WEI Tech Exchange

Tips for Managing Corporate Data on Apple iOS

By David Fafel |   Nov 12, 2019

One of the smartest things a company can do to support their employees is allow them to work from their own customizable devices. Enterprise mobility and flexibility are prized in the workplace, but it also entail a lot of extra work for IT to keep corporate data secure. Fortunately, Apple’s management framework provides smart ways to manage both corporate data and apps discreetly- seamlessly separating work data from personal data while keeping users informed on how their devices are being managed.

Prepare for the Future of Data Storage with INFINIDAT

By Jay Cardin |   Nov 05, 2019

Enterprises are increasingly realizing the value of their data, and are capturing as much of it as possible to glean whatever insights they can. The challenge, however, is that IT budgets are not growing at the rates needed to properly handle these growing mountains of digital gold.

Fortinet Continues To Lead In Firewall and Network Security

By Michael Thweatt |   Oct 24, 2019

The definition of network firewalls has changed. As an increasing number of businesses move toward hybrid networks and begin seeking firewall capabilities in the cloud, cloud vendors are also offering native firewall capabilities to their clients. This year Gartner revised their description of the firewall market to include firewalls with the following features:

Now You See It... Invisible Infrastructure Helps Make IT Stress Disappear

By Kevin Wood |   Oct 22, 2019

In an industry that requires constant innovation to keep up with the demands of the customer, digital transformation- modernization of the datacenter - is crucial to digital enterprise. In fact, a Forbes Insight survey from 2018 found that 35 percent of executives reported a high degree of competitive disruption within their sector due to the growing number of technology-driven startups and technological innovations.

Flash-to-Flash-to-Cloud (F2F2C): What It Is and Why You Need It

By Jay Cardin |   Oct 15, 2019

In order for developers to keep up with the speed of business, new innovations in storage, backup, and disaster recovery are being rolled out at a breakneck pace. To stay competitive, enterprises must adopt these new methods and technologies for faster restores and greater opportunities to leverage the true value of data across their organization.

Get the Value of Consumption-based IT in your Multi-cloud Enterprise

By Shane Garrett |   Oct 08, 2019

Nearly every enterprise is in the process of expanding their use of cloud. This makes a lot of sense; the cloud enables IT teams to speed up the delivery of services while reducing operational costs. The process is far from easy, however. Cloud implementation has become complex and difficult for businesses to handle without seeking qualified advice outside their internal IT resources—and without the right expertise of cloud-native automation, companies risk losing the benefits that prompted their cloud investment in the first place.

5 Key Elements Of A Digital Workplace Strategy

By Michael Thweatt |   Oct 01, 2019

The digital workplace is in, and the days of Windows’ dominance and employees working from a single, stationary device are out. This new strategy champions flexible, employee-centric technology, and processes to aid productivity and unlock the potential of individual employees, teams, and organizations.

5 Reasons Why Enterprise IT Leaders Offer Apple As A Choice

By Kerry Cotter |   Sep 24, 2019

While today’s IT environments are growing more and more complex, seemingly by the day, the process for supporting Apple devices is growing easier as well. Previously on the WEI blog we’ve talked about the undeniable benefits of integrating Apple devices into your enterprise. Below we dig into 5 reasons IT leaders are offering Apple as a choice in their enterprise for an awesome end user experience.

Why FortiOS 6.2 Should be at the Core of Your Enterprise Fabric

By Greg LaBrie |   Sep 19, 2019

One of the natural traits of people is to long for the “good old days.” It is that magical era we tend to memorialize as a time when things were simpler and uncomplicated. That is certainly true of network security. Remember when all you had to do was simply protect your network perimeter? Can you even define what your network perimeter is anymore? It’s not so easy to answer that question today.

WEI Now Serving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts under ITS74 contract

By Kerry Cotter |   Sep 18, 2019

WEI is proud to announce that following a rigorous selection process, we have been chosen by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to receive the state contract ITS74 ProjServ through June 30, 2024. This contract places WEI on Massachusetts’ pre-qualified Information Technology (IT) professional Project Services Technical Specialist vendor list.

Top Use Cases For SD-WAN In The Distributed Enterprise

By Kerry Cotter |   Sep 17, 2019

The transition by enterprises to cloud-based services is changing, at a fundamental level, the way branch wide area networks (WAN) are being architected. As end-users, IoT and BYOD devices are accessing internet-based applications, companies are seeking better ways to improve end-user experience and IT operations.

WEI StepsUp In The Classroom With Annual Back-to-School Drive

By Kerry Cotter |   Sep 10, 2019

WEI prides itself on giving back to the community, and recognizes that the community service opportunities our employees and their families participate in are a vital part of being a successful business.

Modernize Your IT Infrastructure with HPE Nimble Storage

By Jay Cardin |   Sep 05, 2019

Digital transformation is reinventing the IT infrastructure. Enterprises are shifting to software-defined data centers and the new technology that comes with them. AI and machine learning (ML), cloud utilization, and software-defined storage are just a few of the many new tools that organizations now employ to help them harness the power of their data. As a result, IT infrastructure management has become increasingly complex. IT staff can no longer be expected to manage every part of the infrastructure. However, the answer to this issue is simple: let technology manage itself. AI/ML intelligent data platforms can provide comprehensive data management throughout the infrastructure.

Apple Delivers Choice and Control for the Digital Workplace

By David Fafel |   Aug 29, 2019

The digital revolution is changing the way businesses operate and how people work. Employees desire flexibility and the option to work anytime from anywhere from the devices that they prefer. With freedom of choice, employees have more control over their work experience, resulting in higher job satisfaction and increased productivity. Enterprises report that the majority of their staff members prefer Apple devices. Apple helps companies empower their employees through personalized, optimized work environments. With the Apple Business Manager solution, setup and support of Apple devices is simple and seamless. It has become easier and more cost-effective than ever to give your employees the freedom to choose.

VMware Workspace ONE: Delivering On The Promise Of A Digital Workspace

By Joshua Satrape |   Aug 27, 2019

The landscape of today’s modern offices look nothing like they used to. Gone are the days of employees working from a single location on a single computer, accessing a single operating system – now they frequently switch between devices, mobility is king, and applications are just as likely to be Windows-based as not.

