In our first update for 2013 we've asked each of our technical teams to provide an overview of the changes they have seen over the past year and what they will be focusing on in the next months.

1. UPDATE 2012
2013
www.eacs.com | e: information@eacs.com| t: 0800 8047 256
www.eacs.com e: information@eacs.com t: 0800 8047 256
ISSUE ONE
Leave employees to their Case Study: Robust Disaster Recovery The Great Could you benefit from
own devices – P2 & Business Continuity – P5 Email Migration – P7 Proactive IT Monitoring? – P8
Case Study: A High Definition The Complete Solution for Enterprise Matt Watts: IT – The Service Broker, An Award
Experience in the Classroom – Page 5 Mobile Management – Page 2 Builder or Blocker – Page 7 Winning Solution – Page 9
W
As we enter the Olympic year of predicted that Mobility will be the top
IN
theme of the year as mobile devices are
!
on the past 12 months and what
W
might happen this year.
In our first update for 2013
2 to 1 and generate more revenue than
and social technologies. This You can also read about other IN
we’ve asked each of our
With this in mind each of our more supplement 1st Platform
will employees using these devices organisations who have been !
technical teams to provide an
technical teams has provided an (mainframes) and 2nd Platform using IT solutions to achieve their
overviewthe changes they have
update on of the changes they (distributed computing) solutions
need to keep up with emerging security business goals, including expanding
threats. in the market today.
already their range of services, reducing
have seen over the past year
some of our customers have their environmental impact and
and what they will be focusing We will look at some of the ensuring they can quickly recover
on in the next months. and
realised from recent projects solutions built on this 3rd Platform from disruptions and disasters.
what their predictions are for 2012. ways you can protect your data, the new
such as hosted desktops, file-
According to IDC we are in the Bring Your Own (BYO) business model
sharing and email management in I hope to see you at one of you...
coming to a location near our
midst of a once every 20-25 years and the top mobilewe will highlight
the cloud. Then security predictions Optimise IT events this year.
shift to a new technology platform for 2012.
the challenges they have raised FOR THE CHANCE TO
for growth and innovation. They Regards,
priorities they found that Security
call it the 3rd Platform, built on
mobile devices and apps, cloud
for IT departments around
Plus, make sure you register to attend
management, security and user
expectations and how to deal with
Mike Dearlove WIN
services, mobile broadband these.
Managing Director, EACS A TRIP IN A HOT
networks, big data analytics AIR BALLOON
Have you booked your place PLEASE TURN TO THE
BACK PAGE!
Optimise IT 2013
at Optimise IT in 2012?
makers considering their IT strategy
and infrastructure and we have
received fantastic feedback from our
delegates: “This is the only IT seminar type event I
– Reserve Your Place!
Last year we took our annual Optimise
IT conference and exhibition on tour
Why Attend?
Hear insightful keynote speeches
This year we will be taking our event to
“Having a day away from the office to
even more locations, so make sure you
actually focus on IT, something I rarely
attend each year, and I always find I get
the information I need.” IT Operations
from industry leaders reserve your place at one near you... Manager
Optimise IT 2013 will take the opportunity to network with get an opportunity to do…was very
so many of you and I hope everyone Select from focused breakout
place on Wednesday 1st May at IT Managers and Directors from refreshing.” IT Manager To reserve your place and find out
an exciting new location - The
sessions on major IT and
other organisations. Plus, you will ruary – Luton more please visit
lot from the day – the feedback was business issues “What a fantastic event; many
Imperial War Museum, Duxford, be provided with a complimentary www.optimiseitevent.com.
Network and share ideas with like interesting and current sessions,
Cambridge. The exhibition and lunch and refreshments -and have
knowledgeable experts on the stands,
keynote speeches will be held in the chance to winprofessionals
minded senior IT a number of
These events are open to all business and generally lots of nice folk who love
the Conservation Hall amongst prizesa wide range of exhibitors,
Visit on the day.
and technical decision makers see live demonstrations of cutting- technology in the business.” IT Director
the aircraft exhibits!
considering their IT strategy and Our “on tour” events will continue
edge technology and evaluate
infrastructure. They provide and with
Our flagship conference you around the country for those who
new products
exhibition has been running for
a focused opportunity to learn how can’t make it to leading suppliers
Meet industry Cambridge. These
leading10 years and is an incredibly
over edge technology and solutions give youface opportunity to see the
face to the
focused and productive day
can improve your business and how most popular breakouts from our
It’s FREE to attend and lunch
todesigned to add value toyour
get the most return from your main event and will take place on:
is included
investment. IT strategy.
2013/14
Ÿ 12 June – London
Via keynotes, workshops, 50+ To register visit www.eacs.com/events.aspx
Ÿ 17 September - Birmingham
focused breakout sessions and a
vendor exhibition area you will learn Ÿ 10 October - Ipswich
about exciting developments with
some of the top companies in the IT Ÿ 12 November - Doncaster
industry, including Microsoft, Citrix, These FREE events are open to
VMware & NetApp. There is also all business and technical decision
Desktop &
Desktop & PAGE
PAGE
Server Virtualisation PAGE
Server Virtualisation PAGE Control &
Control & PAGE
PAGE
Services
Services PAGE
PAGE
Application Delivery 2-5
Application Delivery 2-3 & Infrastructure 6-8
& Infrastructure visit 4-5 Collaboration
Collaboration 9-11
6-7 && Support
Support 12
8
To register www.eacs.com/events.aspx

2. Desktop &
Application Delivery
Update from the Desktop &
the advances in VDI support
gives us a real third player in the
Desktop Virtualisation space.
