Disruptive technologies like converged infrastructure (CI) tend to deliver two things: The reality of dramatic and positive changes to the business model, and an extraordinary amount of hype and misunderstanding. First the reality—converged infrastructure is indeed a game-changer, and succeeds in achieving high levels of energy efficiency, superior manageability, and lower cap-ex as a result of increased density and a smaller footprint requirement. Any enterprise planning a major infrastructure deployment would do well to consider a CI environment.
The good news for
converged infrastructure vendors is that executives have a solid understanding of the promise of CI, despite its standing as the new kid on the virtual block. According to a Forrester report, “Converged Infrastructure: Attitudes and Acceptance,” perceptions map well to Forrester’s actual definition of CI offerings and benefits, with survey respondents citing requirements that include virtualisation and pooled management of resources, an integrated management console, and a shared services environment along with standards-based, modular components and automatic provisioning.
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The above mentioned features are common among CI vendor offerings, but there is some departure at the lower end of the perception scale. A minority of respondents expect CI to offer a shared services catalogue, integrated applications and an integrated hypervisor, requirements which are lower in prevalence among actual CI offerings.
The data does indicate a strong demand for CI, and that a growing minority of enterprises intend to purchase. There remain however, some barriers that prevent vendors in their marketing initiatives, and some of those barriers involve perception issues rather than reality. A mistaken perception of risk still remains, and the delta that exists between the perceived risk and the reality of CI implementation and robustness does prevent some organisations from moving to CI. An increased familiarity with what CI is, what it offers, and its real benefits—delivered ultimately from the CI vendor’s marketing department rather than the development centre—will push the technology more into the mainstream.
The survey asked organisations that are not considering CI, why they are not doing so; respondents overwhelmingly cited high cost of implementation as the main reason, followed by not being convinced of the benefits, immaturity of technology, and a desire to move directly to cloud computing. Compare that with the actual challenges seen by companies which have moved to CI, and we see a somewhat different story. The main reason, rather than high cost, is complexity of integrating with the existing infrastructure, followed by a steep requirement of time and resources. High cost of implementation comes in only third on the list, followed by disruption to infrastructure during the rollout, and the inevitable internal resistance to change. The real challenges incurred are quite different from the perceived challenges that one believes one might face.
Forrester notes that the market is still developing, and before purchasing, a company needs to thoroughly understand their own requirements, the capabilities required, and integration needed to successfully roll out the CI environment. Despite the delta that exists between perception and reality though, converged infrastructure is a technology that is mature, and the market is ready for it.