WEI Climbs In Rank On CRN 2019 Solution Provider 500 List

By Kerry Cotter |   Aug 21, 2019

WEI is proud to announce that CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, has numbered us among its 2019 Solution Provider 500. This annual list ranks the largest North American IT channel partner organizations by revenue, and is the industry standard for recognizing the highest performing technology integrators, strategic service providers, and IT consultants. As the industry’s predominant channel partner list, it serves as a valuable resource for technology vendors looking to partner with top solution providers.

Exploring 802.11AX (Wi-Fi 6): What It Is and Why You Need It

By Greg LaBrie |   Aug 20, 2019

The demand for wireless access from users has shifted from a convenience to a necessity – which means network performance has become a business-critical requirement. Both workers and consumers have come to expect a reliable Wi-Fi connection, and the absence of one can influence their decision on how long they remain at the establishment.

What Can Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Do for Your Business?

By Kevin Wood |   Aug 15, 2019

Modern data centers are more efficient and high-performing than ever, but problems and failures still occur. The goal is to leverage the software defined data center (SDDC) to achieve optimal efficiency for the business. Incompatible hardware and an overabundance of solutions often prevent true convergence. Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) links the entire data center to one comprehensive management system. HCI creates a seamless, robust data center environment, eliminating many virtualization challenges. With HCI, you can maximize performance and efficiency, and get a better return on your data center investment.

Five ways SD-WAN can boost the bottom line

By Michael Thweatt |   Aug 13, 2019

Digital transformation is becoming an increasingly popular course of action for enterprises trying to keep pace with emerging market trends, fluctuating customer demands, and increased competition. But traditional network architectures weren’t built to handle the types of workloads, and complexities, that arise as a result. Even worse, in an attempt to take on the work these architectures – post-digital transformation – can actually compromise business-critical services and network performance.

Why Your Campus Networking Architecture Should be Mobile First

By Greg LaBrie |   Aug 08, 2019

Campus network expansion and increased demand for mobility have generated the need for a simple, effective LAN deployment and management solution. Users demand the same network experience both on and offsite and across all devices. So far, network architectures have been largely unable to meet this goal. The current IEEE 802.1BR standard simplifies switch deployment, maintenance, and management. However, this design fails to incorporate some features that are critical for a uniform experience. Aruba has addressed these issues and created a comprehensive network solution. The Aruba Mobile First campus architecture provides a streamlined infrastructure and management platform that solves the modern network challenges.

Modern Data Protection With Flash Storage by Pure Storage ObjectEngine

By Jay Cardin |   Aug 06, 2019

Digital transformation is fundamentally changing the way organizations view and manage their data, with an estimated 60 percent of data-driven enterprises scheduled to begin digital transformation by 2020. This transformation allows enterprises to use their data to generate revenue and keep a competitive edge – but only if it can be stored accurately and organized in a way that keeps it easily accessible.

Get to Know VMware NSX and Transform Your Network

By Greg LaBrie |   Aug 01, 2019

First, VMware reinvented the data center with their ESXi hypervisor. Then they transformed server management and deployment with vSphere. Now VMware's NSX is revolutionizing networking through advanced software-defined networking (SDN) technology. VMware NSX is a comprehensive networking solution that solves the challenges faced by the modern data center. Designed to maximize speed, agility, and security, NSX can help your enterprise realize its full potential.

Give Your Enterprise An Edge With Network Virtualization

By Greg LaBrie |   Jul 30, 2019

Boost Your Organization's Security with Network Visualization. Could your data center security use some beefing up? Or maybe you’re ready to accelerate some of your IT processes? Network virtualization can provide these and other benefits a la carte. If expanded across your entire network, it can even accomplish all of them simultaneously.

Key Flash Storage Trends That Could Reshape Your Data Center

By Kevin Wood |   Jul 25, 2019

In the past, users were forced to choose between HDDs with high storage capacity or DRAMs offering high performance. Advancements in NAND flash allowed for a new, comprehensive option: the flash-based SSD. NAND flash is a nonvolatile (NV) semiconductor memory device. Unlike DRAMs, NAND chips do not need a continuous power supply to retain stored data. Flash-based SSDs provide greater storage capacity and better performance and speed at a cost-effective price point.

Ensure Network Security With Aruba ClearPass Network Access Control

By Victor Fabian |   Jul 23, 2019

As the demand for mobility at work increases, laptops, smartphones, tablets and Internet of Things (IoT) devices are pouring into the workplace. On average, employees utilize three different devices at a time – and all of them increase vulnerabilities inside your enterprise.

Modern IT and HCI

By Kevin Wood |   Jul 18, 2019

Today's IT departments and data centers are drastically different than their predecessors. Virtualization has been the key driving force behind the changes. However, new technology and operations bring new challenges that must be resolved. Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) helps IT departments solve many of the issues caused by virtualization. HCI works by linking every part of the data center and bring it all under one management platform. With HCI, both IT and the data center become more efficient and agile, resulting in increased performance and scalability.

Guide Your Enterprise's Digital Transformation with Storage-Class Memory

By Kevin Wood |   Jul 16, 2019

Many enterprises are undergoing a digital transformation as they move towards business models that collect and use data as a strategic digital asset. This information is used to drive better insights and improve agility, but as the demands for in-depth collection, analysis, and response grow older, technologies can’t meet the evolving requirements.

The Basics of Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI)

By Kevin Wood |   Jul 11, 2019

Over the past decade, drastic changes have taken place within the data center. Technological advances and innovative new products have revolutionized the way data centers operate. Virtualization is now a vital part of the modern software-defined data center (SDDC). While virtualization is enormously beneficial, it comes with a new set of challenges. Hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) resolves many of the efficiency, security, and scalability issues facing today's data centers.

Does Your Next-Generation Firewall Deliver Performance and Speed?

By Michael Thweatt |   Jul 09, 2019

Networks continue to grow in both size and complexity. Enterprises need modern security solutions that better protect their network traffic. Many organizations are retiring their traditional firewalls to implement next-generation firewalls (NGFWs). NGFWs are able to inspect traffic at a much deeper and more detailed level than their predecessors. They can also detect hidden threats in encrypted traffic. This capability is especially important as encryption technologies continue to evolve and more and more traffic is encrypted. An NGFW is a vital component of your security arsenal, but not all NGFWs are created equal. An effective firewall provides robust security through a simple management platform while meeting the speed and performance needs of your enterprise.