Application Delivery Team Ÿ Citrix’s Project Avalon looks
to be a dramatic change in the
Citrix product set. With the
The focus of this work has also complete disappearance of
changed, moving away from the XenApp as a separate product,
classic server based computing it’s now well and truly just a sub
approach and concentrating more component of XenDesktop with
heavily on desktop virtualisation a single management interface
and alternative application delivery to manage and administer all
technologies, such as application components.
streaming. The largest uptake
Citrix’s CloudGateway product
we have seen in this area is in the
has also progressed onto v2, which
education sector where we have
represents a big step forward in
successfully delivered a number
functionality enabling us to securely
of medium to large scale, virtual
deliver web and Windows apps,
desktop solutions.
desktops and data to any device.
Technology obviously hasn’t stood
During all this upheaval we have still,
still with several significant events
amazingly, been able to continue
occurring, not least of which was the
with staff development activities
release of Windows Server 2012
with new team members attaining
RTM and Citrix’s Project Avalon
Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer
Tech Preview.
(CCEE) status, refreshing XenApp
Ÿ With Server 2012 came Hyper-V certifications and starting along the
v3 and RDS v8 both of which new Microsoft Certified Solution
The watchword twelve months to describe our work this year it will be key technologies for Expert (MCSE) certification path
ago was ‘change’ with a dramatic would be ‘busy’. The volume of Microsoft in the Desktop and (not to be confused with the old
refresh in technologies; this has work coming into the team has Application Delivery arena. Certified Engineer accreditation).
led on to 2012 being a year for simply been staggering, to the These begin to narrow the lead
implementing that change. If extent that we have doubled our that VMware & Citrix have in
we were to pick a single word technical implementation team. their respective areas and with
The Complete Solution for Enterprise Mobile Management
Our Desktop & Application
Delivery Team examines some
of the technologies now available
from Citrix which allow people
to work efficiently in today’s
mobile world...
Citrix has been the leading solution
for remote and mobile working
for a number of years via their
XenDesktop and XenApp solutions.
This has mainly been for
Microsoft applications, but as
the world continues to embrace
consumerisation we now have
numerous devices and applications
to make our lives easier.
The task for IT Teams has been
daunting. They need to manage
these devices and applications,
whilst maintaining company data.
Citrix believes you should be able
to work and play from anywhere,
with anyone and on any device. To
accomplish this they have designed
a true ‘end to end’ list of solutions.
These include:
Ÿ ShareFile – an Enterprise
solution that takes away
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3. Desktop &
Application Delivery
the pain of file-sharing and makes it simple and cost- experience of Citrix Receiver. solution to:
allows you to gain control of effective to collaborate online
CloudGateway also provides Ÿ Enable BYO to provide on-the-
your shared data. Data can with colleagues and customers.
identity-based provisioning and go productivity on any device
be shared and monitored Meeting participants can
control for all apps, data and
via cloud or your own onsite share their webcams in high Ÿ Provide instant access to all
devices, including employee-
StorageZone. definition, so you can enjoy business apps and data from
owned devices. This allows IT to
more personal interactions – anywhere
Ÿ Podio - a collaborative work protect enterprise apps and data
without needing a complicated
platform where you can build with policy-based controls, such Ÿ Deliver secure mobile email
setup.
apps and set up workspaces as restricting access to authorised with a great user experience
to support your preferred Finally Citrix CloudGateway is an users, automatic account de-
workflows and help you be Enterprise Mobility Management provisioning for terminated Ÿ Mobilise any corporate app
more effective. Easily manage (EMM) solution that securely employees and remote wipe for securely, with full IT control
projects and other business delivers mobile, web and Microsoft data and apps stored on lost If you would like to know more
processes and interact with apps and data to any device. It has devices. register to attend one of our
clients, partners and team a self-service enterprise app store events at
Unlike traditional Mobile Device
members, anytime, anywhere. that provides employees with www.eacs.com/events.aspx.
Management and Mobile
access to business apps and data,
Ÿ GoToMeeting - web Application Management,
leveraging the consistent, rich user
conferencing software which CloudGateway provides a single
Everything as a Service for SMEs
Cloud computing is part integration and virtualisation
of the latest phase in the of computer resources, which
development of the internet, eliminates users’ dependence
which enables the use of all IT on hardware. All of this is made
components (from computing possible by the basic principle of
infrastructure, applications and EaaS (Everything as a Service)
business processes to personal or use of all IT components as a
collaboration) as services – in service for a single monthly fee.
exactly the volume that an
Clients receive the use of
individual element needs.
networking equipment, a
Cloud computing is an efficient computer, an IP phone, software
answer to modern trends in the and technical support. Data is
business world that demand stored on servers in a highly
optimisation of IT operations and secure data centre provided
(partial or total) outsourcing of by a certified provider. Clients
IT to external providers. Thus, can access their data from any
maintenance costs, investments location and on any device.
