Top 5 benefits of optimizing your IT infrastructure

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Maintaining computing infrastructure is one of the most important parts of owning and operating a company. Without technology, organizations wouldn’t be as productive and wouldn’t be able to conduct business in the same way – so in order to utilize your IT infrastructure to its fullest potential, you have to make sure it’s optimized and ready for whatever you throw at it.

Let’s take a look at some of the best benefits of prioritizing your IT portfolio and giving your organization the best tools possible:

1. Provide better client service

Investing in technology solutions that will help your company provide better service and create better products should always be at the top of any “to-do” list for the IT department. Incorporating tools like client relations management software and enterprise resource planning into your cloud environments can offer your company a chance at higher revenue and better client engagement, according to Demand Media’s Alexis Writing. Your IT infrastructure needs to be at peak performance if you’re going to get everything you can out of your CRM solutions.

“Businesses need to maintain clear visibility into their entire IT environments.”

2. Boost agility

Virtualized and cloud infrastructure tools both offer benefits that would allow a business to practice better data management and, in the long run, more effectively and efficiently meet client needs. Together, they add complexity to your computing environment, which can sometimes equal slowdowns. According to eWeek contributor Chris Preimesberger, businesses need to maintain clear visibility into their entire environments if optimization is to occur – meaning it’s crucial for the IT infrastructure to be as transparent as possible. When IT managers can have a holistic view of their computing equipment, it becomes easier to practice business agility.

3. Increase productivity

Making sure your technology solutions are all on the same page also contributes to hefty increases in productivity. There are several kinds of solutions tailored to this kind of function, and one of them would be unified communications technology. UC incorporates multiple forms of communications – unified messaging, email, phone, etc. – into one solution, making it easier to disseminate information across an entire organization.

Recent projections from the researchers at MarketsandMarkets indicated that the unified-communications-as-a-service market will be worth a total of $24.88 billion by 2020, demonstrating the clear demand for these types of solutions. Implementing UC across your company not only helps you stay abreast of what’s going on – it can also boost productivity across the board as employees have the ability to work from home or on the go.

4. Get more out of your servers

When it comes to physical infrastructure within the data center, making sure it works for you is crucial. That includes giving your servers a tuneup every once in a while and investing in data center technologies like cooling and monitoring solutions that keep an eye on your equipment so you don’t have to.

Part of optimizing server functionalities also includes investing time and money to make sure you’re energy efficient. A recent Anthesis Group study found that nearly 30 percent of servers worldwide are comatose – in other words, they are sitting in data centers around the globe, sucking up energy but not doing any real computing. Taking those servers and consolidating them in order to get more out of virtualization and the cloud is one way to optimize and strategize in the IT department, according to Data Center Knowledge. When less energy is taken up by servers, your business can be more efficient and save money in the long run.

Consolidating servers can lead to energy efficiency and distinct cost savings.Consolidating servers can lead to energy efficiency and distinct cost savings.

5. Strengthen networks

Investing in networking solutions can increase the functionality of your data center and enhance computing power – an important step to take when you want to more quickly complete tasks and balance workloads. TechTarget noted that network function virtualization, for instance, has the ability to decrease the amount of necessary network hardware and thus decrease complexity across the board. This contributes to improved business processes and, eventually, better bottom lines.

When it comes to investing in and maintaining an efficient, effective computing portfolio, it helps to have a team of experts on hand. Contact the managed services professionals at ISG Technology today for more information about how having an optimized IT infrastructure can improve your business functions and make sure you’re keeping up with – and exceeding – the competition.

Enterprise cloud computing vs. virtualization: When should you invest?

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As companies grow, their technology needs expand with them. Decision-makers have their work cut out when it’s time to choose new IT solutions, and where and how to store your data is one of the biggest considerations an IT executive must make.

Consolidating servers using virtualization technology and migrating data and applications to the cloud are both options for companies to take advantage of as they increase their computing power and need to improve functionality. But, how do you know which option is the correct one for your specific business needs?