WEI StepsUP: Strong Turnout For Annual Family Barbecue And Care Package Event

By Kerry Cotter |   Jul 02, 2019

WEI recognizes that community service is a vital part of being a successful business and encourages employees to participate in volunteerism. On June 12, WEI hosted its annual “Thank Our Military” barbecue in partnership with the Pease Greeters. WEI employees and their families were welcomed for an afternoon of fun community service featuring delicious BBQ food, creating handmade greeting cards, and assembling care packages for servicemen and servicewomen.

Wendy Pfeiffer, CIO of Nutanix & Champion Of Women In Tech

By Kerry Cotter |   Jun 25, 2019

Wendy Pfeiffer routinely lands on lists of “The Most Powerful Women in Tech,” and is currently the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Nutanix, where she leads the global Information Technology team and functions that support the company’s business operations and employees.

Boost Performance And Security With An SD-WAN Solution

By Greg LaBrie |   Jun 20, 2019

Keeping up with IT innovation is a never-ending race, with the finish line constantly being pushed further and further ahead. The majority of recent exciting technologies have centered on transforming the data center into a flexible environment to provide limitless agility to the enterprise. While many focus on a data center-centric approach to digital transformation, optimizing the wide area network (WAN) may be the better method.

Build Your Ransomware Strategy Before You Need It

By Jay Cardin |   Jun 18, 2019

From news headlines to television sitcom story lines, ransomware has become a major player in the world of IT security. High-profile attacks against enterprises are on the rise, their numbers dramatically increasing every year with nearly two-thirds of organizations surveyed reporting an attack in the last year, and 22 percent reporting weekly attacks.

5 Steps to Prep your Enterprise for Apple Device Integration

By David Fafel |   Jun 13, 2019

There’s no doubt that integrating Apple Devices into your enterprise brings confirmable benefits to your organization. A large percentage of your users are already partial to them because they own them personally. This combination of preference and familiarity with the Apple platform translates into greater employee morale and productivity. Apple devices also have reduced costs over the complete product life cycle, which makes the bean counters happy. There’s a lot of great reasons to assimilate Apple products into your environment, but despite the best of intentions, IT may still be reluctant to take that first step.

How to Pay for a Cloud-like, Flexible Data Center Infrastructure

By Shane Garrett |   Jun 11, 2019

As enterprises continue evolving to meet the new challenges and opportunities of the digital era, IT leaders are faced with a daunting task: implement a flexible data center infrastructure that can support this new and ever-changing generation of technology solutions.

How To Accelerate IT With Modern Server Infrastructure

By Mark Hargreaves |   Jun 06, 2019

Aging server infrastructures are fraught with challenges. Poor performance, lack of automation, security vulnerabilities, and skyrocketing operational costs are only a few of the critical problems aging server infrastructures represent. Clinging to legacy servers can put your business at risk.     

Embark on your Digital Transformation Journey with Dell EMC

By Michael Thweatt |   Jun 04, 2019

While many industry experts are writing about the importance of IT and digital transformation, few are diving into the details of what exactly they should be transforming to. Should the focus be on analytics and big data? The move to the cloud? Mobility?

Protecting Your Data in an All-Flash World

By Kevin Wood |   May 30, 2019

Companies worldwide are modernizing their data centers with efficient, all-flash storage arrays. All-flash storage solutions may offer different features, but they all provide better performance, scalability, and capacity over legacy storage solutions. They are more affordable than their traditional storage equivalents, making upgrading cost effective. With all-flash arrays, organizations can consolidate data and simplify their data management processes.

Manage Cloud Migration Security Concerns with Illumio

By Jay Cardin |   May 28, 2019

Across industry lines, there’s a trend of enterprises moving their applications to the public cloud. The cost of cloud computing and storage have dropped significantly over the past few years, and IT leaders are seeing the value of not owning physical infrastructure.

How Edge Computing is Reshaping the Value of Data and IoT Within the Enterprise

By Greg LaBrie |   May 23, 2019

The rise of cloud technology enabled organizations to shift computing-power and data storage from private data centers to public cloud environments. The transition to the cloud facilitated vast amounts of data to be accumulated and manipulated in a centralized way; however, widespread use of the Internet of Things (IoT) has created new data processing requirements. It does not make sense to centralize massive amounts of raw data gathered by IoT sensors, so edge computing seeks to fill this need by decentralizing and distributing computing resources.

Surprise – Apple Devices are the New Office Work Horses

By David Fafel |   May 21, 2019

There are few personnel positions in your organization that don’t interact with technology. That means that your users need some type of device to work with to access the applications, data and communication tools they need to do their job. But what type of device is best? Put aside any premonitions you might have concerning any of the client platforms available today and let’s imagine what qualities the perfect business work device must include today.

Why a Dynamic Business needs Dynamic IT Infrastructure

By David Fafel |   May 16, 2019

The tech world moves so fast these days that for an enterprise to truly be seen as an industry leader, they need to be making a splash and disrupting the scene. From retail to finance to manufacturing, nimble and fast-moving companies are innovating by changing their business models – leaving companies with traditional enterprise data center infrastructure and slow-changing business models behind.

Maximize Data Center Security With Fortinet and VMware

By Greg LaBrie |   May 14, 2019

As enterprises continue to invest in virtualization, keeping a data center – and the data and applications they store – secure is the cornerstone of success. There are two security concerns that are quickly becoming the most prominent, and Fortinet has answers to them both.

Strong Performers Watch for a Zero Trust eXtended Ecosystem

By Greg LaBrie |   May 09, 2019

Enterprises who want to reliably prevent the exfiltration of sensitive data and improve their ability to defend against modern cyberthreats may want to consider a Zero Trust architecture. Introduced by analyst firm Forrester, Zero Trust is an alternative architecture for IT security.

WEI Masters VMware Services Competency in Data center Virtualization, Desktop, and Mobility

By Kerry Cotter |   May 07, 2019

WEI is committed to helping organizations accelerate their digital transformations by leveraging their validated services delivery capabilities around advanced VMware technologies. Today we are proud to announce the successful achievements of the Datacenter Virtualization and Desktop and Mobility VMware Master Services Competencies.

