1. Info-Tech Research Group1 Info-Tech Research Group, Inc. Is a global leader in providing IT research and advice. Info-Tech’s products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns. © 1997-2013 Info-Tech Research Group Inc. Future-Proof the Data Center Even the cloud is a data center. Incorporate new roles, processes, and technologies into your data center roadmap. Info-Tech's products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns.© 1997 - 2013 Info-Tech Research Group

2. Info-Tech Research Group2 The data center of the future might not have four walls and raised floors, but that doesn’t mean that IT is out of the data center business just yet. Embrace change in the data center, conservatively. Introduction CIOs who are challenged with innovating using the latest technologies, while at the same time supporting legacy applications. Data center managers who want to understand the impact of new technology, process, or people changes on their operations. Infrastructure managers who need to know how new support models will impact the skill sets required in their organizations. Understand the evolving role of the data center from a physical space to a business model. Embrace new technologies and design models for the data center, while still maintaining Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability. Evaluate changes to the data center using objective criteria and decide what to add to your roadmap or agenda. Review Info-Tech’s evaluation of several of the latest trends and determine if they might work for your organization. This Research Is Designed For:This Research Will Help You:

3. Info-Tech Research Group3 Executive Summary The data center is more than a physical space. Embrace change in the data center. Use an objective framework when evaluating new additions to the data center’s roadmap. The data center is (and has always been) a business model and role. Its purpose is to deliver the infrastructure that is necessary for the provision of enterprise applications and functionality and that aligns with the organization’s requirements for Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability (RAS). With the rise of commodity servers, the data center became known more as the place where IT infrastructure assets were housed. However, with the advent of cloud services, physical assets will not always be hosted in a space called the data center; however, the data center as a business model will remain. While the IT department is often viewed as conservative, the data center is traditionally on the extreme end of conservatism. Because the data center’s primary function is to maintain RAS at all times, the operations team is hesitant to embrace changes. This conflicts with the business and the application development teams who focus on continual change and the extension of business value through new features and functionality. IT decision makers are faced with countless potential new people, process and technology changes and determining which to pursue can be difficult. Use Info-Tech’s Data Center Roadmap Assessment Tool to objectively determine what to add to your short and long-term agenda. The tool looks at the following categories: driving force for change, feasibility, integration, regulatory/compliance, time to value, OPEX/CAPEX, life cycle, and acceptance

4. Info-Tech Research Group4 Info-Tech is just a phone call away to assist you with your project Info-Tech Assisted Implementation. Our analysts will guide you to successful project completion. This bell signifies when you’ve reached an IAI point! 1.Arrange to speak with a Consulting Analyst. Apply our research advice to your specific organizational needs. 2.Complete a critical project stage with our Consulting Analyst. Collaborate with the Analyst as you work through a project step, complete a Tool or Template, interpret results, and plan next steps. 3.Compare your results with those of others. Benefit from lessons learned. Consulting Analyst will review completed deliverables and experiences of other clients to suggest improvements and help you avoid pitfalls.

5. Info-Tech Research Group5 Info-Tech is ready to assist throughout the Data Center project Section 1: Understand the data center’s business model Section 3: Identify technological advancements that will affect your data Section 3: Evaluate potential changes to the data center Schedule an advisory call with one of our analysts to discuss potential areas of focus for your data center roadmap, including some of 2013’s top trends. Have an analyst help you customize the Data Center Roadmap Assessment Tool to reflect your organization’s specific requirements. Leverage Info-Tech’s tools and have an analyst sit down with you to review the results and provide recommendations. Recommended Info-Tech Assisted Implementations

6. Info-Tech Research Group6 What’s in this Section:Sections: Understand the data center’s business model Identify technological advancements that will affect your data Evaluate potential changes to the data center Assess the top data center trends of 2013 The role the data center plays in the business going forward is not just administrative; it is providing data center services in the most cost effective and stable way. Ops and apps will likely butt heads over changes, and the data center cannot always say no. This is likely to involve a mix of on-site and off-site resources.

7. Info-Tech Research Group7 Adaptive View It depends on the scale, but the data center is generally a room with lots of racks and whirring and temperature controls. - CIO, Manufacturing The data center is a room where we keep our critical IT infrastructure. - Infrastructure Manager, Healthcare Traditional View Re-envision the data center as a business model; not just a physical space Info-Tech asked IT leaders what they considered a data center to be: “ ” ” “ Organizations in less regulated industries or with less legacy equipment are in a better position to take advantage of changes to the data center, and are beginning to realize that taking advantage of these changes requires a new way of looking at the data center. The data center has become known as a room with racks; however, a data center is more than just the physical aspects. It is also a role and a business model. Its purpose is to deliver the infrastructure that is necessary for the provisioning of enterprise applications and functionality and that aligns with the organization’s requirements for Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability. My organization views the data center as a role. It is not just the big system in the background that provides storage, telecommunications and other business services. It helps us to make better decisions by viewing the data center as a role. We are able to leverage what we have in the data center to adapt to and address new concerns. - Daniel Cardoso, CIO, Aspen Square