Managing your own virtualized infrastructure

Server virtualization has been touted for its usefulness in consolidating IT environments and making computing portfolios easier to manage. According to a study published by TechNavio in October 2014, the market for server virtualization and related services was projected to grow at a compound annual rate of around 28.1 percent over the forecast period from 2014 to 2018, indicating a clear demand for these kinds of capabilities.

When should you consider server virtualization? In the data center environment, consolidating servers into fewer pieces of physical equipment elicits a number of benefits. TechRepublic named reduced hardware cost, fewer hot spots and streamlined data backups as top advantages of deploying virtual machines in the data center. When you’re managing your own VMs, you also have the distinct benefit of not being locked in to a specific vendor, which is one potential issue with the cloud.

Virtualizing your IT infrastructure can be an important way to consolidate servers and cut costs.Virtualizing your IT infrastructure can be an important way to consolidate servers and cut costs.

When should you outsource to the cloud?

TechTarget noted that enterprise cloud computing can help companies lower operational expenses and further enhance collaboration with business partners. Indeed, Verizon’s recent 2016 State of the Market: Enterprise Cloud report found that 88 percent of IT executives surveyed said the cloud improves responsiveness to business needs, and 65 percent of respondents said it gives a boost to operations in general.

“The cloud improves responsiveness to business needs.”

Cloud storage services negate the need for you to operate your own server room to house all of your company’s data. By outsourcing this function to a cloud provider, it potentially frees up your IT team for other important tasks and can thus enhance the level of productivity in your tech department.

No matter which computing solution you choose, you should consult IT professionals before deploying your environments. Contact the cloud and virtualization experts at ISG Technology for more information about how we can pair you with the correct cloud solution for your specific business needs.

ISG Technology's parent company Twin Valley deploys gigabit speed

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A new article published by Broadband Communities Magazine recently shed some light on the hard work of ISG Technology’s parent company, Twin Valley. This telecommunications provider is unique, not only because of its constant need for innovation in servicing the community, but also because it’s been a family-owned establishment since 1947 and has grown to service 6,000 clients over 2,400 square miles.

Although finding a good old-fashioned family business in today’s corporate world is newsworthy enough, this isn’t the focus of Masha Zager’s article. Rather, Zager took a look at the amazing gigabit service that Twin Valley is providing to more than 2,000 businesses and residential homes in Clay Center.

Twin Valley: Always one step ahead

Considering the family business had the foresight to invest in data center and cloud storage services in ISG Technology in 2011, it’s clear Twin Valley has always seen the value of keeping one eye on the horizon. After reviewing the needs of their many clients, Twin Valley administrators decided that a gigabit Internet service was a good direction to head in. This service, which Twin Valley has named Pulse Internet, would provide speeds that were unheard of in the region.

Twin Valley has always wanted to be a leader of technological innovation.Twin Valley has always wanted to be a leader of technological innovation.

Other companies may have had trouble setting up such a feat, but Twin Valley has consistently seen the value of looking ahead. The fiber infrastructure that the business had implemented in 2008 was future-proof, meaning it could leverage this toward its gigabit service.

Clients couldn’t be happier

Zager’s article also focused in on the client side of this equation. Many times, when a company implements a new and innovative service, clients need a little time to adjust. Clay Center residents obviously didn’t need this time, as those provided with Pulse seemed overjoyed by it.

However, there’s something to be said about providing these managed services to smaller, tight-knit communities. Providing technological services like Pulse allows smaller communities to show their worth in the marketplace.Lori Huber, director of the Clay County Economic Development Group, noted that Pulse Internet is a “game changer” in terms of its Internet speeds. She also remarked that such innovation was going to push “economic growth opportunities,” which is something a community of any size can get behind.

Even President Obama agrees with this statement. While visiting Cedar Falls, Iowa, to view the city’s fiber-fed gigabit infrastructure, Obama stated: “You don’t have to be the biggest community to do really big things; you just have to have some vision, and you have to work together.”