5 Tips for a Winning Digital Transformation Strategy

By David Fafel |   May 02, 2019

In today’s digital world, businesses with high-functioning IT departments have a significant advantage over their competition. More and more companies now choose to transform their organizations and redefine their IT services. If done correctly, digital transformation can revolutionize the way IT departments respond to dynamic business needs, thereby maximizing their potential and enabling them to serve customers and staff better. Digital transformation requires a strategic approach. The following tips can help you develop a robust plan for digital transformation within your organization.

4 Steps for Success with Cloud-Native Hybrid IT

By David Fafel |   Apr 30, 2019

Application owners are facing a critical challenge – in order to meet the demands of innovation-hungry customers, IT leaders must quickly evaluate whether to re-architect their applications for the cloud, or develop new applications entirely.

WEI’s Favorite Household Hacks for Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

By Kerry Cotter |   Apr 23, 2019

Over 50 million plastic bottles are thrown away every day in the United States and have truly become a staple in our everyday lives. But you don'y have to throw these plastic bottles away! Our number one recommendation would be to recycle those bottles, but have you thought about ways to reuse them? There are actually many different ways you can reuse and recycle the ordinary items you find in your household, and each time you do that is one less piece of plastic in your local landfill.

The Future of IT is Environmentally Friendly

By Kerry Cotter |   Apr 18, 2019

April 22^nd is Earth Day, but in the face of a rapidly changing world, one day to focus on being environmentally friendly isn’t enough. That’s why WEI continues to embrace its corporate responsibility and weave sustainable practices into the framework of the business.

Empower your Workforce with Employee Choice from Apple

By Kerry Cotter |   Apr 16, 2019

In 1981, the classic British rock group, The Kings, sang, “Give the people what they want.” Companies are now giving their employees what they want as well when it comes to their company computing devices. What they want is choice. This should be of no surprise to anyone familiar with today’s technology climate as it is simply a natural extension of the Consumerization of IT. IDG Enterprise defines the CoIT as “the propensity for users’ experiences with technology as consumers to impact their expectations regarding their technology experiences at work.” Employees today want to have a say in the technology and tools they use at work, which makes sense, because we all prefer working with what we are comfortable with. 

The Nutanix Effect: Taking HCI to New Heights

By Mark Gabryjelski |   Apr 11, 2019

We’ve blogged about Nutanix in the past. In fact, we’ve written a lot about them. But some companies and products are worth talking about and deserve more than just 15 minutes of fame. That’s because sometimes, a company brings forth an idea that changes everything. Nutanix is one of those companies. Nutanix helped revolutionize the data center by integrating compute, networking, storage, and hypervisor software into one package. Suddenly, multiple components that had been dispersed throughout multiple racks are now compressed into a single appliance. This condensed footprint simplified the processes of purchasing, deployment, and management. Hyperconverged Infrastructure has proven itself to be the next step in the evolution of the data center. Dheeraj Pandey, Chairman, Founder and CEO of Nutanix, says it best:

10 Composable Infrastructure Benefits

By Kerry Cotter |   Apr 09, 2019

Did you know that a recent IDG research study revealed 45 percent of IT decision makers do not understand the value of composable infrastructure? Even the most seasoned data center professionals are still growing familiar with what composable infrastructure is, how it came to be, and what its advantages are.

Why Cisco Talos is a Differentiator for your Enterprise Security Strategy

By Greg LaBrie |   Apr 04, 2019

If your company is undergoing its digital transformation in order to achieve greater levels of agility, scalability, and efficiency, you may have realized the following correlation between size and security. As your digital environment increases, so does the number of attack opportunities into your network. As enterprise density escalates, so does your attack surface. The question then becomes, is the continued exponential growth of our networks today sustainable from a security point of view?

5 Tips to Finding Success with Hybrid IT

By David Fafel |   Apr 02, 2019

As enterprises continue to find their way in this digital era, the function of the IT organization is changing to take on a leadership role in digital transformation. As a result, technology investment decisions are now driven by strategic vision as well as tactical goals.

Why Ansible is the Automated Solution You’ve Been Waiting For

By Michael Thweatt |   Mar 28, 2019

We keep hearing about all of these wonderful technological advances that seem to never come to fruition. How many decades have we been waiting for the hovercrafts and flying cars we saw in cartoons and movies? We still haven’t cured major diseases yet, let alone the common cold. If you’re an IT administrator, you probably keep wondering when all this automation we’ve been promised is going to finally take place. You know, that magic automated tool that will rid ourselves of those humdrum tedious tasks that bog us down every day. Why is it that the development team is able to be agile but the server and networking teams are still bound by the same routines? Wasn’t the CLI supposed to be dead by now?

6 Benefits of Pure Storage That Will Make Your Business Roar

By Jay Cardin |   Mar 21, 2019

The old fable of the lion and the gazelle is a great analogy for business today. Each day the lion must outrun the slowest gazelle or starve. Each day the gazelle must outrun the fastest lion or perish. Whether you are a lion or a gazelle, when the sun comes up, you best be running. The same is true for your business because tomorrow, you best be running. The main difference for many businesses today is it’s not just for when the sun comes up. It is all the time.

5 Key Requirements For Distributed Enterprise Firewall Security

By Michael Thweatt |   Mar 19, 2019

As enterprises modernize their IT infrastructure to meet evolving business demands the conversation of security is always top of mind. More and more companies are now managing a distributed enterprise, with remote offices and branches that are forcing them to move away from a highly centralized IT model to one that extends to the edge. How will your security strategy have to evolve to meet these new security demands as you’re now securing more than just the perimeter? As one of the emerging leaders in SD-WAN technology, we looked at some tips from Fortinet on this topic. Check out these key requirements for distributed enterprise firewall security.

Understanding the Software Defined Data Center of Today

By Mark Gabryjelski |   Mar 07, 2019

The software defined data center (SDDC) has been used by many companies and people since 2012. The idea of this concept involved virtualizing the components most critical to data center operations. The three angles these technologies work to simplify and combine are compute, storage, and network functionalities. SDDC can:

Implementing AI – A CIO’s Checklist For Success

By David Fafel |   Mar 05, 2019

A global study commissioned by Dell EMC finds that if your enterprise isn’t actively using or pursuing ways to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) for success and risk mitigation you’re being left behind. And considering how fast today’s tech landscape moves, that gap is getting wider—faster.

vRealize: Optimizing Hybrid Cloud and the SDDC

By Mark Gabryjelski |   Feb 28, 2019

It’s great to have a new car, but regardless of if it’s a Range Rover, Mercedes, or Maserati, there will be problems if the oil is never changed. A software defined data center (SDDC) operates on similar principles. There may be great use cases and data pushing for SDDC, but if proper management and maintenance isn’t utilized, those far reaching benefits will never be had.

