> >

Virtualization: Getting Beyond the Breakers to the Benefits

The way off the ‘island of costly physical information technologies’ to the open seas of Virtualization goes through the choppy ‘breakers’, the waves of resistance that can slow or halt the significant benefits from VMware Virtualization.

Organizations can avoid the loss of momentum others have encountered and achieve the information technology (IT) cost savings and service improvements from implementing VMware Virtualization. Windward offers a solution to move faster to attaining the benefits of Virtualization.

According to VMware, 100% of Fortune 100 companies are customers. The goals of dramatic IT cost savings (up to 70% TCO savings with an ROI of less than 9 months, according to VMware), higher levels of availability of services and applications, and rapid provisioning are understood. Equally known are the analyst reports and white papers from Gartner, IDC, Forrester and others touting breakthrough virtualization technologies. Websites have popped up trumpeting the glories of virtualization. VMware website is filled with customer success stories clearly showing the value of virtualization.

BUT….and there’s always a ‘but’ it seems…… what happens when an organization has encountered a wonderful new technology that can bring tremendous benefits, invested in it; trained their personnel on it; built a ‘new kayak’ with this great new wonderful technology….and tries to get beyond the choppy ‘breakers’ ?

Organizations are finding the benefits of Virtualization are slow to be realized.

Timelines for virtualization projects are not being met.

Transforming physical servers and their applications into software elements within the virtualization infrastructure is a process that can be impeded by obstacles: a blend of organizational, staffing, training, and technological issues. Thus, the great value of virtualization is diluted and diminished. Note that rarely are VMware technologies the issue.

In this paper, we’ll explore some of the obstacles and a solution to overcoming them.

Obstacles to Virtualization

There are many counterproductive waves that impede the success of Virtualization

Resistance to Change: Department level groups are used to procuring a server for each new service or application. It’s a well-known, but costly, process. People follow the path of least resistance. Virtualization demands Change.
Lack of VMware-trained IT Staff: VMware technologies are, like every other information technology, complex and require proper training and use of that training.
Uncertain IT staff: Personnel trained on the new VMware Virtualization technologies lose their technological edge when they don’t use it with sufficient frequency. When called upon to migrate applications from physical to virtual there is uncertainty and doubt, especially with mission-critical applications and services.
Turf Battles: Organizations that are used to carving out their own physical computing resources are resistant to be placed on the same platform with others groups. The consolidation from many underutilized physical servers to one optimally utilized server with many Virtual Machines (applications and guest operating system software constructs) is diminished if that consolidation never occurs.
Stale Plans: In a high-growth IT environment, dynamic changes occur that make the careful Virtualization Plans obsolete if not enacted with a reasonable time period. Stale plans become less effective over time, especially if new physical servers are being added in a high-growth environment. VMware corporation states that planning problems are one of the main reasons for issues with Virtualization implementations.
Fear of Failure: Like all new, complex technology, there is a general fear of making changes to a successfully operating environment. “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it” can rule the day. The day demands that changes must happen for Virtualization to take root and flourish.
Technology Issues: Issues involving the physical infrastructure constraining or preventing the Service Level Agreements from being possible are likely in a diverse IT environment. Network bandwidth, incompatibilities between network elements, software incompatibilities, IT security, etc.

Sail Through the Obstacles

What is required to get past the rough water near the familiar shore of ‘IT as we know it’, through the rough breakers, out into the open, beneficial seas of Virtualization?

It all comes back to the three pillars of every successful military force:
Shoot, Move, and Communicate.

Step I: Shoot

The ability to make things happen, to ‘change the game’, preferably in a massive, coordinated manner so objectives are achieved with maximum gain and minimal cost.

The ‘Shoot’ set of activities, includes:

• Staffing & Training: teaching the shooter
• Provisioning: arming the shooter
• Planning: identifying the Target
• Migrating: taking the shot

Staffing & Training: Put people in the right position with the right skills
The proper training and dedication of IT staff to the new discipline of VMware Virtualization. Far more than sending IT staff personnel who are system administrators, whether government or contractor, to multiple weeks of virtualization training and when they return they wear multiple hats, it requires a reformulation of their roles within the IT organization. The analogy of training a Sniper and then putting that specialist back on the front battle lines with the other soldiers is appropriate. Like any significantly advanced technology, Virtualization has inherent complexities that require daily interactions with a focus on ‘sharpening the sword’, to keep up with the rapid pace of changes within VMware Virtualization. Given the rapid pace of innovation by VMware, training must also include re-training personnel and encouragement for Virtualization Specialists to be part of the VMware Technical Community, an online Internet resource that has great value in sharing best practices in VMware Virtualization.

