To date, I’d have to say that of the business decision makers I meet, only about 30 percent of them know what virtualization is.  Now on the flip side, of the people who are actively down in the trenches managing systems on a day to day basis, nearly 75% of them have either used some method of virtualization or heard of it.  My question is, why is there such a disparity in knowledge of something that can be so beneficial to an organization between these two groups of people?

Well that’s what this post is about, educating decision makers about the numerous business benefits that virtualization solutions provide.

 

Virtualization History Lesson

Virtualization as noun, refers to technologies designed to provide a layer of abstraction between computer hardware systems and the software running on them. By providing a logical view of computing resources, rather than a physical view, virtualization solutions make it possible to do a couple of very useful things: They can allow you, essentially, to trick your operating systems into thinking that a group of servers is a single pool of computing resources. And they can allow you to run multiple operating system installations simultaneously on a single machine, thereby greatly increasing the utilization of any one piece of hardware.

Virtualization has it’s origins in partitioning, which divides a single physical server into multiple logical servers. Once the physical server is divided, each logical server can run an operating system and applications independently. In the 90s, virtualization was used primarily to re-create end-user environments on a single piece of mainframe hardware. If you were an IT administrator and you wanted to roll out new software, but you wanted see how it would work on a Windows NT or a Linux machine, you used virtualization technologies to create the various user environments.

But with the advent of the x86 architecture and inexpensive PCs, virtualization faded and seemed to be little more than a fad of the mainframe era. It’s fair to credit the recent rebirth of virtualization on the x86 architecture to the founders of the current market leader, VMware. However VMware couldn’t have done it alone, and I often credit Moore’s Law in helping computing power reach a point where virtualization was once again a viable solution in the enterprise.

That’s great, but how exactly can virtualization help me and my business?

Let’s take a look at a few different benefits that a business will realize by pursuing virtualization solutions for their next project.

Reduce datacenter costs by reducing your physical infrastructure footprint: This is probably the point most CIO’s and decision makers are aware of, fewer servers and related IT hardware means reduced real estate and reduced power and cooling requirements.  Getting ready to perform an upgrade? Current hardware infrastructure coming up for refresh?  These are ideal times to deploy a virtualized infrastructure with VMware and SAP.

Get more out of your existing resources: With VMware, you can begin to take advantage of advancements in computing technology by ensuring we’re using what you paid for!  On average, we see single application servers utilization hover around 15% – 20% of it’s potential capacity.  You purchased the hardware, you should be taking full advantage of it! With virtualization, your IT department pools common infrastructure resources and can finally break away from the age-old “one application to one server” model with server consolidation.

Increase availability of hardware and applications for improved business continuity: For those who have ever gone through the trouble of creating a 100+ page run-sheet of requirements for a disaster recovery solution, this is for you.  In addition to simplifying the execution of a disaster recovery event, by utilizing VMware as your virtualization solution,  you now have the ability to do audits on your disaster recovery plan in production without the concern of service downtime!

Gain operational flexibility: Going beyond the cost savings justification, with SAP running on VMware, you now have the ability to dynamically scale your application’s performance needs in real time to meet increased demand.  Have an upcoming “fire-sale” on that new wiz-bang thing everyone’s talking about? Now you can respond to market changes with dynamic resource management, faster server provisioning and improved desktop and application deployment.

Help your IT staff help you: VMware’s virtualization monitoring and management tools allow your IT staff to realize increased productivity when managing your virtual infrastructure by utilizing VMware’s robust set of utilities.  IT administrators can provision new resources in minutes instead of hours, freeing them to focus on more important tasks related to your SAP infrastructure.  Snapshots, Disaster Recovery, general system maintenance, are all handled through common management utilities that any resource can learn with ease.

I want it all! Where do I get started?

The first step of any virtualization project begins with a readiness assessment.  DataXstream will examine the current state of your infrastructure, determine where your business is growing, and accurately provide you with a design which focuses not only on cost savings, but also positions your company to be more flexible for future planned activities such as upgrades, increased demand, etc.  By taking advantage of server virtualization you can easily improve the efficiency of your SAP infrastructure as well as seeing immediate cost benefits by lowering your cost of ownership, and increasing the productivity of your IT staff.  All while positioning yourself to be more elastic in order to meet the ever changing landscape of business, there has never been a better time to explore the benefits of virtualization.

Stay tuned because in a later post, I’ll be examining the Technical Benefits of SAP virtualization, and why if you’re not exploring virtualization you’re already “behind the curve”.

For those who haven’t met me at one of our annual trade-show events or attended one of our webinars, my name is Matt Lestock, and I’m the Lead Infrastructure Architect for DataXstream specializing in enterprise and SAP virtualization solutions.

Now I hear you loud and clear… “Matt! What’s this whole virtualization thing about?” Well, that’s exactly what this series of blogs and videos will be about.

With the recent announcement by SAP that they will be partnering closely with VMware to “Accelerate the journey to the cloud”, I figured it’s a great opportunity to begin informing our customers about all of the benefits that virtualization can bring to their SAP infrastructure. (Read the SAP press release here : http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/press/newsroom/press.epx?pressid=17747)

DataXstream has been trumpeting VMware virtualization solutions for some time now, but I wanted to expand even further on this area by offering a first hand look at some of the benefits, obstacles, as well as a chance to correct some of the common misconceptions regarding enterprise and SAP virtualization.

Over the course of the next few months, we’ll be discussing some of the following items…

• Business benefits of virtualization
• Common virtualization misconceptions
• Embracing VMware virtualization for your SAP infrastructure
• Customer success stories utilizing SAP and VMware
• And much much more

In addition to the planned blog posts, and email only information, we’ll be doing something a little different with upcoming whiteboarding sessions.  These will be videos approximately 30 minutes in length where we will go over some of the design considerations and challenges that our customers face on a regular basis when they begin to virtualize their enterprise and SAP applications.