How to Experience IT Resilience with Zerto

By Jay Cardin |   Feb 21, 2019

How resilient is your organization from an IT perspective? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines resilience as, “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” With the digital transformations of so many companies today, resiliency to change and disruption needs to be a priority. What does resilience mean for the enterprise today? It means having the ability to seamlessly adapt to change while enduring and responding to unplanned events such as:

3 ways Cohesity Simplifies your Data Storage Strategy

By Jay Cardin |   Feb 14, 2019

In order to prevail in the globally competitive economy today, companies are continually examining their processes, operations, and infrastructure to find areas which add little or no value to the business. For enterprises today, one of those areas is data protection. Think about your backups. Yes, they can potentially “save the day” in the event of a failed server, ransomware attack, or natural disaster. The problem of course is that your backups just sits there idle, indolently waiting for a bad day to occur. Your backups are part of an expensive insurance policy that consumes a lot of resources.

The Top 3 Enterprise Mobility Challenges Enterprises Face

By Greg LaBrie |   Feb 07, 2019

Although there are many important benefits to making your enterprise more mobile, that doesn’t mean it’s an easily achievable goal. Unfortunately, for many businesses the opposite is true. We looked at 3 mistakes to avoid when implementing enterprise mobility solutions last week. This week, we will follow a similar route, by addressing several key challenges that business must overcome along the path to greater innovation and efficiency.

How Enterprise Mobility Positions Your Company for Greater Innovation

By Greg LaBrie |   Jan 31, 2019

According to research from leading firms like Frost & Sullivan and Dimension Data, workforce mobility solutions improve company efficiency, provide your staff with a greater sense of job satisfaction, and can save you money. The benefits of providing your staff with increased mobility extend far beyond those immediate advantages though, preparing them to make the most of new and emerging technologies that can boost productivity from wherever they work.

3 Mistakes To Avoid When Implementing an Enterprise Mobility Solution

By Greg LaBrie |   Jan 24, 2019

As businesses begin to realize the many benefits of mobility, both in terms of the increased productivity and the improved employee satisfaction that it delivers, the interest in enterprise mobility management (EMM) to organize and secure those efforts increases as well. The road to EMM implementation isn’t an easy one though, as enterprises often face a road fraught with serious complication that can overwhelm or undermine their EMM initiatives, and mobility efforts in general.

An Overview of the Top 4 SD-WAN Solutions

By Victor Fabian |   Jan 17, 2019

SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide Area Network) is about recognizing the importance of the entire forest that is your network. It is about ensuring that all of your sites enjoy the same level of performance, automation, load optimization, and security that your central operations office does. This is the pretext for SD-WAN. SD-WAN is about applying software defined technology to your WAN connections regardless of distance and complexity. The goal is to optimize the experience of all of your users, regardless of enterprise location. This blog outlines four of the leading SD-WAN solutions in the market today.

The Benefits of Digital Transformation are Realized with Cloud

By Fred McHugh |   Jan 15, 2019

Digital transformation is a transformation with no perceived endpoint, but a recurrent digital evolutionary process. It is a race, a race that is both a sprint and a marathon at the same time. It is a race with no assigned course or track, nor a checkered flag to pronounce the winner. Winning the race simply entails the ability to use knowledge, innovation, and IT agility to turn ideas into value and do it better and faster than any of your competitors.

3 Reasons Why NAC Should be Part of your Networking Strategy

By Victor Fabian |   Jan 10, 2019

Securing the enterprise is an evolving challenge today. In order to effectively manage today’s enterprise, you must be able to draw a complete picture of everything connected to your network. Enterprises are implementing a Network Access Control solution (NAC) to identify, assess, and enforce access control on any and all devices before they connect to the network. A NAC solution provides the basic necessity of knowing what devices IT is tasked with securing. A NAC solution can identify and profile each subsequent device wanting to connect, as well as:

Top 5 Benefits of Edge Computing

By Greg LaBrie |   Jan 08, 2019

The interconnected worlds of today see increased access to more things at faster speeds. Wireless networking made these processes even faster, with IT administrators able to add more storage space, computing power, and other capabilities at the push of a button.

Top 10 Multicloud Storage Use Cases

By Kerry Cotter |   Jan 03, 2019

Last week, we covered a checklist of core requirements needed to prepare for multicloud storage deployments. This included internal operations and capabilities needed, as well as important questions to ask during the process.

Ultimate 10-Point Checklist for your Multicloud Storage Strategy

By Kerry Cotter |   Dec 27, 2018

Last week, we looked at the top 7 multicloud success tips. Some of the tips discussed included taking advantage of visibility, optimizing predictive analytics capabilities, and preparing for the data center of today and tomorrow.

Are you ready for IT-as-a-Service? 5 Benefits of ITaaS.

By Shane Garrett |   Dec 25, 2018

Information Technology as a Service (ITaaS) represents a change in paradigm when it comes to managing IT. When you treat IT as a service provider, you can ensure that your enterprise has exactly the right amount of hardware, software and support to fit the unique and changing needs of your business. You'll find that you are more agile and able to deal with whatever comes up. And, you'll find that, under an ITaaS model, you'll save time and money, dramatically improving your bottom line.

7 Tips for Multicloud Success

By Kerry Cotter |   Dec 20, 2018

Last week, we published the second blog in this series, “Overcoming the Top 10 Multicloud Challenges.” We looked at 10 things organizations have dealt with, as well as misconceptions that exist surrounding multicloud. This week we are looking at seven tips all IT professionals should take advantage of to truly experience multicloud success.

The Mobile Security Balancing Act: Boost Productivity Without Sacrificing Security

By Michael Thweatt |   Dec 18, 2018

Enterprise mobility is a key strategic component of any digital transformation strategy. When handled properly, it can help you better serve your customers through both mobile devices and laptops, while also helping your organization clarify its technology efforts with a “digital-first” mindset.

