Connecting the costs we incur to the business value we deliver is something we in IT need to do better. One of the dimensions of this is the value of a single piece of data compared to the cost of storing that piece of data. I think it’s safe to say that not all data is created …
Alastair Cooke is an independent analyst and consultant working with virtualization and datacenter technologies. Alastair spent eight years delivering training for HP and VMware as well as providing implementation services for their technologies. Alastair is able to create a storied communication that helps partners and customers understand complex technologies. Alastair is known in the VMware community for contributions to the vBrownBag podcast and for the AutoLab, which automates the deployment of a nested vSphere training lab.
Show Me the Documents
One of the things I find very peculiar is the tendency of companies to hide their documentation. Sometimes the documentation is available only to existing customers, behind a login on the support site. At other times, the only documentation is the online help. Often the only things available to prospective customers are a few shiny …
No End to Managed Services
I recently read Steve Beaver’s thoughts on 2016 here on TVP. Naturally, Steve had plenty of great things to say, but it was what he had to say about the end of managed services that got me thinking. Does the rise of cloud services really mean that managed service providers (MSPs) are the new walking …
Breaking the Purchasing Cycle
I once received a valuable piece of advice about responding to a changing economy: “Start giving away free what you used to charge for, or start charging for something you used to give away free.” In other words, be prepared to change economic models, which can completely change the way customers buy. There is a real challenge …
Scale Is a Matter of Perspective
A lot of new technologies and techniques were invented and developed to enable large cloud businesses. Enterprise IT organizations are now looking at these innovations with an eye toward realizing business benefits from doing the same thing. Techniques like continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) are helping cloud companies. Enterprises are looking for the same …
NetApp Picks Up SolidFire; Should Someone Pick Up NetApp?
A week later than some people predicted, the news has broken. NetApp has bought SolidFire for $870M. This continues the trend for established storage companies to acquire start-ups with great flash products rather than building their own. SolidFire initially targeted the service provider market with its scale-out all-flash array. In the last year or so, SolidFire has taken aim …
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