Twin Valley’s perceptiveness towards technological innovation in the area of gigabit Internet obviously shows vision, but Scott Leitzel, vice president of operations and a board member on the Economic Development Group for Clay Center, also wanted to stress the company’s commitment toward working with the community.

“We’re privileged to empower our clients to do whatever they want to do – whether that’s to connect all their devices or run businesses out of their homes – all at an affordable rate,” he said.




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Hybrid IT: The basics

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Massive innovations in technology are rapidly shifting the current business landscape. Products and services that were once seen as unnecessary luxuries are now quickly becoming vital to a company’s operation. The cloud can most definitely be counted within these services, especially in the world of IT.

We’ve previously discussed the wonders of the hybrid cloud and managed services and what they can bring to your business, but the cloud is so much more than infrastructure. IT resources can leverage a hybrid cloud set up in order to receive similar benefits in what industry experts are calling hybrid IT.

“By 2020, 78 % of businesses will have integrated cloud computing.”

Bringing the benefits of hybrid cloud to IT resources

The cloud is a huge part of modern business, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Forbes contributor Louis Columbus stated that by 2020, 78 percent of businesses will have integrated cloud computing into their current business model. That’s a huge jump from the 37 percent that have adopted cloud managed services today, and this massive increase just goes to show the high demand cloud services have in the business world.

So, with this predicted success of the overall market in mind, the question still remains: What is hybrid IT?

To understand the answer to this question, the demands of IT organizations must first be fleshed out. These companies have set up their business model around the fact that their clients require IT resources such as the development and testing of mission-critical applications.

As the technology developed, cloud storage services began to be more economical and efficient than internal deployment on the part of the client. And so, cloud-based IT managed services was born.

However, there was a problem with this that needed to be fixed. Many IT organizations leveraged public cloud infrastructure in order to meet the needs of their clients. This works just fine for applications and data that are business-critical. That being said, problems began to arise when sensitive information needed to be hosted on the cloud.

As we discussed in our earlier article on public and private clouds, the public cloud has some security concerns. Due to the fact that you’re sharing a public cloud infrastructure with other clients, the data contained on these clouds simply isn’t as safe as those within an on-site, private cloud. On the flip side of this, private cloud infrastructures are very safe, but they’re also a lot more expensive to set up and implement.

Utilizing hybrid cloud managed services is the answer

So what do you do when you need the security of the private cloud but don’t want to pay for the entirety of your IT resources to be implemented on one? You have your cake and eat it too, of course.

Hybrid IT allows for security and cost effectiveness. Have your public cloud and secure your applications, too!

As managing vice president of Gartner Chris Howard said on the subject, “The cloud will simply become one of the ways that we ‘do’ computing, and workloads will move around in hybrid internal/external IT environments.” Basically, IT organizations are beginning to see that certain client applications simply can’t be hosted on the public cloud and have decided to implement a hybrid cloud solution.

The hybrid cloud combines the security of mission-critical IT applications in a private cloud infrastructure with the cost-effectiveness of a public cloud for data that isn’t business-critical. Hybrid IT is a revolutionary new concept and it’s sweeping enterprise IT right now, as providers like ISG Technology help IT organizations implement these solutions.

Next time, we’ll discuss the use cases of hybrid IT as well as its applications that span multiple industries and business models.

Cloud types and their business applications: Hybrid clouds

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As we discussed in our previous article on the subject, there are multiple options to choose from when looking into cloud-based managed services. Public and private are the two opposing clouds, and each have their own advantages and disadvantages. However, due to massive advancements in cloud technology, companies don’t have to actually choose between these two.

These services can be combined into something called the hybrid cloud. This is a model that is rapidly growing, with MarketsandMarkets predicting the market to be worth $84.67 billion by 2019.

Hybrid cloud is the future

Although hybrid cloud data storage is a combination of the public and private cloud, it’s important to note that these are two completely separate services. They can talk to each other via an encrypted network. However, they aren’t a singular product. Rather, the hybrid cloud combines the advantages of the two while also tossing out many of the disadvantages.