Overcoming the Top 10 Multicloud Challenges

By Kerry Cotter |   Dec 13, 2018

Last week, we published the first blog in this series, titled, “What’s Your Multicloud Strategy?” We looked into key terminology surrounding the topic and then explored multicloud strategy benefits. Some of the benefits discussed included:

3 Key IT Infrastructure Challenges Solved by HPE Gen10 Servers

By Kerry Cotter |   Dec 11, 2018

As the trend toward the digital enterprise surges forward companies of all sizes are facing their respective challenges adapting to the pace of change. The expansion of mobile, social and the Internet of Things means a hike in the demand of IT as a trusted partner more than ever before.

What’s Your Multicloud Strategy?

By Kerry Cotter |   Dec 06, 2018

Have you found an answer to the big question circling across the IT world—How can we create a cloud-like delivery model for our users? The answer is within “digital transformation,” which focuses on efficiently leveraging cloud computing and software defined capabilities (among many other next-gen tech solutions) to be more flexible, agile, and scalable to meet business needs quickly. There are also many opportunities being created within areas like machine learning and IoT that can skyrocket your company's ability to innovate. In order to achieve these things, a flexible and reliable IT infrastructure is a must. Deploying a multicloud strategy creates that reliability while also adding a sophisticated degree of versatility.

Are you Ready for the Intelligent Edge? (Part 2)

By Greg LaBrie |   Dec 04, 2018

One of the reasons why IoT is so vulnerable to attacks is the lack of visibility in what is truly happening in your environment. This is where edge computing comes in. Edge computing is about keeping compute proximal to the physical environment where it is collected in the first place, rather than forwarding everything to the cloud (particularly processing and storage). In the same way that the client/server computing model replaced the mainframe, enterprises are beginning to realize the benefit of a distributed computing model when it comes to IoT. Client/server architecture put processing power in physical proximity of the end user. Edge computing provides a local segmented processing network for IoT devices.

FAQs Regarding Nutanix Enterprise Cloud

By Mark Gabryjelski |   Nov 29, 2018

Nutanix was one of the first hyperconverged infrastructure solutions. People like asking about sizing, scaling, and adding nodes during initial HCI discussions, but hyperconvergence with Nutanix is much more than that. HCI is good for everything from VDI to desktop delivery and mission critical business apps.

Is your Enterprise ready for the Edge? (Part 1)

By Greg LaBrie |   Nov 27, 2018

If your career centers on enterprise architecture, then you are literally watching history repeat itself in real time. Decades ago, enterprise resources and processing power were concentrated within the mainframe and users had to work in close approximation of it. But then, users from the outer perimeters started demanding more capabilities, which translated into more resources where they were—at the edge. This introduced the PC, which decentralized enterprises and transitioned in the era of the client server model that users loved. Once again, the technology cycle is about to repeat itself.

9 Things To Know About Nimble Storage

By Kevin Wood |   Nov 22, 2018

Flash or solid-state drive technology is seen commonly in devices such as smartphones, laptops, and servers, but it has also revolutionized the storage array landscape. Flash storage has increased in adoption due to its operational and economic benefits. Nimble Storage is a market leader in the storage space. Nimble Storage is built around reducing risk, improving reliability, and maximizing the productivity of your infrastructure and IT teams, while also giving your enterprise a competitive edge and making employees’ jobs easier. 

Cisco ACI: An SDN Solution for Digital Transformation

By Greg LaBrie |   Nov 20, 2018

Companies live in an environment today in which the “time to value” is diminishing constantly. In order to attain continuous profitability, IT managers and their staffs must focus on strategic value added projects rather than dissipate their time with routine maintenance of the existing infrastructure. Multiple studies point out that routine maintenance is currently consuming as much as 80% of IT budgets. Simply put, IT Managers must find a new paradigm that can deliver their organization to the promised land.

Aruba ClearPass – Profiles, Health checks, Segmentation, and more

By Victor Fabian |   Nov 15, 2018

Recently I was talking to the network manager of a school district in Georgia. The district had just experienced a large scale malware attack. It started in the transportation department, which had refused to let go of some outdated machines that were susceptible to the EternalBlue windows vulnerability, made famous by the WannaCry and NotPetya malware encryption attacks last summer.

Supercharge your Hybrid IT Strategy with Flash Storage

By Jay Cardin |   Nov 13, 2018

Software as a service and many other digital business models have never been the same since the possibility of leveraging hybrid IT. Thanks to it, an organization can deliver services in a more optimized, balanced, automated, granular, and flexible fashion.

Reality Check: Is your Digital Transformation Strategy Effective?

By David Fafel |   Nov 08, 2018

According to a report by Gartner in 2016, 50% of CEO’s expect their industries to be substantially or unrecognizably transformed by digital transformation¹. The underlying scope of this proclamation is that the companies that successfully compete in this new economy will have substantially or unrecognizably transformed themselves as well. These IT leaders expect change, dramatic change. They are faced with the immense task of augmenting their organizational processes and shifting the cultural mindset towards innovation. The key to success here is leveraging the power of digital technologies to create that change. There are two choices today—adapt to change or create it.

Competing in the Idea Economy Requires Data Center Transformation

By Shane Garrett |   Nov 06, 2018

The idea economy (a term coined by HPE) represents a new paradigm, where a company (of any size) can add value and disrupt the market faster than ever—thanks to the advancement of the public cloud, mobile devices, social media, and big data analytics. Transforming your data center into an agile, hyper-connected enterprise IT environment that can handle the challenges of the idea economy will require some investment. But that investment is probably less than you might think and there are multiple ways to approach financing that won’t break the bank.

3 Steps for a Successful 2-Node Direct Connect VSAN ROBO Cluster Deployment

By Mark Hargreaves |   Nov 01, 2018

VMware vSAN is a leading software defined storage solution on the market today. Simple yet powerful, vSAN offers intelligent hyperconverged storage architecture that facilitates complete utilization of compute and storage resources, delivering them through a virtual common platform. This structural design not only initiates transformational change in how you host data, but also powers the leading hyperconverged infrastructure solutions today that is transforming data centers across the globe.

Defend Your Enterprise Network with Micro-Segmentation

By Greg LaBrie |   Oct 30, 2018

Data center architectures have continually evolved to meet the needs of mobile, social, big data, and cloud applications--and enterprise security solutions have evolved as well to support the new security needs of these applications in distributed data centers.