in equipment and the need for
This solution is intended for small
internal IT experts are considerably
and medium-sized enterprises
reduced.
that want to optimise the
The essence of the technology performance of their entire IT
is that computing resources system and, at the same time,
(applications, data, disks, clients, realise financial savings, enabling
safety mechanisms, etc.) are them to focus exclusively on their
no longer located on the user’s business activity.
computer, but instead are
combined in a safe place at the So why choose hosted desktops? • Single IT supplier • All the essential software:
specialised provider’s location. As Microsoft Windows, Microsoft
• Instant IT set-up with no initial • Greater flexibility
these resources are not directly Office
investment
connected to real infrastructure, • More time for your professional
• Business specific programs:
they can function independently of • Considerably lower regular IT activity
accounting, CRM applications,
each other, and the users become costs
• Mobility, as cloud computing Microsoft SQL, ERP and legacy
independent of hardware, since
• A single fixed monthly bill for the enables working from anywhere programmes
they access their IT resources via
entire IT service and any time
remote servers. • Licenses, upgrades and
• Extra savings in space and protection against viruses and
The term ‘cloud computing’ What’s included?
electricity consumption trojans
encompasses several different The provision and set up of:
models, the best known are: IaaS • Employees can focus on what • Security for data and backups
(Infrastructure as a Service), SaaS they do best, as they do not need • A thin client, monitor and
(Software as a Service), PaaS keyboard for every workstation For further information, please
to deal with IT issues
(Platform as a Service) and DaaS call EACS on 0800 8047 256.
• Completely customisable system • An IP phone and all-in-one
(Desktop as a Service).
which enables high flexibility printer, scanner and copier
Advanced cloud computing
• 100% protection from data loss • Virtual desktops, server space
technology is based on the
and e-mail accounts
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4. Desktop &
Application Delivery
EACS and Signify: A Secure Partnership
generates a random one time
password (OTP). Today, Signify also
offers software tokens that turn a
smartphone or other mobile device
into the token that generates
the OTP, along with a tokenless
solution that sends an OTP via SMS
on demand to the user’s mobile.
This means companies can
select the type of authentication
that suits each of their user’s
requirements and working
patterns. For example, hardware
and software tokens are often
the best choice for frequent
users, while the tokenless SMS
solution may work better for those
that need occasional access to
corporate resources.
EACS has partnered with Signify, approach to take advantage of the EACS has worked with Signify for The ‘hidden costs’ of in-house
an independent provider of rapidly growing market for secure over ten years, providing 2FA to 2FA are often overlooked. Token
two-factor authentication (2FA) remote access. A hosted service its clients, securing home working, provisioning, for example is
solutions, since 2002. Below we eliminates the upfront costs and connecting satellite offices and an important cost to consider.
look at how the need for 2FA need for organisations to invest in delivering anytime, anywhere This means the deployment of
solutions has evolved over the additional infrastructure and skills remote access for people on new tokens to individuals in
last ten years... to roll out an in-house solution. the move. Signify’s secure the organisation who could be
authentication service is used by anywhere in the world; dealing
In 2002 EACS recognised “It soon became clear that Signify
many EACS customers and is able with issuing replacements for lost
the increasing importance of was the obvious choice,” said Mike
to boast a 95% customer retention tokens and deployment of new
two-factor authentication, a Dearlove, Managing Director
rate. With more and more staff tokens during the expiry process.
secure alternative to passwords, at EACS. “The company had a
working remotely it is vital that
for securing remote access to proven fully-hosted service that To download a 2FA Buyers Guide
employers have security in place
networks, data and applications. would enable us to quickly and aimed at providing you with
to identify and authenticate
2FA uses two independent easily get our customers up and information and guidance to help
users and ensure that they have
credentials to verify the identity running with 2FA. What’s more, you determine whether your
authorisation to access sensitive
of staff working remotely. Most the established track record gave organisation needs to deploy 2FA
information and resources.
commonly, 2FA is “something you us the confidence that it would and the options available, please visit
know” plus “something you have.” not let our customers down. The Signify service has evolved www.eacs.com/newsletter.aspx.
Reliability is so important when it over this time. It initially
EACS had been offering clients a
comes to a managed service and provided hardware token based
2FA solution but quickly realised
it would be our reputation on the authentication as an on-demand
that providing customers with
line if customers experienced any service where users have a physical
an easy-to-deploy and manage
problems.” token in the form of a key fob that
hosted service was the best
ShareFile StorageZones
– Gives you peace of mind about where your data is stored
If part of your business strategy 4. Or a combination of these find its way into the wrong hands.
is to make data available to users
If “Follow me Data” is one of The concept of StorageZones is
wherever they are, but you’re
your business strategies but powerful, and when incorporated
uncomfortable with how you
you’re nervous about placing with the Citrix Unified StoreFront
maintain control and security,
your data in the Cloud, ShareFile (new generation WI) it delivers
ShareFile from Citrix could be
with StorageZones could be the full integration with XenApp &
the answer.
