“Dress For Success” in Deploying Software-Defined Data Centers

by Matt DeGennaro
MPD President 
732-236-6161  email

Emulating the alacrity of cloud-based services is a principal objective of the software-defined data center (SDDC); IT organizations employing SDDC can observe demand parameters and react quickly with on-hand resources. In this environment, IT can be conveyed in a more synchronized and efficient manner, so costs inevitably come down.

Capitalizing on server virtualization infrastructure, technologies that support SDDC have the ability to help organizations move away from the compute, networking, and storage paradigm. This is facilitated by vendors developing novel software-defined solutions for storage.

Several methodologies can mitigate the complexity of transition toward the software-defined infrastructure.

1. Reasonable pace and manageable proportions

Speed is vital to performance and the bottom line; however, there are times for suspending this modality in favor of long-term gain. Beware conventional wisdom, zealous management, and vendors which suggest that the transition to SDDC must be instantaneous. A perception of seamlessness to users might belie unnecessary costs incurred and downtime later on.

One example that has been effective is initiating one project, limited in scale, which relates to a specific low-profile service or activity addressing either compute, networking, or storage. Small-scale projects provide the opportunity to thoroughly learn the process and refine accordingly.

2. Employ vendor and tech-specific skill sets

People with diverse backgrounds will be essential for the IT team’s success in establishing the SDDC. Those with systems administration experience and close interaction with external service providers will prove invaluable to the team, as they usually possess the requisite knowledge of systems automation and orchestration.  

Software-defined data centers tend to be highly vendor-specific. If, for example, a Cisco solution is being considered, it would be highly advisable to have team members with expertise in Cisco networking.

3. Consider compatibility with existing vendor contracts and technologies

Cultivating new relationships with an entirely new set of vendors to accommodate SDDC would be a nightmarish proposition. Existing vendors should be evaluated based on relationship, long-term contracts, and value. Compatibility between SDDC solutions and existing networking infrastructure must also be considered from a perspective of end-of-life status of hardware, depreciation, and capital equipment cost parameters.

4. Foundational transformation of the IT organizational model

Discrete groups wherein storage, networking, server and applications functions are all separate stand in opposition to the direction in which technology and the industry are moving. Data must be able to flow without impediment and with high-level coordination in the SDDC environment, and the maintenance of silos represents a significant impediment.

For IT teams, adapting to new roles, delivering services based on a virtualized infrastructure, and adjusting to novel standards optimized for SDDC will take time. “Collaboration” will take on a whole new meaning.

5. Employ effective business-related evaluation (Metrics)  

Optimized performance in IT departments does not necessarily translate into the cost-benefit paradigm within which upper management, business owners, boards, and CEOs operate. In deciding upon the appropriate criteria for gauging efficiency (metrics), ensure that these reflect parameters useful to those on the business side.

Speed is essential, agility follows close behind, and software-defined data centers should dramatically improve these, as well as ease of upgrades and user service. That said, metrics should always be considered with a mind toward business benefit.

Aside from the implications in providing a new level of efficiency in user and customer service, the most significant advantage in implementing software-defined data centers is also the most potentially problematic. An entirely novel IT model is being adopted, one that will place an unfamiliar set of demands on IT groups. These must focus on the long-term value rather than any short-term discomfort as they move forward.