Provisioning: Ensuring the organization has the right arms at the right time.
The right set of VMware technologies to accomplish the mission. This is typically performed within the Assessment Phase of the Assess->Plan->Deploy->Manage spectrum. Arming the organization with the right tools to perform the mission is essential. Procuring the new physical IT technologies that best work with VMware Virtualization Infrastructure is key to make it possible to stand up transformed data centers filled with Virtual Machines that maximize the use of the physical machines.

Planning: Making sure the shots go to the right targets at the right time.
Virtualization Plans must be flexible but firm. Not exactly, “one shot, one kill”, but closer to that than shotgunning. The Plan must take into account the current and planned portfolio of mission applications/services and the changes expected to happen within the enterprise IT environment. Nothing is static. Coordination of procurements must mesh with the focal point of the owner of the Virtualization Plan (mis-coordination would look like one group who owns datacenter real estate to order racks of new physical servers countering the movement to a Virtualization Infrastructure. The first thoughts within Procurement should be “How can this service be put into a Virtual Machine?” before considering physical servers. Volumes can be written on armies lost due to the lack of planning. The Virtualization Plan must be at the center of decisions made on IT expenditures. The Virtualization Plan, like training, is something constantly revisited, it must be a living, breathing Force that moves the organization ever forward.

Migrating: Take the shot.
Put the Virtualization Plan into action. Organization that were enthusiastic to implement Virtualization, were delayed for many reasons, mostly organizational inflexibilities, and during the delay, the Assessment of the physical IT environment went stale…physical servers were changed or added, applications were added, etc. Within a reasonable time period (weeks not months), IT leaders must press against the sometimes waves of fierce resistance and force the organization to adopt Virtualization as a mission requirement. It is vital to always be moving FORWARD under the Virtualization banner. The cost of fear, of not moving forward is the risk of the Virtualization Plan to become obsolete, a relic of the costly past. A significant cost of not taking the shot (not migrating to a Virtualization Infrastructure) is the loss of the dramatic benefits of Virtualization. Not taking the shot harms the organization.

Step II: Move

The capability to organizationally shift from the past paradigm of physical servers to a new paradigm of the Virtualization Infrastructure.

Within ‘Move’, the set of activities are:
• Assess (where you are and where you want to move to);
• Adapt (make the organizational changes necessary to make the move),
• Act (make the move).

Assess:
Like using a map, you must understand where you are and where you want to go. VMware has excellent assessment tools that identify the current and possible future states of the IT infrastructure, including a financial analysis. The Assessment will provide a roadmap forward. The key is to follow the roadmap in a methodical, focused manner. We know customers who have paid for Assessments but then let the roadmap collect dust. In a dynamic IT environment, dusty roadmaps are of no value. It is therefore very important to transform the organizational thought process to “How will this change affect our Virtualization Plan?”

Adapt:
Change must be the drumbeat that drives organization forward on the path to Virtualization. It is not the strong, that survive, but species that adapt. All aspects of the provisioning cycle are touched by Virtualization, for the ultimate good, and must be factored into the ordering processes for new IT resources. There really is a proven pot of gold at the end of the Virtual Rainbow, but it takes a dedication to adapt to the Path to Virtualization.

Act:
Move. Convert your physical servers into Virtual Machines. “Boldness has magic to it”, Goethe once wrote. Being successful in Virtualization means a change to the way the mission is accomplished. Actions must be taken. Our customers that did not act, got stuck and did not reap the benefits Virtualization promises. None of this is new, but in the context of the Newest Thing (Virtualization), the law of entropy still rules. Inaction leads to entrenchment and makes it harder to move forward to the goal.

Step III. Communicate:

The capability to inform all personnel in far reaches of the IT enterprise so that end-users, IT staff, Procurement, vendors, etc so they are kept on the same chapter, verse, and page. The mantra of Virtualization must become a cross-organizational chant for the benefits of Virtualization to be fully realized. Standard Operating Procedures need to be changed to incorporate Virtualization. Change, the big fear monger that can stall organizations, diminishes in the bright light of knowledge communicated to all team members. Sometimes an outside, objective party can bring departments together under a common team banner.