solution. It delivers data to all XenDesktop offering a complete
With ShareFile you now have a smart devices so you can share files Desktop as a Service solution,
choice of where you hold your securely on tablets, smart phones, whether that is on or off premise. It demand from users to access data
data. Unlike other file sharing laptops (including Windows 8) provides the opportunity to reduce and to locate that data closer to
technologies you can: and in the Citrix way – any device, IT costs whilst delivering a state their users. Ensuring that access is
anywhere, but you don’t need to be of the art IT service incorporating simple, but also that they maintain
1. Define where Citrix stores
a Citrix user. What’s more, there Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) compliance are key issues for
your data
is an audit trail with management solutions with full flexibility. customers. Delivering this level of
2. Build your own StorageZone reporting so you know who’s doing control and security offers a really
on premise The main drivers for StorageZones
what and where. Plus, if that device unique solution.
are fundamentally compliance
3. Work with a trusted partner is ever lost or stolen “Remote
and performance. It allows Find out more at an EACS event
to host your StorageZone Wipe” will ensure data does not
organisations to meet increasing Visit www.eacs.com/events.aspx
4 www.eacs.com | e: information@eacs.com | t: 0800 8047 256 twitter.com/EACSLTD

5. Desktop &
Application Delivery
CASE STUDY
A High Definition Experience in the Classroom
Thomas Deacon
Academy opened in
September 2007 and
houses approximately
2,200 students ranging
from ages 11–19.
The Academy embraced
IT and was held up as an
example to other educational
establishments for its innovative
use and widespread adoption
of thin client technologies.
“Thin client is clearly the way
forward for IT in educational
establishments,” explained
Thomas Deacon Academy’s IT
Manager, Martin Byford-Rew.
“It is an extremely affordable,
flexible and expandable
solution that combines solid and
reliable performance with low
maintenance and cost overheads.” The Solution
The EACS solution was based “As well as reducing the time taken to into the classroom which enhances
around Citrix XenDesktop running install and deploy new applications, the learning experience and expands
The Challenge on Microsoft Windows server with Citrix XenDesktop is easier to run student knowledge outside of the
Hyper-V. and support, provides a consistent normal curriculum, our new solution
After five years, the Academy’s and uniform interface, and allows us allows us to provide additional
IT infrastructure was beginning With well over 1,000 devices
to maximise our budgets,” said Martin courses in technology, including
to show its age. “Time moves throughout the Academy, Martin
Byford-Rew. programming,” commented Martin
on, requirements change and Byford-Rew was aware of the issues
Byford-Rew. “The infrastructure is
technology progresses. The of managing and updating operating “Citrix XenDesktop is a desktop
easy to manage, thanks to the training
capabilities, features and facilities systems and applications. The virtualisation solution that transforms
and knowledge share provided by
that our infrastructure could inclusion of Provisioning Services Windows desktops and applications
EACS, and as EACS has now taken
deliver were falling short of our (PVS) ensured that the Academy into an on-demand service available
responsibility for the maintenance
requirement.” said Martin Byford- could decouple the operating to any user, anywhere, on any
and support of the overall
Rew. systems, applications and data from device,” explained Mike Dearlove,
infrastructure, our IT team can focus
the underlying PC hardware and EACS Managing Director. “This,
The Academy had refined the on more strategic projects.”
move to a datacentre where they combined with the Citrix HDX
courses on offer and expanded could be centrally managed. Instead technology, which delivers a high As well as maximising its budgets
its range to include programming of juggling thousands of static definition desktop virtualisation through desktop virtualisation,
– something that could not desktop images, the Academy’s IT user experience which balances the Academy is able to expand the
be realistically supported on department could now manage performance with low bandwidth, infrastructure to support additional
the existing infrastructure. and update the operating system provided Thomas Deacon Academy classrooms without substantial
Additionally, an expansion in and applications once, and from a with a solution that could be investment – a future proof solution
multimedia requirements also single location, before delivering enhanced and adapted as the described by Martin Byford-Rew
highlighted the shortfalls of the desktops and applications customised Academy’s objectives evolve over as “pay as you grow”, and has also
incumbent solution and, following to meet the performance, security time.” been able make further savings by
analysis of possible alternatives, and mobility requirements of each reconfiguring its older PCs as thin
Thomas Deacon Academy Working closely together and
individual student. client devices.
decided to upgrade its desktop against tight deadlines, EACS and the
virtualisation infrastructure with Simplified centralised management Academy’s internal IT department “Across the Academy, staff have been
Citrix XenDesktop. and control of the infrastructure completed the infrastructure upgrade so impressed with the performance,
has freed up the Academy’s IT staff over a five week period during the functionality and graphics support
“One of the prerequisites of from time-consuming maintenance academy’s summer holiday. that they have asked us to migrate
the project was to deliver quick and support, allowing them to the remaining teaching PCs to the
and responsive full screen, high Now live, Thomas Deacon Academy’s
concentrate on developing and same technology,” continued Martin
definition video graphics into solution is already delivering the
delivering additional IT services to Byford-Rew. “The entire project has
the classroom,” explained Martin increased performance and graphic
support the Academy’s ambitious been a great success and we are
Byford-Rew. capabilities that are needed to
projects, whilst the consistent and already working closely with EACS
keep the Academy at the forefront
familiar interface allows all pupils and looking at expanding our use of
of advances in the use of IT as a
and teachers to access required Citrix XenDesktop into other areas.”
