for analyzing whether it was a proper fit. Every single one said they didn’t have one — they only made the jump because everyone else they knew did. CIOs are making decisions with incomplete information, leading businesses to overspend on infrastructure by up to 50%. It’s important to remember that public clouds are profit-generating enterprises. They have no interest in making your operation more cost-efficient because their service model is based on utilization. For example, if you spin up a virtual machine and forget to turn it off, your cloud provider has no incentive to tell you that you’re wasting money — and those costs can add up. Meanwhile, if you already have the team and tools to manage data on premises, you’re wasting money to replicate processes already being managed effectively. If you’d like a deeper analysis of your current infrastructure and want to find out if the cloud is the best place for your workload, we can help. Contact us today. How to Compare Total Cost of Ownership: Cloud vs On-Premises
Making the best decision for your company means getting a complete picture of your current architecture and the available alternatives. It’s fairly easy to assess the financial cost of some aspects of your infrastructure, but it’s difficult to assign a dollar amount to its more intangible elements.
That’s why it’s better to use a ranking system that will allow you to objectively analyze various factors — operational, organizational, and financial — and compare them against your alternatives in as close to an apples-to-apples fashion as possible. To do this, first, you must assess your infrastructure options:
Once you have your list of infrastructure options, then it’s time to evaluate each option by a series of factors. First, you should examine operational and organizational factors and rank them on a score from one to five — one being the worst and five being the best.
Once you’ve ranked these factors, you’ll know which options fit your organization better. With this information in hand, you can then analyze financial factors on a cost-by-cost basis. Choose your highest-ranking options, and research the pricing of elements like:
Once you’ve finished, you’ll have a full assessment that compares which infrastructure is the best fit, as well as how much each option will cost in real-world dollars. And you’ll have proof that you’ve done your homework. Most organizations will look at their results and see that migrating to public cloud infrastructure isn’t the best option in terms of features and cost. These businesses may be tempted to make the jump to the cloud because they see all their competitors doing it when the better option would be to stay the course. Whatever your decision, you’ll have the ammunition to back it up in concrete terms. It’ll help you make the best choice for your business and help you stick to your guns when groupthink tries to sway your mind. There’s More to Infrastructure Than Cost
Cloud vs on premises cost is a crucial KPI for any business to consider. However, it’s only one part of the equation. Companies that only assess cost often miss other important factors that can impact their decision.
Don’t just jump into the cloud because everyone else is doing it. Thoroughly assess the available options for each of your workloads. If you need further guidance, don’t worry — we can help. We’ve assisted many organizations, from start-ups to large enterprises and from the public and private sectors to find the solution that makes sense and provides the best results. Contact us today to learn more. Since it was announced Broadcom was going to acquire VMware, we've heard quite a bit about how users and partners are "very concerned" about what Broadcom might do with VMware. Would they continue to invest in innovation (sorry, but VMware hasn't done that for quite some time), will they refocus the company, etc..
Here's a different take: You should be happy Broadcom is buying VMWare. They're doing you and your organization a huge favor. By announcing this acquisition, they've forced you to THINK. You're now forced to think about why you're paying so much money for what are features, not products. ESX/ESXi was at one time an innovative product, but has now become only a feature. And as such, you shouldn't be paying anything for it. Nutanix and all of the Public Cloud vendors provide both virtualization and management functions for free as part of their offerings. Specifically, Nutanix provides their virtualization feature, AHV, with every node, at no additional charge. Nutanix users who use AHV avoid large VMware bills. So can you. The same goes for vCenter. Nutanix's Prism management tool comes free with every node. It's got everything you're using vCenter for. Why pay for vCenter? So rather than lamenting that Broadcom is acquiring VMware, be glad. Because they've forced to you to realize you no longer need to pay for VMware. It's no secret everything seems to be getting more expensive these days. Fuel, food, rent, interest costs, clothing, and pretty much all other expense categories.