Say you’re the owner of a medium-sized business. You have data storage needs and are looking into cloud storage services. You’ve got a lot of data that isn’t very sensitive that needs storing, but you also have very important information you’d like to keep private. Compounding this further, imagine that your business is in an industry with very strict compliance standards.

These stringent requirements, coupled with the fact that you need heightened security for your sensitive data might point you toward a private cloud data storage package. You wouldn’t exactly be wrong in doing so, but you’d certainly be throwing money away storing data that doesn’t have the security requirements of the information that must meet compliance guidelines.

This is where the hybrid cloud comes in. You could leverage a public cloud data storage option, allowing you to cut costs, along with a private cloud plan that would allow you to keep your important information close to the chest. In effect, you’re combining what you need from the private cloud without having to pay the full price of it.

The hybrid cloud can help you save money. Don’t go through budgetary headaches. Get a hybrid cloud storage solution!

As a bonus, the hybrid cloud would allow you to keep your private cloud infrastructure on-site. Not only is this a great option for things like disaster recovery, it makes sure that your information is getting the security it needs. And with one 2015 study finding that the average cost of a data breach is roughly $3.8 million, security should always be a high priority for your sensitive data.

ISG Technology can help you implement a hybrid cloud option

Obviously, setting up this network is no small task. You’re going to need a managed service provider with years of experience in implementing a hybrid cloud data storage solution. Thankfully, ISG Technology has all the expertise necessary to help you take advantage of this amazing technology.

If cloud storage services interest you, or if you’d like to learn more about how the hybrid cloud can benefit your business, make sure to check out ISG Technology’s cloud services page.

Cloud types and their business applications: Public and private clouds

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The cloud is absolutely revolutionizing how companies are dealing with their data needs. Data storage and processing are the key to a successful business in the modern world, and the variety of cloud storage services out there are allowing companies to take advantage of this truly amazing technology. 

And while this multitude of services is certainly great in terms of providing options, deciding on which one to choose can seem like a daunting task. This technology is so new that many business owners simply don't know how it works, and as such many of them are simply opting to avoid cloud services altogether. 

We at ISG Technology believe the cloud is the future of business, and we hate seeing people miss out on this truly revolutionary technology due to its seeming complexity. So, to clear up any confusion, we've put together this two-part series on what the different kinds of clouds are and what they can be used for. 

Public cloud

This is a good place to start when discussing cloud managed services because it's one of the more basic options. A public cloud is where physical hardware that is owned and operated by a managed service provider in its own facility is leveraged for data storage and other uses by a paying client. These MSP-owned facilities house multiple clients, which is why they are considered "public."

The big benefit of the public cloud comes from its use of the equipment already procured by the MSP. Due to the fact that the hardware has already been paid for, and maintenance is a responsibility of the MSP, the public cloud client operates on a pay-as-you-go model that is highly scalable and extremely reliable. The infrastructure is also shared by multiple companies, which further reduces cost. 

Basically, small and medium-sized businesses can get a lot of use out of the cloud. The lighter load on your budget is great for a business just starting out, and company administrators can rest easy that the equipment storing their data will be safe, as MSPs are experts at handling their hardware. These advantages are the driving force behind IDC reporting that the global public cloud computing market is expected to reach $70 billion before the end of 2015. 

While there are obviously many benefits to the cloud, there are also disadvantages. The biggest of these has to do with security. Because the public cloud requires companies to share computing space, there is an increased risk of data leakage. Another client may accidently gain access to your data, or an outside hacker might gain access to it due to a vulnerability in a different company's defenses. 

The public cloud's main disadvantage is security. There's a bit of a security concern within the public cloud.

Private cloud

Much like its name would suggest, the private cloud allows for the same services of the cloud in a more secluded environment. All the hardware is specifically for one business, and a specialized network is set up just for them. The speed of application deployment and scalability are the same. However, a private cloud can be both on-site or off. This allows for a lot more versatility and flexibility.