8. Info-Tech Research Group8 RAS can have slightly different meanings depending on the situation, but in general, it refers to reliability, availability, and serviceability. Regardless of whether the data center is a physical space or not, you are still responsible for providing RAS Serviceability An expression of the ease with which a component, device, or system can be deployed, serviced, maintained, and repaired. Early detection of potential problems is critical in this respect. Serviceability is measured by how cost-effective and how agile the solution is. o Cost-effective means that the solution has an acceptable cost-benefit ratio, not that it is “cheap.” o Agile means that the solution has the right amount of control and risk management in place. Reliability The ability of data center systems and components to perform according to specifications and with minimal errors. Reliability is enhanced by features that help to avoid, detect, and repair errors. For example, service goes down 24 times for a minute each time. Availability Ratio of time that the data center is actually functional, compared to the total amount of time it is required to function. Availability is typically given as a percentage of the time a system is expected to be available (e.g. 99.99 percent).

9. Info-Tech Research Group9 The operations and the applications group will butt heads; embrace this duality as a check and balance The Operations team is focused on stability and long- term functionality; however, they need to recognize that new applications add value to the organization and allow the Business to grow. The Applications team is focused on change and short- term functionality; however, they need to understand that change needs to be made in a conservative way to avoid potential outages and downtime. Checks and balances are good for the organization – but Ops and Apps need to work together to ensure that the Business is moving forward. Education is essential. If the Apps team presents the Ops team with a proposal, they need to explain the importance to the Business and if Ops says no to an Apps proposal, they need to explain why it can not or should not be done. Try to lessen the struggle between apps and ops. Just because they are coming at the same problem from two different perspectives doesn’t mean they cannot work together for the common good. As a CIO, I see tension every day. There is a reluctance to embrace new things from an ops perspective, but on the flip side, once they are properly educated, they do become a vested partner in trying to successfully implement change. - Daniel Cardoso, CIO, Aspen “ “ Apps Ops

10. Info-Tech Research Group10 The business needs to innovate in order to maintain its competitive edge and if IT cannot – or will not - assist them, they will look externally for solutions. Change is increasingly non-negotiable; focus on enabling change while still maintaining stability in the data center For a data center, change means instability and that leads to incidents and outages, which have a negative impact on business functioning and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). As a result, change is often rejected in favor of conservatism. However, change is inevitable and the data center must innovate in order for the Business to stay competitive in the market and the IT department to stay competitive with other external providers. Find a way to plan for and implement change in the data center, while still ensuring stability and availability of critical systems. All changes need to go through a formal Change Management and Release Management process to ensure that risks are minimized and potential issues anticipated. The business has a request The data center says “No” The business calls an external provider ! IT is now left in the dark! The data center loses control and the business is at risk of making poor decisions due to lack of knowledge (i.e. of compliance or integration with existing systems and processes). If operations says no too many times, the business may bypass IT entirely and acquire services from an external provider. Why do data centers fear change? Embrace change, conservatively

11. Info-Tech Research Group11 Educate the IT support team on the reasons for change and the road to acceptance will be much smoother. Case Study: Reluctance to embrace change Industry: Segment: Property Management SMB The CIO of this privately held company found that the Operations team was often resistant to change, fearing that change would lead to instability, which in turn would cause outages and downtime. When the company made a move to hosted Exchange for their email, the Applications team feared that they would lose the ability to enhance functionality. Situation: In order to get the IT team on board with the changes, the CIO started with presenting the goal or objective to his staff and explaining why the change was in the best interest of the business. He encouraged everyone to be part of the solution by coming up with alternative ways to solve an issue or problem. Action: Once the team was educated about the drivers for the change, they became vested partners in making the change happen successfully. The Operations team had to move from a technical support role for email and focus on vendor management. The Applications team had to learn how to work with the vendor to introduce new functionality. Results:

12. Info-Tech Research Group12 Info-Tech Research Group Helps IT Professionals To: Sign up for free trial membership to get practical solutions for your IT challenges www.infotech.com Quickly get up to speed with new technologies Make the right technology purchasing decisions – fast Deliver critical IT projects, on time and within budget Manage business expectations Justify IT spending and prove the value of IT Train IT staff and effectively manage an IT department “Info-Tech helps me to be proactive instead of reactive – a cardinal rule in a stable and leading edge IT environment. - ARCS Commercial Mortgage Co., LP Toll Free: 1-888-670-8889