If you're in Information Technology, you've been experiencing long lead times for new technology due to issues with the supply chain, particularly in China. Network equipment and servers have been especially hard hit. Cisco and HPE seem to have pretty long lead times on most products right now. Nutanix doesn't really have problems delivering their technology however. Just an FYI. What I really wanted to talk about it the cost of running your IT. For the past few years, many IT executives ran headfirst towards the Public Cloud, as if it was some sort of Holy Grail. Now, the reality of what Public Cloud really costs is about to hit home...HARD. You see, when things are going well and companies are making lots of money, budgets are pretty easy. Everyone hires, and no layoffs occur. No one really questioned "moving to the Public Cloud" as a strategy, because it SEEMED to make sense. But now that things aren't quite as flush, businesses are going to look to cut costs. You know where they should look? DIRECTLY AT WHAT THEY'RE PAYING FOR THE PUBLIC CLOUD. Let me say that I'm not "anti-Public Cloud". What I am, however, is anti-not doing your homework. Especially when you can create a Private Cloud at about half the cost of the Public Cloud. You know that not every workload/application is the same, and where it should run is not necessarily the same. You have to look at each workload individually and make the determination of which type of IT deployment serves your business best BY WORKLOAD. What's going to happen when the CEO and CFO come to you and ask for some money out of your budget? Will they be surprised at how much you're spending with the Public Cloud? What if they found out the cost could be about half using Nutanix? What if they ask to see the rationale you used? Something to think about. Let us help you avoid that uncomfortable situation. Call us at 925-217-1177 or email [email protected]. Roundstone Solutions is hiring for two (2) Sales Development Reps/Account Managers.
We're experiencing significant growth in our business, and we anticipate this growth to continue into the future. A bit about our business:
We're looking for a couple of people who have at least 2 years of IT sales, in a customer facing position. What we mean by that is we want you to have already learned the basics of what it takes to generate new prospects for business. While some of you have been the beneficiary of having inbound leads, we're all about finding the leads ourselves. If you're afraid of the phone or talking to strangers, this isn't for you. The role is to take the Northern CA territory and generate new business. You'll work closely with our Vendor Partners, and you'll learn all about their solutions. Our CEO will mentor you so that in a reasonable period of time you'll be an Outside Account Manager...based on your efforts and success. Your success and income will be dependent on a few things, including how hard you work, how organized you are, your personality and acumen for sales, and how many qualified opportunities you're able to develop into sales. We're offering a salary and bonus/commission plan, along with benefits. As stated above, we're a VAR in the IT infrastructure business. We're in a market that's already developed, so we're not selling products that no one yet understands. You don't have to convince prospects about the products areas we sell...they already understand, unlike in a lot of startups. If this sounds like something you might enjoy, reach out via email to us at [email protected] (no phone calls). Thanks.  Like many things in the US these days, intelligent discourse is pretty hard to find. Politics aside, if someone holds a different opinion than another, they tend to be either minimized or just ignored. That's not a smart way to be...it's from differing opinions that we learn.
I find discussions about the Public Cloud follow the same pattern. If you have any opinion other than the Public Cloud is the ONLY place to run your workloads, you're branded 1) a dinosaur, 2) someone who clearly doesn't get it, or 3) an idiot. I beg to disagree. Having an educated opinion used to be valued, and in my world, it still is. I remember the line my Mom (and probably everyone's Mom) would say, "If everybody jumped off the roof, would you jump too?" In other words, don't just do what everyone else is doing, because there's no guarantee that all the others are right. Another way to think of this is "don't be a lemming". Think for yourself. Which brings us to the Public Cloud. Let me start by saying that the Public Cloud appears to be an excellent option FOR SOME WORKOADS. The operative point in that statement is the "for some workloads" part. Not all workloads are suited for the Public Cloud, for a variety of reasons. Maybe the Cloud is actually fog. I think organizations should evaluate where your workloads should run based on three types of factors; operational, organization, and financial. Clearly, just looking at the financial facts don't seem to be preventing many from moving workloads to the Public Cloud, despite the significant difference in cost. I don't know about you, but if someone came to me with an offer for me to pay double in the Public Cloud than what I could do with my own infrastructure on-premises, I'd definitely say no. It's worth realizing that business moves in cycles. What seems like a great idea today might not be a great idea in a few years. Especially when you've doubled your cost. Gartner Group and other thought leader groups are out there touting the Public Cloud as the savior to all that ails your IT organization. Did you ever stop and think who pays Gartner Group and others like them for such glowing recommendations? It's two groups...users who think Gartner Group is smarter than they are and the other are the vendors who benefit. To be so bold...maybe things are a bit slanted? Again, I'm not saying Public Cloud is bad...it's not. But neither is on-premises. Here's a check for you...since Public Cloud held the promise of eliminating the "hassle" of managing your own IT infrastructure, how many jobs have been eliminated in your organization by the Public Cloud? How many infrastructure guys are doing higher level tasks? Probably none, because you need someone to manage an additional infrastructure now. I think overall you have to be smart. Do the homework. Do an evaluation of ALL of the options using all of the factors. Only then will you really know that you made the right decision. If it comes up Public Cloud, great..do Public Cloud. If it comes up on-premises, run the workload on-premises. Feel free to comment. All intelligent discourse welcome here... |
AuthorTim Joyce, Founder, Roundstone Solutions Tim’s Personal Blog…more good stuff  Archives
November 2024
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