The security is also miles better than its public counterpart. Because the network and hardware are specifically for one company, all the security concerns listed above aren't a problem. Another great advantage private cloud storage services have over the public variety is in terms of compliance. A company that operates in an industry with very stringent compliance standards would do well to invest in private cloud managed services because the organization can tool its cloud environment to specific needs. 

However, it's not all good news in the private cloud. The main disadvantage comes from the massive cost of having your own private area of an MSP's data center. Smaller companies simply won't be able to operate entirely on a private cloud data storage model because they won't be able to afford it. This is one reason why many companies don't opt for a private cloud, as the private cloud market was estimated by Technology Business Research Inc. to be worth $41 billion in 2014. 

Of course, these two models aren't all the cloud has to offer. In the next installment, we'll discuss what hybrid cloud storage services are, and why they're often seen as the better option for modern businesses.

Improved Service Delivery with NetApp, Cisco, and VMW

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Client Profile

Meritrust Credit Union was founded 75 years ago to offer Stearman Aircraft Company employees and their family members an option to participate in a financial cooperative. Today the organization provides personal and business banking services to thousands of members across Kansas. Headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, Meritrust has 14 branches and a staff of 220 employees, plus more than 4,000 shared branches nationwide.

 

The Challenge

Building more flexibility into its IT infrastructure

As a credit union, Meritrust offers its members benefits that include competitive interest rates on deposits, lower interest rates on loans, and a broad array of member services. To deliver superior banking services that meet consumer and business consumer needs and foster member loyalty, the organization depends on an advanced  IT infrastructure. Having experienced significant growth in recent years, Meritrust demands a highly flexible IT environment that offers superior performance to deliver its applications to internal and external clients, adapt to changing market demands, and expand its services to remain competitive.

 

“Meeting the changing needs of our client is paramount to maintaining the level of member service that Meritrust is known for and [to] succeeding in a volatile industry,” says Cliff Shoff, director of Information Technology at Meritrust Credit Union. “We’ve listened to what our members want and are investing resources in areas such as extending our online banking and mobile banking services and Web-based offerings overall.”

 

In addition to providing the infrastructure to support expanded services, the IT department is focused on driving new efficiencies through an aggressive virtualization strategy. To continue on its growth path and keep delivering exceptional services to its members, Meritrust decided it was time to update an aging IT infrastructure. The previous infrastructure featured 30 standalone servers and a complex server-attached storage environment that was cumbersome to manage and costly to expand when needed to accommodate growth. Additional challenges included inconsistent performance in the storage systems supporting its business-critical Oracle Database 10g environment.

 

“Overall, FlexPod allows us to focus our efforts on the user experience rather than worrying about the back end, now that we have validated, integrated technologies.”

Cliff Shoff Director of Information Technology, Meritrust Credit Union

Meritrust engaged ISG Technology, an IT solutions provider and participant in the NetApp Partner Program for Resellers, to assist with identifying a best-in-class solution that would meet all of the company’s IT and business objectives. To accommodate growth, support its virtualization initiative, and enhance storage performance, Meritrust selected FlexPod from NetApp and Cisco with VMware technology. “The FlexPod data center solution made perfect sense for Meritrust,” says Randall Aronis, account manager at ISG Technology. “The components work together seamlessly by design, which simplifies management and offers a highly scalable growth path for Meritrust.”

 