component part of the educational
applications and data quickly and
process. To download the full case study,
easily, increasing confidence in the
please visit
system. “In addition to ensuring the delivery
www.eacs.com/newsletter.aspx.
of full screen multimedia capabilities
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6. Server Virtualisation
& Infrastructure
Update from the Virtualisation
The move to cloud based
environments, with the exception
of backups, has not had the impact
& Infrastructure Team
we thought it would. Interest has
certainly been there but companies
appear to want to keep their own
environment for production, but
As the demands organisations of resilience without the need for a many solutions which use these possibly use the cloud for Disaster
place on their IT infrastructures Storage Area Network (SAN). We technologies, with capacities Recovery protection. We continue
continue to grow at a fast pace, believe this type of protection will ranging from a few Terabytes to to monitor the trends in this area.
the need for an agile 24/7 become very popular during 2013. several Petabytes.
environment has led to the design With regard to the Virtualisation
In addition to the above data NetApp continues to be our and Infrastructure team, this year
and implementation of projects
protection solutions, products like storage vendor of choice and looks like it will be an exciting and
that are required to meet many
Veeam continue to develop and 2013 will see the take up of Ontap busy one. We will continue to
challenges.
add features which are simple to Cluster Mode which we are provide strategic solutions and
Although technologies don’t change deploy and protect VMware or scheduled to deploy early in the services on all scales to meet the
as much in this arena as they do in Hyper-V environments. New Year. far ranging demands customers
the application world, the need for make on their IT Infrastructures.
The thirst for storage capacity and 2013 will see the hypervisor battle
simple Business Continuity and New technologies will continue
performance, if anything, is getting heat up, in particular, between
Disaster Recovery solutions is one to be demonstrated giving your
greater but storage vendors have Microsoft and VMware. There is no
area that has grown in demand. business the opportunity to stay
responded with new technologies, doubt that the release of Microsoft
Customers have always wanted or improvements for existing ones, Windows Server 2012 has helped at the forefront of the technology
to implement the technology which include storage tiering, in this area, its ability to integrate lifecycle and reap the associated
but the expense can be seen as de-duplication, compression, SSD’s with the complete Microsoft business rewards.
prohibitive, especially in the SME and 3TB SATA disks. System Center suite provides
market. However hypervisors are customers with a comprehensive
The Virtualisation and
now providing replication or virtual Private Cloud environment from a
Infrastructure team has deployed
storage appliances that offer a level single vendor.
Seven Questions to Determine Your such as laptops, tablets and
smartphones?
Cloud Backup and Recovery Needs
5. Internal or external hosting:
Do multiple developers and
external contracts need to have
access and interact with the
development process of my data?
6. Accessing Technology: Do I
have the ability to recover
my data or do I need a third
party vendor to ensure it is
recoverable?
7. Payment: Do I prefer fixed
cost of annual payment or
fluctuating cost of pay as you
go plans?
Once you’ve answered these
questions, you should also
determine what type of software
platform a service provider’s cloud
Managing data has become one of must be backed-up wherever it storing in - public vs. private vs. backup service runs on and how
the most important and complex is located, protected/encrypted, hybrid (public & private) cloud it best suits your business. The
IT challenges for businesses of stored and made available to ownership? technology the service provider
all sizes. With the proliferation the organisation whenever and uses to power your cloud backup
of endpoint devices throughout wherever it is needed – whether to 2. Responsibility: Do I want to service has to be the right fit for
the organisation, backup address employee and customer manage my own data, or do I you in terms of implementation
administrators are challenged with issues or to address increasing want to pay a vendor to store and ongoing management of the
keeping corporate data residing demands for regulatory compliance and recover it for me? solution. Also, you want to make
on these devices backed-up in the or e- discovery. sure the platform provides you
3. IT Staff: Do I have the internal
event data recovery is required. with the flexibility to change
To determine your needs and resources to support and
cloud deployment models as your
Big data is also challenging IT requirements for cloud backup you maintain my backups, upgrades
business needs grow and expand.
administrators as companies need to ask yourself the following and platforms or do I require
are creating and saving data in seven questions: external coverage? For further information on cloud
unprecedented quantities. This backup, please call EACS on 0800
1. Ownership: Do I need to 4. BYOD: Do I need to protect
accumulation of data is a company’s 8047 256.
own the cloud platform I am data on mobile devices
most valuable asset therefore it
6 www.eacs.com | e: information@eacs.com | t: 0800 8047 256 twitter.com/EACSLTD

7. Server Virtualisation
& Infrastructure
IT – The Service Broker, Builder or Blocker
Matt Watts , EMEA Director My third point, how does IT evolve The mass adoption of Dropbox and business needs as well, again
of Technology and Strategy at when Enterprise users have many has provided some clarity as to NetApp’s Unified Storage offers
NetApp, has over 15 years IT external and often more flexible what a Cloud service really is. It’s extreme flexibility supporting
experience and currently Chairs options for a given service? Are highlighted many new challenges block and file protocols, integrating
NetApp’s Senate for Strategy and they the Blocker, constantly on the right up to the level of the Exec’s, with all major applications for data
Vision. He frequently attends lookout for services where users who are now realising that with this protection and providing complete
events articulating the business are bypassing IT and then blocking particular service you give away all Non Disruptive Operations for the
value of IT and in 2012 was a them? Do they look for these rights to the information that you associated data.
keynote speaker at Optimise IT. ‘popular’ services then work out put into it, (it can be mined and re-
The Broker - Where you consume
Below he looks at the use of file- how to build them themselves? Or used), that huge numbers of people
the service from a provider, many
sharing services and the impact do they become a service broker, in their company are using it and
of which have built their service
they are having on IT... where they deliver the core services that no one knows what information
on NetApp for the same reasons
where security and confidentiality is already out there.