A Way Through the Breakers: Team with the best!

Windward IT Solutions offers our customizable ‘Virtualization Acceleration Service’ as a way to quickly move through the choppy breakers to the smooth sailing benefits of VMware Virtualization.

This service is for organizations that have in-house VMware-trained personnel and have installed the VMware Virtualization Infrastructure 3 technologies. As a result of loss of momentum, loss of staff, or a shift in priorities, the Virtualization Plan has become obsolete. Staff members may be fearful of making the wrong installation decisions. Technology issues become entangled in the rush to implement and integrate new technologies. We have VMware Certified Professionals who can work with IT staff to move to the benefits of Virtualization.

The components of the Windward Virtualization Acceleration Service:

1. IT Environment Review: We review the Virtualization Plan, physical and virtualization infrastructure, and current progress (or lack of progress) and use root cause analysis to identify the main obstacles that prevent the organization from moving forward with Virtualization.
2. Document the root causes and issues blocking Virtualization implementation
3. Create a plan to remove all obstacles blocking the implementation.
4. Build a team of customer, Windward, and other technology partners to solve the issues.
5. Facilitate communications between departments
6. New Virtualization Assessment: Generate a fresh Roadmap to Virtualization and new TCO Report, if needed
7. Update the Virtualization Plan: With the new targets of Virtualization, update the Plan.
8. Work side-by-side to implement the Plan in a carefully phased manner, doing unit and system testing throughout.
9. Ensure there is a solid transfer-of-knowledge so when we leave, the IT staff members dedicated to Virtualization feel confident they can continue forward progress with the Virtualization Plan and management of the enterprise.
10. Quarterly Checkpoint meetings to ensure they are continuing forward momentum.
11. Regular status briefings to management to demonstrate progress.

Through this accelerated process, Windward IT Solutions transforms the global leadership VMware Virtualization Infrastructure 3 technologies into real solutions for customers.

Windward IT Solutions Virtualization Services

Beyond the Virtualization Acceleration Service, Windward provides the services that enable organizations to realize the full benefits of virtualization, specifically focused on leveraging VMware products. Windward's consulting and engineering services ensure organizations overcome their challenges and maximize the benefits of a virtualized server environment.

To enable the virtualization solution to provide virtualization’s benefits, Windward follows a phased and interactive approach that has proven most successful across organizations of all types:

Virtualization and Operational Assessment
Windward performs an evaluation of the IT operational environment, physical environment and utilization, security policies, IT project portfolio and application portfolio. This assessment results in a report on operational readiness for virtualization, a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) assessment, and identification of target servers and applications for virtualization.

Virtualization Plan and Design
Windward designs a customized VMware Virtualization Infrastructure 3 implementation to meet customer needs for server consolidation, containment, availability, high performance, and/or disaster recovery. A set of detailed architectural design documents, standard operating procedures, test plans and rollout schedule is delivered that can be used to implement the Virtualized IT infrastructure in a phased timeline.

Virtualization Build and Deploy
Windward assembles and configures the target virtual environment, plans and conducts thorough unit and system testing, carries out a smooth roll out to production, and transfers knowledge to the client through its “off-ramp” process ensuring customer success when the engagement has been completed.

Virtualization Management
Windward analyzes, recommends and implements a set of IT management tools, provided by VMware (VirtualCenter) and other third-party vendors, to ensure ongoing consolidated management of the virtual infrastructure. Windward’s core competency is in IT Operations Management; we now extend this deep expertise to VMware Virtualization Infrastructure.
Summary

Virtualization technologies from VMware enable organizations to achieve significant benefits:

• Total Cost of Ownership savings from server consolidations and containments up to 70%
• Significantly cut electrical and space costs
• Maximize physical servers utilization
• Eliminate costly datacenter expansions
• Improve service and application availability
• Decrease provisioning new services time from weeks to hours

Long gaps of time between Virtualization Assessments and Planning to Deployment can cause atrophy to organizations in their quest to gain the significant benefits from Virtualization. To accelerate the implementation and achieve the goals of Virtualization, a combination of using the pillars of great armies and navies to ‘Shoot, Move, and Communicate’ with the Windward Virtualization Acceleration Service can break organizations free of the rough breakers.