The Solution

Supporting 14 branches from a single, integrated solution Meritrust worked with ISG Technology to deploy a NetApp® FAS3240HA storage system in its primary data center. NetApp storage is a component of the company’s FlexPod data center solution, a predesigned configuration comprised of a Cisco® Unified Computing System™ (UCS™) B200 M2 Blade Server, Cisco UCS Manager 1.4(1j), Cisco Nexus® 5000 switches, and NetApp FAS storage. The integrated FlexPod solution, with the addition of VMware vSphere and vCenter™ technologies, supports the credit union’s 14 Kansas banking locations and its account, investment, insurance, and other services.
Meritrust delivers its Oracle Database 10g environment—which is core to business operations—on the FlexPod solution. The IT team leverages NetApp multiprotocol support, particularly NFS connectivity, to maintain tight integration with the Oracle environment. The NetApp Data ONTAP® 8.0 system operating in 7-Mode is at the core of the flexible unified architecture that addresses Meritrust’s multiprotocol needs in a common platform. Meritrust IT uses data management software including OnCommand™ System Manager, Operations Manager, Protection Manager, and Provisioning Manager to control, automate, and analyze the storage infrastructure.
The company optimizes performance of its storage using the NetApp Virtual Storage Tier with intelligent caching from NetApp Flash Cache, which prioritizes critical workloads for fast response. “Performance in our Oracle environment was a key driver in selecting the FlexPod solution,” says Shoff. “Whether supporting Meritrust employees or our businesses and consumer clients around Kansas, FlexPod and the NetApp Virtual Storage Tier deliver the superior 24/7 system performance we need.”
The FlexPod data center solution supports the company’s Microsoft Windows® 2003 and 2008 servers, Linux® servers, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, and Microsoft Windows MultiPoint server, which provides the interface between its debit card processor and Oracle Database 10g. FlexPod also supports the organization’s Citrix XenApp on-demand application delivery system. The FlexPod solution delivers the company’s virtualized infrastructure, running simultaneous mission-critical virtualized workloads including Microsoft SharePoint® and Microsoft SQL Server®.

Business Benefits Reaching 80% Virtualization
The FlexPod data center solution is helping Meritrust reach its ultimate goal of a 100% virtualized data center. To date, the IT team has virtualized approximately 80% of the company’s application environments, with 70 virtual servers deployed so far. The team has already eliminated 27 physical servers, with more to come. Virtualization and consolidation are reducing the data center footprint while decreasing related costs. “Prior to deploying the FlexPod solution, we eliminated 4 of 10 storage racks by the time we reached 50% virtualization,” says Shoff. “With virtualization from FlexPod, we’ve eliminated another 5 racks, which reduces storage costs by 40% and our power and cooling costs by 25%.”

 

ISG Technology notes the importance of technology innovation to Meritrust. “Meritrust was an early adopter of the FlexPod data center solution,” says Aronis. “As a preconfigured, integrated virtualization solution, FlexPod enabled Meritrust to see immediate returns in storage efficiency and performance, as well as management simplicity. And with the inherent flexibility in the solution, Meritrust can better provide the robust services that every consumer and prospect is looking to the credit union to deliver. The FlexPod data center solution from NetApp and Cisco with VMware technology allows Meritrust to deliver the right data to the right person at the right time in the right way. That’s the ultimate in flexibility.”
Improved performance, enhanced user experience

The NetApp Virtual Storage Tier with Flash Cache on the company’s FAS3240HA storage systems offers significant performance improvements over the previous storage infrastructure, particularly in the Oracle Database environment. The IT team runs Oracle Database batch processes nightly, which used to take 16 hours to complete. After deploying the FlexPod data center solution, the processing window decreased to 12 hours. Once the team installed Flash Cache, Oracle Database batch processing time dropped to 9 hours, eliminating the impact on weekday operations.
Other performance improvements include application delivery in the Citrix XenApp environment. “We deliver applications as a service to users across our company using Citrix XenApp,” says Shoff. “With the performance gains offered by NetApp, Citrix XenApp login activities that used to take up to 45 seconds now take less than 20 seconds. When you take into account 220 credit union employees accessing applications all day long, those saved seconds translate pretty quickly into improved productivity, not to mention an enhanced user experience.”
A simplified, transformed data center