How many of you use Dropbox? I as above, but in addition to this
is essential and the services have
travel across the EMEA speaking at If you’re in IT then do you know how our technology offers them the
the potential to create value and
events to companies of all sizes and many of these types of service your security to deliver services to
revenue for the business? Then they
the majority of people respond that users are already consuming? How multiple customers from a shared
build a catalogue of other services
they do use this service. There are many of your users use Dropbox? infrastructure whilst offering
that users may need from providers
other services which have started How many of your developers use complete data separation, this takes
that have been assessed and can
to see widespread adoption, but I Amazon EC2? How much of your efficiency for them to a whole new
be guaranteed to deliver the right
want to look at this one for now in company’s data has already been level.
service and security needed. This
more detail. moved outside of your firewall to
needn’t be an arduous activity, Or the Blocker - there are simply
these types of providers? And who
Dropbox, aside from becoming a we’re not necessarily talking about some Cloud type applications that
is responsible for the security of it?
successful provider of services, has business applications, we’re talking you will not want your users to use
also helped to highlight significant about iApps. Processes need to be So, what will you become for and it will make sense to block these.
challenges for IT and it’s highlighted in place for these to be assessed these services in the future?
and made available quickly and this The strategy for most companies will
them all the way from the
could come in the form of IT as a The Builder - If you decide to do be a mix of all of these. It will make
consumers inside our organisations,
Broker. it yourself then clearly being able sense to look at applications that
right up to Exec level.
to minimise the cost is going to be don’t have the ability to add value
So how has Dropbox become so I like the idea that in the future important, so efficiency will be high to your business and see whether
successful in delivering something companies could have catalogues on your list of priorities and there’s Brokering these makes better
that you would imagine is a similar to an ‘App Store’, where no other vendor that can offer the financial sense. That in turn frees up
pretty basic service that any IT users can go to select the comprehensive level of efficiency time to look at how to build a highly
department should easily be able to applications that will benefit them, in their technology that NetApp efficient shared infrastructure for
deliver? It’s file-sharing, that’s it, yet some of these delivered by internal can. But equally as important is those applications you choose to
100’s of thousands of us don’t have IT, some delivered by vetted making sure that the infrastructure keep and new ones that you will
this service. So what has stopped external Service Providers. you build is highly flexible so that need to adopt.
IT teams from delivering this? Was it can support other applications What will your strategy be?
it a perceived lack of importance?
A concern about security? Or
maybe IT departments are just too
busy doing other things and the There have always been some
value of this was hard to justify? basic services that we could
But it clearly does have value; the
adoption rate is proof of this.
get from the Internet, but the
breadth, functionality and
This brings me to my second point.
How easy is it now for users to find scope of what is available
services outside of those that come now is quite incredible...
from our own IT departments?
There have always been some
basic services that we could get
from the Internet, but the breadth,
functionality and scope of what is
available now is quite incredible
and all of this is easily available for
users inside companies to consume.
So what do IT departments do?
I’ve had a number of different
responses when I ask this question.
Some companies assess the risk
of these services and if they are
perceived as a risk then they block
them. IT departments that take this
approach realise that this is likely
to do nothing for the perception of
their value to the business so most
look for alternatives first.
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7

8. Server Virtualisation
& Infrastructure
CASE STUDY
The Challenge
Sustainability, business continuity
and disaster recovery A Virtualised Infrastructure for East
The East of England Co-operative
Society was formed by the merger of England Co-operative Society
of the Ipswich and Norwich Co-op-
erative Society and the Colchester
and East Essex Co-operative
Society, and had inherited an aging
legacy estate of servers which were
nearing their end of life.
As a progressive and ethical organ-
isation, the Society had business
plans and objectives in place to
address sustainability, business
continuity and disaster recovery, as
well as reducing the environmental
impact of the company.
“We took the strategic decision to
pursue the key objectives of sus-
tainability and business continuity,”
explained ICT Services Controller,
Richard Helliwell. “Our existing
infrastructure of some 35 servers
was becoming more and more
difficult to maintain and we were The East of England Co-operative Society is one of the largest
concerned about the practicalities independent Co-operative Societies in the UK with an annual turnover
of restoring them in the event of
a major incident. The IT team had in excess of £350 million. Employing some 4,700 local people, and with a
a vision which combined disaster business entirely owned by its members. The Society’s diverse activities
recovery and business continuity include: supermarkets, food stores and post offices, travel, pharmacy,
with a considerably reduced carbon
footprint and we recognised that optical and funeral branches, petrol forecourts and an Events and
virtualisation was the logical way Conference Centre.
forward.”