Secure the Edge: 5 FAQs About Aruba ClearPass

By Victor Fabian |   Oct 25, 2018

Today’s workers are experiencing more freedom thanks to the explosive adoption of mobile devices in the enterprise. However, with an increasing amount of devices connecting to the network, IT administrators now have an overwhelming amount of information to monitor, and most of the time there are gaps in visibility to all of the devices trying to connect to the network. Aruba Clearpass offers your IT department a way to protect your data while allowing authorized users the ability to access information on the go or in the office.

What Customers Are Saying About HPE SimpliVity (IDC Study)

By Jay Cardin |   Oct 23, 2018

IDC completed a web survey involving 83 end users that have purchased and deployed Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) SimpliVity solutions in their organizations. IDC also gathered qualitative data by conducting in-depth phone interviews with three customers using SimpliVity in production environments. This post aims to share the results of those surveys to show you what customers are saying first hand.

6 Scale-out Storage Pitfalls to Avoid

By Jay Cardin |   Oct 18, 2018

New buzz words tend to come and go, especially as enterprise storage vendors promote their offerings to prospective customers. A few years’ back, we started to hear a lot about scale-out storage vs. scale-up storage. The popularity of scale-out storage has since grown, as have the questions about the difference between scale-up, scale-out, and related terms like hyperconverged and converged infrastructures.

Managing Ransomware Attacks: The Best Offense Is A Good Defense

By Michael Thweatt |   Oct 16, 2018

Popping up on prime time television and local news reports, ransomware is so commonplace it has practically become a household phrase. The frequent attacks have made it a focus area for many enterprises because high-profile attacks against them have risen dramatically in the past few years.

The Ultimate Checklist for Preparing for Hybrid Cloud

By Joshua Satrape |   Oct 11, 2018

As we discussed in our white paper, “Augmenting and Enhancing Your Existing Network with a Hybrid Cloud,” there are many advantages of a hybrid cloud model such as greater levels of redundancy and elasticity. To acquire the advantages that a hybrid cloud offers requires a lot of planning and preparation. We have compiled a comprehensive checklist to aid you in the preparation of your deployment.

Protecting Flash Environments with HPE Nimble Storage

By Jay Cardin |   Oct 09, 2018

The face of data storage in enterprise data centers has changed in the past few years with the rise to prominence of solid-state, or flash, storage. This advancement of storage technology has now become so widespread among enterprise IT infrastructures around the world that 49% of organizations surveyed by the Enterprise Strategy Group indicated they already use flash technology, and another 38% have made plans to or are currently investigating the technology.

How to Successfully Think About and Evaluate Enterprise Storage Decisions

By Jay Cardin |   Oct 04, 2018

Last week we published part one of this two-part blog series, “How to Successfully Navigate Enterprise Storage Sizing and Pricing Issues.” This week, we will focus on challenges related to how to think about enterprise storage and how to evaluate it.

5 Things to Know about HPE Synergy

By Jay Cardin |   Oct 02, 2018

Today’s IT leaders are at a crossroads. Behind them, there’s a long legacy of hardware and software deployment decisions that have served the business well for years. But new business requirements and application development methods have begun to test the status quo, and as they seek to modernize, they will face several difficult decisions. IT leaders can either commit to the cloud, go all in with on-premises infrastructure or evaluate something entirely new.

How to Navigate Enterprise Storage Sizing and Pricing Issues

By Jay Cardin |   Sep 27, 2018

Despite the growing popularity of cloud-based workloads, many companies’ own enterprise data centers keep thriving and growing. Among these on-going investments is the need to upgrade or replace an organization’s current enterprise storage. Often considered the central cog in a data center network, enterprise storage plays a key custodial role in housing many organizations’ mission-critical data assets.

IT News: HPE Gains Plexxi Software Defined Networking

By Kerry Cotter |   Sep 25, 2018

In case you missed it: HPE announced some major news for the IT industry with the acquisition of Plexxi, a software-defined network provider, and will be rolling out its new product offerings at the end of this month. What does this acquisition mean for enterprises?

Deploying Windows 10 Using VMware Horizon View

By Joshua Satrape |   Sep 20, 2018

Mainstream support ended for Windows 7 in 2015 and it will be entirely phased out by 2020. Windows 10 is the new standard for companies seeking to have the most current, up-to-date operating system. Many large organizations looking to upgrade usually either wait until they have a hardware refresh cycle or it winds up being a long process involving Microsoft Model-Based Testing (MDT) or something similar. With Horizon View, it becomes a lot easier to upgrade because you can build out a brand new desktop pool based on Windows 10 and then deploy that pool to all your users overnight or even within minutes instantaneously with insta-clone technology. VMware Horizon view is the go to for deploying Windows 10 in the enterprise.

How Do VMware NSX and Fortinet FortiGate Work Together?

By Greg LaBrie |   Sep 18, 2018

With an increasing number of enterprises investing in digital transformation and the software defined data center (SDDC), IT leaders are getting accustomed to managing overwhelming large volumes of data and business applications. With this shift, network security is proving to be a foundational (and required) layer when it comes to building the data center needed to drive business of today.

4 Steps to Maintain Proper Visibility with Containers

By David Fafel |   Sep 13, 2018

Did you know that 34% of IT Decision Makers reported they are concerned with adopting containers due to a lack of full visibility?¹

5 Benefits of HPE Synergy [Composable Infrastructure]

By Jay Cardin |   Sep 11, 2018

One of the biggest struggles with managing an enterprise data center is the need for various tools with multiple interfaces to manage the different systems associated with IT. This struggle is compounded with the fact that each of these data center systems do not talk to each out of the box, and complex integrations begin to take over. HPE Synergy addresses this challenge by delivering an infrastructure that can manage the technical, as well as the organizational side by combining storage, compute, and network equipment into one.

Using Containers? Here are 7 Benefits of Visibility Tools.

By David Fafel |   Sep 06, 2018

Why Containers

Containers are best known for their role in simplifying application development, providing a disposable, reusable unit to modularize delivery, and bring consistency to virtually every development stage. They have demonstrated an ability to move DevOps forward by transforming the way development and infrastructure teams operate, and they have helped these teams move ever closer to continuous delivery. However, managing containers presents an entirely new challenge for most organizations. Containers, by their very nature, rely on shared resources. These may range from operating systems and application files to hosting resources including memory and CPU. When left unchecked, container use can lead to sprawl and may result in resource drain. With hooks into so many different areas, there is a strong incentive to know precisely what these containers are doing, what resources they are consuming, and how they are utilizing the network.