Within the IT department, moving from infrastructure silos to the preconfigured, unified infrastructure provided by the FlexPod solution has improved the IT management experience for staff members. In the former server-attached storage environment, the IT team managed the complex storage environment from as many as five consoles. Today the team centrally manages computing, networking, storage, and infrastructure software. In addition, the open design management framework integrates with Meritrust’s existing third-party infrastructure management solutions for investment protection and management ease.
The team depends on NetApp OnCommand management software to provision, monitor, manage, and optimize the storage environment. The staff leverages NetApp Data ONTAP 8.0 to configure storage to deliver maximum efficiency and performance while saving on administration time. Featuring 64-bit aggregates, Meritrust IT can store entire databases on a single aggregate while simplifying database management. “NetApp Data ONTAP 8.0 7-Mode makes it much easier for us to resize and move volumes within aggregates, which previously required extensive IT time and resulted in wasted storage space,” says Shoff.
The team achieves additional storage efficiencies using NetApp deduplication, which has reduced storage requirements by 40%. Whether performing deduplication or other storage management activities, the team is benefiting from a noticeably more streamlined approach to storage management with NetApp storage and the FlexPod data center solution. Data center efficiencies result in more budget and staff resources for innovative projects that help Meritrust compete in a complex industry.

 

“The FlexPod solution is much easier to manage, and infrastructure changes take far less time.”

Cliff Shoff Director of Information Technology, Meritrust Credit Union

 

“Scaling up is also a breeze compared with our former storage environment, where we had to power down the system and work through a lengthy deployment process. With FlexPod, we simply add a shelf, plug in a few cables, create an aggregate, load it with volumes, and we’re good to go.” Easy provisioning enables the IT team to more readily respond to the needs of the business units it serves.

 

Adds Shoff, “We can deploy servers in minutes versus hours and quickly allocate storage space whenever needed to accommodate growing pools of data and deliver new applications and services. Overall, FlexPod allows us to focus our efforts on the user experience rather than worrying about the back end, now that we have validated, integrated technologies from NetApp, VMware, and Cisco providing the foundation for our credit union operations.”

 

“The FlexPod data center solution from  NetApp and Cisco with VMware technology
allows Meritrust to deliver the right data to the right person at the right time in the right
way. That’s the ultimate in flexibility.” – Randall Aronis, Account Manager, ISG Technology, Inc.

Data breaches and your company's image

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Reputation is a huge part of being able to conduct business. Your company can advertise all it wants, but if you don’t have a reputation for providing clients with the best product or service possible, you won’t be making very much money.

And while providing high-quality service is a great way to create buzz about your business, it can all be taken away with a simple breach of your company’s information. Study after study has shown that when a company is the victim of a data breach, its brand value invariably decreases.

How valuable is brand reputation?
A 2014 report created by Forbes and assisted by IBM showed that becoming the victim of a data breach can cause very real damage to a company’s reputation. The study found that 46 percent of organizations experienced damage to their company’s image as the result of a data breach. It also found that data breaches and theft were ranked as the most common threat to a business’s reputation.

What this data reveals is that clients don’t like the idea of doing business with a company that has become the target of cybercriminals. This is an expected response, considering the amount of personal information required to do business these days. No one wants to give information to a company with a track record of losing said information.

Additionally, the extent to which a company’s reputation is harmed can be substantial, depending on the type of breach and the industry the organization operates within. A Ponemon Institute study on the impact of data breaches on brand reputation found that following an attack on a company’s data center, the value of the company’s brand could decline anywhere between 17 percent to over 31 percent.

For the companies within the study, this translated to a decrease of brand value ranging from $184 million to $332 million. These staggering numbers are a testament to just how much reputation matters to your clients, and should make every business question its current data storage security.

Any company currently worried about its security should absolutely contact ISG Technology. Their team of highly trained security professionals can provide a Security Assessment to make sure your network is safe and secure. They also provide a Managed Firewall Solution, which blocks unsafe Web content and helps to keep the reputation your company has worked so hard to achieve.

What are some top benefits of hybrid cloud computing?

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As the technology industry continues to advance and new capabilities are discovered every day, one of the biggest improvements on traditional IT infrastructure comes in the form of the hybrid cloud. Where private and public architectures offer distinct advantages depending on what the computing needs of a company may be, hybrid strategies can bring together the best of both worlds.