However, such a transition was, in The Solution
Richard Helliwell’s own words, a
leap into the unknown. With a small
A highly available infrastructure to make recovery rapid, reliable, Benefits:
Following detailed analysis of the affordable and manageable,
internal IT team that was focused • Consolidation of 35 servers to
Society’s underlying business with centralised management of
on maintaining and supporting the 4 physical servers - a hardware
objectives, and working closely recovery plans and automated
existing infrastructure, the Society reduction of almost 90%
with VMware’s technology experts, recovery processes.”
did not have the necessary in-house
EACS implemented a dual site, • Projected cost saving (power,
expertise to manage such a large “Our partnership with EACS has
fully virtualised environment maintenance, depreciation) of
virtualisation project. resulted in a solution that has
based around HP DL380 G7 £188,840 and energy savings
reduced the Society’s number
“As a Co-operative Society, we have Servers running VMware vSphere of 227,292 kWh over the next 4
of servers by almost 90% whilst
a policy of partnering with third Enterprise and with a Dual years
providing highly resilient business
party organisations that can bring Controller NetApp SAN at the continuity and disaster recovery • Highly resilient solution with
the specific levels of expertise to primary Ipswich site. The hosts at capabilities, giving us complete complete site failover of IT
the table, as and when we need it,” the Disaster Recovery site also confidence in our ability to recover services from the Head Office
explained Richard Helliwell. “We operated a NetApp SAN. from disruptions and disasters site to the DR site
invited a number of virtualisation
To address the Society’s business quickly, efficiently and effectively,”
specialists to submit recommen- • Substantially simplified
continuity and disaster recovery concluded Richard Helliwell. “In
dations, including market leader, infrastructure management
requirements, EACS implemented addition to providing complete
VMware.”
VMware Site Recovery Manager. site failover of IT services from our • Future-proof, flexible
One of the Society’s main criteria head office to the disaster recovery and expandable solution
was to select a partner that “VMware Site Recovery Manager site, the virtualised environment based around leading edge
understood the objectives and is a pioneering disaster recovery has delivered significant flexibility, virtualisation technologies from
constraints, who had a proven management and automation a low TCO and easy management world class vendors
track-record of designing and imple- solution which accelerates on a truly scalable platform which
menting virtualisation solutions for recovery by automating the will drive further productivity To download a pdf of the full case
similar businesses and who would recovery process and simplifying savings. We have also significantly study, or view a video, please visit:
work collaboratively alongside the management of disaster recovery,” reduced our power and cooling www.eacs.com/newsletter.aspx.
Society’s internal IT team, sharing said Mike Dearlove, Managing energy consumption overheads.”
knowledge and providing training, Director. “By integrating VMware
enabling the Society to ultimately Site Recovery Manager closely
manage some aspects of the new with VMware vSphere, VMware
environment internally. vCenter Server and NetApp
SnapMirror, the Society was able
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9. Control &
Collaboration
Update from the Control
Hyper-V v3.0, NIC Teaming, SMB
v3.0, File System Enhancements
and simplified Direct Access
capabilities - to name a handful of
& Collaboration Team
improvements and additions.
Windows 8 client operating system
is also a significant advancement
from previous releases. The
vision of a common experience
when using the current Microsoft
operating system on both Phone,
Desktop and Mobile device is
unparalleled to any previous
release. It should be noted that a
common misconception is that the
new “Modern” interface is biased
towards Touch input methods –
this is simply not accurate. Mouse,
Keyboard, Touch and Pen input
devices are all first class citizens in
this new environment and one is
not inferior to another. It would be
more accurate to say that selecting
the best device with the most
appropriate input interface is the
best advice offered, the experience
of using the operating system is
otherwise identical.
For the Control and Collaboration major year for new products to Additionally the release of This year the Control and
team 2012 was a whirlwind of hit the market. Particularly for Windows Server 2012 and Collaboration team anticipate
activity. The sheer volume of Microsoft who released Microsoft Windows 8 client operating helping our clients and partners
our traditional project work System Center 2012 as a suite of systems has resulted in a changed make best use of these new
increased. We have been helping products in lieu of a discrete set landscape for businesses when technologies and preparing
our customers to implement of components. This has proven planning their strategies for the for and implementing the new
and update solutions around to be a great solution for an next few years. The performance releases of Microsoft Exchange,
technologies such as Microsoft otherwise complex and involving and capabilities of these new Lync, SharePoint and Office 2013.