Tips for Planning your next Enterprise Storage Decision

By Jay Cardin |   Sep 04, 2018

Despite the growing popularity of cloud-based storage, many enterprises have seen that their data centers keep thriving and growing. Companies that seek increased governance, security and protection of their data continue to invest in their own on-prem data center environments, especially when it comes to storage.

What is the VMware VCDX Certification and Why is it Critical?

By Kerry Cotter |   Aug 30, 2018

What is the VCDX Certification?

VMware is a leading software and services company focused on cloud computing and virtualization. It also develops and accredits some of the most prestigious certifications in the industry. These certifications are referred to as VCDX certifications. VCDX stands for VMware Certified Design Expert. This is for those that have earned a top tier certification from a VMware panel. For example, Cisco CCIE has always been recognized as a highly coveted certification in the networking discipline and VCDX is the equivalent in the virtualization space. Some people even think of this like getting a Ph.D. in virtualization. There are only 269 VCDXs across the globe. There are not very many VCDXs in the New England region and Mark Gabryjelski, WEI's Virtualization Architect & Ambassador, is the only VCDX in New Hampshire. He is VCDX #23.

3 Reasons Why You Need To Choose Fortinet for SD-WAN Needs

By Greg LaBrie |   Aug 28, 2018

With the rise of digital transformation in today’s modern workplace, traditional Wide Area Network solutions are unable to keep up with enterprise demands. A growing number of organizations are moving their data and applications to a cloud environment, which means they are increasing their bandwidth use - resulting in network congestion and rising costs, as well as growing security concerns. It is for these reasons SD-WAN (software defined wide area network) is a compelling and attainable alternative; however, most SD-WAN solutions are not as secure as enterprises need them to be, with add-on security offerings that pose a risk by creating a fragmented solution.

10 Steps To Prepare for Containers [Infographic]

By David Fafel |   Aug 23, 2018

Containers are the next level of virtualization and they are here to stay. There are many reasons enterprises adopt containers. The top three reasons include:

8 Questions to Ask About Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)

By Jay Cardin |   Aug 21, 2018

Many organizations are intrigued by the concept of Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). The biggest lure? You may no longer have to pay capital costs to set up and staff a secondary data center in order to recover systems after a disaster. In the days before cloud, having dual data center sites was one of the few ways to ensure rapid recovery of systems after a disaster. However, due to its cost, it was an option typically reserved for large companies or those in highly regulated fields. Disaster Recovery as a Service now makes secondary storage available to many small-to-midrange organizations, and what’s more, DRaaS providers offer many different variations on the theme of cloud-based recovery. [click to tweet] 

Is VMware vSAN a Hyperconverged Infrastructure Solution?

By Joshua Satrape |   Aug 16, 2018

If you are considering the idea of a Hyperconverged Infrastructure Solution for your enterprise, consider this, VMware debuted as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for HCI in 2018. It’s solution is also the fastest growing HCI solution in the world today. This should all come as no surprise for those familiar with the company behind the industry’s leading virtualization platform. VMware has paired the hypervisor that transformed data centers across the globe with their software defined storage solution, vSAN. Combined with their unified management solution, vCenter, VMware has created an HCI solution that accounted for 33% of HCI market revenue in the first half of 2017, making it the largest software vendor in the market. 

How to Overcome Data Security Challenges of A Multi-Cloud Model

By Kerry Cotter |   Aug 14, 2018

 Within the last few years, there has been a dramatic shift in how enterprises manage their data. Many are leaving the in-house servers behind as their only source of data management and using some mixture of cloud computing. [click to tweet] As it sounds, multi-cloud model uses multiple cloud computing and storage services within a single architecture.

Introducing Cisco Secure Agile Exchange (SAE)

By Josh Cronin |   Aug 09, 2018

As companies grow and cloud models change and develop, whether you have AWS or Azure, most people aren't finding that they use one single cloud provider and stick with them. They use clouds from multiple providers, creating a hybrid cloud environment with multiple data centers. When you mix public clouds into this strategy, whether it be AWS, Azure, or Google, it is important to realize that every time a cloud connection is made there is usually connectivity back to your sites as well. You have that increased traffic flow and you have to consider how you're connecting, managing, and securing it.

4 Benefits of VMware vSAN For Your Enterprise

By Joshua Satrape |   Aug 07, 2018

By now you’ve heard about VMware vSAN—a software defined storage (SDS) solution that combines direct storage devices across a vSphere cluster to create a shared data area distributed across an enterprise network. With vSAN, the user is able to decide on the storage requirements, performance and availability and makes sure the policies put in place are upheld. These are not the only benefits of using VMware  vSAN. Keep reading to discover four ways your enterprise can benefit from it.

Extending vSphere to the Public cloud

By Mark Gabryjelski |   Aug 02, 2018

VMware’s vSphere, the composition of vCenter and its ESXi hosts used to run workloads and containers, has experienced dominance in the IT landscape. There has been talk for years about extending a vSphere environment into the world of public cloud and not being required to run all of this separately through other means. There are many ways to achieve a cloud strategy, and fortunately, VMware accomplishes all of this with vSphere. This post focuses on one of the ways to achieve this type of public cloud strategy with VMware Cloud, which offers VMware on Amazon Web Services (AWS). This is a full SDDC (Software Defined Data Center) offering covering compute, storage, and networking capabilities.

Step up your Security Game with Fortinet Security Fabric

By Greg LaBrie |   Jul 31, 2018

With the expansion of the Internet of Things, the BYOD movement and emerging wireless technologies, you may be realizing its time to invest in a more modern approach to networking security in order to stay competitive, and secure, in the global environment.

HPE Infosight: AI for the data center

By Greg LaBrie |   Jul 26, 2018

The truth is that data center management has never been more challenging, and it’s only getting harder. Increased data center complexity produces an alarming rate of challenging problems. Complex infrastructure issues are impossible to effectively manage with traditional analytics and support methods. Conventional tools aren’t smart enough to recognize why complex problems occur and how to resolve them. Data centers are unable to run at optimal levels with excessive manual tuning and guesswork. Fortunately, there is a new tool for the data center.