"The hybrid cloud market is expected to be worth an astounding $84.6 billion in 2019."

The hybrid cloud market is growing at a rapid pace. Earlier this year, RightScale's State of the Cloud 2015 survey indicated that 82 percent of enterprise respondents had deployed a hybrid strategy within their companies – an 8 percent increase over 2014. In addition, the hybrid cloud market is expected to be worth an astounding $84.6 billion in 2019, according to research published by MarketsandMarkets. This growth will come at a compound annual rate of 27.3 percent from 2014 to 2019.

What do these numbers mean? Among other things, they are an indication of the growing popularity of hybrid cloud migrations. As businesses consistently turn to some form of cloud computing to provide them with the right data analytics tools and storage solutions, the fact that the overwhelming majority are using hybrid infrastructure points to the versatility and possible cost-savings associated with these kinds of environments.

But why is the hybrid cloud so popular? Let's take a look at a few reasons enterprises and small businesses continue to choose an integrated solution over the alternative:

1. Gives companies a choice
Hybrid cloud computing brings together all the good parts about public and private offerings and integrates them into one well-managed solution. In this way, companies can run applications that require capabilities only offered by the public cloud while simultaneously storing their more confidential data on private cloud servers.

The federal government is one high-profile organization with an eye on the cloud. According to CloudTech, the IDG indicated that in 2014, the feds spent $1.7 billion on private cloud and $118.3 million on public. The combination of both platforms has allowed for greater flexibility within IT infrastructure.

Integrating private and public cloud offerings can make a difference in IT flexibility and efficiency.Integrating private and public cloud offerings can make a difference in IT flexibility and efficiency.

2. Cost savings and efficiency
With hybrid strategies, companies can pick what they want to store in different cloud environments. This leads to distinct benefits, including cost-reducing advantages. Research firm Gartner revealed that one of the biggest benefits of hybrid cloud is the impact it can ultimately have on a company's pocketbook. In particular, capital expenditures can decrease dramatically over traditional IT systems, since investment in and maintenance of physical machines is no longer necessary.

In addition, according to Network​ World contributor Robert J. Gibbons, Jr., the inherent financial advantage that comes from investing in these kinds of IT solutions can be augmented by creating data backups and utilizing cloud storage services. Disaster recovery strategies are crucial for any business, and hybrid IT allows managers to determine where mission-critical data needs to be stored in case of an emergency.

The bottom line is that companies can save money and strengthen their IT infrastructure by investing in hybrid cloud. Not to mention maintaining your environments doesn't have to be a hassle. When you partner with a certified managed services provider, IT management can be simplified and you can cut down on complexities that might slow down your operations.

ISG Joins Forces with Veeam Cloud Connect Program

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ISG Technology, a leading cloud hosting partner and technology reseller, has joined the Veeam Cloud Connect Program. Veeam Cloud Connect enables Veeam clients to send backups offsite to the ISG Technology Cloud through a secure SSL connection. Clients can extend the existing investments in IT and pay only for the storage they use. Clients only need to have Veeam version 8 or higher to participate.

By utilizing Veeam Cloud Connect, ISG Technology protects clients’ data from catastrophic loss without the need to own, maintain and support capital intensive infrastructure. With the Veeam console, client can easily access and recover data from cloud backup repositories. Veeam includes Backup Copy jobs with WAN-Acceleration, Deduplication, incremental forever backups and encryption in flight and at rest.

“We are excited and proud to be a member of the Veeam Cloud Connect program,” said Ben Foster, President and CEO of ISG Technology. “Veeam is a strong strategic partner with ISG Technology, and Cloud Connect was a natural addition to our robust cloud offerings. ISG Technology can now provide clients with a fully hosted Veeam solution, a Cloud backup repository through Cloud Connect or assist clients with Veeam at their premises. We feel that is a lineup of services that few can match.”

Resources: https://www.veeam.com/cloud-connect.html