Server Operating Systems, System technology and has enabled EACS releases is unparalleled and These staples of key business
Management and Private Cloud, to add further value to our clients demands attention. The Server infrastructure are sure to be a
as well as Microsoft messaging and by implementing more of these operating system is one of big hit and our team of skilled and
collaboration technologies, such as components to work in unison with Microsoft’s most accomplished experienced consultants are on
Exchange and Lync Server. each other and extract great value updates and adds incredible “in hand to help with EACS support
solutions that are tailored to our the box” value to a large number and training services geared up to
However 2012 was also significant ensure we offer the most complete
clients’ needs. of project situations and common
for another reason, as it was a solution available.
requests: technologies including
An Award
Winning Solution
EACS was named the winner in 2012 was an excellent year for
the Datacentre Solution of the EACS with the company receiving
Year category at the European IT recognition for a number of other
Excellence Awards 2012. awards including being selected
as finalists in the CRN Channel
“The EACS solution for the East
Awards and Microsoft Partner of
of England Co-operative Society
the Year Awards.
impressed the judges because it
met and exceeded the three key
business issues of sustainability,
business continuity and disaster
recovery,” stated John Chapman,
Editorial Director at IT Europa.
“In particular they took into
consideration the impressive cost FINALIST
and energy savings.”
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10. Control &
Collaboration
The Interactive Archive
Email is still the dominant form The advent of cloud computing in
of communication in businesses the same timeframe has disrupted
today. It has become a mission traditional on-premise email archiving
critical application because of the markets with the capabilities of a new
importance of the data transacted type of cloud-based email archive, an
through, and stored in, email Interactive Archive.
environments.
The Interactive Archive, driven by
A decade or so ago, as IT departments the cloud allows users to leverage
began to recognise the growing the archive and data therein for
importance of the corporate email business intelligence, as well as end
environment, they started to add user productivity, ubiquitous access,
supporting services and platforms and the corporate governance
around the core server environment, and compliance requirements that
which is predominantly Microsoft underpin the archive itself.
Exchange. Appliances, applications
The concept requires a new way by making their personal archives comes from the use the business
and services to protect and store
of realising value in a computing available in many ways – as well as can make of the data; platforms
email were added, usually driven by
platform. The Interactive Archive including sources of information that such as Outlook, SharePoint, mobile
business problems as well as changing
is one that will be deployed from would otherwise need a change in devices and APIs all bring new ways
corporate governance requirements.
the cloud, but not all cloud archives work flow for end users. to leverage the accumulated data.
Email archiving was one such are created in the same way. Simply Delivering business intelligence back
platform, and remains of critical archiving email in the cloud only The Interactive Archive acquires
to the organisation by leveraging
importance today. Email archiving removes the local storage overhead and consolidates the user’s desktop
the data-exhaust of the Interactive
systems were first added to and expenditure, while giving the applications as a source of information
Archive now becomes possible too;
networks in the mid to late 1990s, users a degree of flexibility in terms of – their web applications and services,
in short making the data within the
initially designed to solve storage access – in fact, most cloud archives their corporate information flows in
archive worth more than simply an
management problems, but more are still about storage and eDiscovery. platforms like email and mobile – then
eDiscovery tool.
recently utilised to enable businesses provides a central and single copy
The Interactive Archive is about under management. Importantly a Mimecast has already extended their
to retain a complete record of their
much more – it’s about extending single view of all these information archiving capabilities to file archiving.
corporate knowledge and intellectual
beyond this ‘simply-storage’ model by streams also gives the business To find out more download the
property. Long term retention
offering to leverage more of the value a concise, forensic and complete Whitepaper “Is your Email Archive a
of email nowadays is invariably
in the archived data. It’s a platform repository for eDiscovery, compliance Goldmine or a Black Hole?” at
driven by a need to respond to legal
that puts the productivity benefits of and business intelligence use. The www.eacs.com/newsletter.aspx.
obligations, or mitigate against the
using email back in the users’ hands important concept of ‘interactiveness’
threat of data loss.
Microsoft System Center Microsoft Core
2012 Training Course Infrastructure
to use the devices and applications
Events
they need to be productive, while With Microsoft’s new product
maintaining corporate compliance launches and announcements,
and control. It accomplishes this we are holding a number of
with a unified infrastructure that joint events which will enable
gives a single pane of glass to you to learn about what’s
manage physical, virtual, and mobile new in the Microsoft Core
clients. It also provides tools and Infrastructure vision, strategy
improvements that make it easier for and roadmap.
IT administrators to do their jobs.
EACS has a dedicated training You will also get the latest
division, Harvard Training, with You will receive expert advice insights into technologies such
particular in-house expertise on day-to-day operations and as Windows Server 2012 and
in Microsoft Windows Server, general maintenance. This includes System Center 2012.
Microsoft Exchange and System deploying the client agent, managing
Center. and controlling assets, deploying • Windows Server 2012
software, endpoint protection and redefines the category,
We recently launched a two day delivering hundreds of new
reporting. for managing your traditional
training course for System Center features and enhancements
Configuration Manager 2012. In addition to offering our own datacentres, private and public
spanning virtualisation,
Delivered by one of our technical scheduled courses on Microsoft clouds, and client computers
networking, storage,
consultants this enables systems technologies, we have excellent and devices.
user experience, cloud
administrators to get “hands-on” industry partnerships allowing us computing, automation, and For further information visit
and explore the functionality and to offer a wide variety of technical more. www.eacs.com/events.aspx
performance of SCCM 2012. training courses across all areas. and select your preferred event
• System Center 2012
Microsoft System Center 2012 For further information on our and location.
is a unified and flexible
Configuration Manager helps training courses please visit management platform All events are free to attend.
organisations to empower people www.harvardtraining.co.uk.
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