I hope you’ll join us as we embark on our mission of “Clearing up the Cloud!”

Duration: 30 Minutes

Speaker: Matt Lestock, Lead Infrastructure Architect, DataXstream

This session will provide you with a synopsis of the strategic advantages of virtualizing your SAP landscape, as well as an outline of the critical factors that one must consider and decide on to ensure successful execution of the virtualization process.

What Will Be Highlighted:

• Comparing and contrasting the major differences between upgrading SAP in a physical environment vs. a virtual environment
• Examples that illustrate virtualization’s positive impact throughout the phases of an upgrade project
• The long-term benefits that a company will realize by having their system virtualized after the upgrade is complete
• A real-life business case comparing hardware requirements, performance metrics, and costs of a physical hardware implementation vs. virtual hardware implementation

DataXstream and Dell Partner to Run Live Disaster Recovery Demos of a Virtual SAP Environment

DataXstream is pleased to announce its participation at SAPPHIRENOW and the ASUG Annual Conference. Visit us at booth 2326 as we team up with our Dell partners to host presentations and demos of Disaster Recovery (DR) of a virtualized SAP environment on Dell hardware. Both DataXstream and Dell subject-matter-experts will be available to answer your questions and help you learn about the strategic advantages of virtualizing your SAP landscape, as well as the critical steps and tools that need to be in place to ensure a fool-proof DR plan.

Where: Booth 2326, Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL

When: May 15 – 18, 2011

• May 16: 10:15 – 10:30, 12:15 – 12:30, 1:45 – 2:00
• May 17: 10:45 – 11:00, 12:15 – 12:30
• May 16: 11:15 – 11:30, 12:15 – 12:30

Win one of three Dell Streak 7s!

This year at SAPPHIRENOW we’re holding three separate drawings and giving away a Dell Streak 7 Android Tablet to the lucky winner of each! That’s right; you have three chances to win. We’ll be holding a drawing for the following three categories:

Virtualizing the Best-Run Businesses

Virtualization technology has completely changed the state of IT landscapes forever, including SAP infrastructures, by enabling businesses to significantly reduce hardware and energy costs while simultaneously increasing overall systems flexibility and performance.  Whether you’re migrating from an existing physical landscape or undergoing a new implementation, our streamlined SAP virtualization solutions will allow you to realize the benefits of your virtualized SAP infrastructure to their fullest potential.

Virtualization is just the beginning. Here’s how else we serve the Best-Run Businesses

Crafting the Best-Run Businesses

Other companies may have consultants that match ours in talent, but no one matches our skill. Talent is natural. Skill is only developed through tremendous work ethic and endless hours dedicated to honing your craft. Our craft is SAP: from the program level down to the specific functional, technical, and administrative details. Our depth of understanding and experience in SAP allows us to clearly see the big picture, and our detailed SAP expertise is used to build the solution to match your vision.

Leading the Best-Run Businesses

A great SAP Project Manager requires more than just raw management skills. One must have a thorough level of understanding of ALL facets of an SAP system as well. There is no substitute for experience and exposure. DataXstream understands the complexity and challenges of an SAP project and is able to avoid common pitfalls because we have been exposed to them before. Many times. Hundreds. DataXstream’s SAP Project Managers use that experience to create better informed project plans and estimates on timeline, budget, resources, business needs, and scope for your venture.

Supporting the Best-Run Businesses

The effectiveness of an SAP Lifecycle Support model is determined primarily by one factor: attention. In particular, the amount and quality of attention. A body shop wouldn’t employ the same lifespan support model to a sports car that it does a minivan. So why settle for a boilerplate SAP Lifecycle Support Model? DataXstream provides the attention needed to develop an onshore support model that is tailored to your needs, and the ongoing attention needed to adjust that model to best support your organization as changes occur.

Integrating the Best-Run Businesses

The difficulty of integrating existing business solutions with SAP is one of the most complex obstacles faced today by SAP customers. You know where you want to make the connection and can foresee the value that your business would gain from it, but the obstacles just seem too many. DataXstream understands SAP integration better than any other consulting organization. Period. For over 15 years, we have helped customers and software vendors successful implement flexible, scalable, and reliable SAP integration solutions.

Enabling the Best-Run Businesses

BusinessWeek reports that SAP now has more than 27,000 major customers who run over 91,500 installations of its software. That number will continue to grow, as SAP recently released a statement claiming a 26% software revenue growth and 20% service revenue growth in the first quarter of 2011. For an ISV, this represents a new customer channel that, if tapped, can potentially grow your business exponentially. The challenge is in creating a certified integration solution between your product and SAP and then tapping the proper channels to introduce your product to SAP customers. Our skilled partner-enablement specialists can work with your sales, marketing, development and support organizations to help you maximize the potential of the SAP marketplace.

Facilitating the Best-Run Businesses

“Included with your purchase is a Thingamajig. It’s a very complex contraption and you may not understand its value to your purchase, but trust me, it’s there. Oh, one more thing, you have to use it.” That Thingamajig for many SAP customers is SAP Solution Manager. DataXstream understands how to implement and leverage Solution Manager’s rich tool set to facilitate systems transparency and collaboration during your SAP implementation. Whether your SAP solution is just getting started or is mature, there are many tools and features within Solution Manager to help improve the management of your SAP solution.

Advancing the Best-Run Businesses

DataXstream understands SAP upgrades and the need to execute an upgrade quickly and effectively to minimize disruption and ensure business continuity.  We help clients understand the options available to them.  We help define and balance a technically-driven upgrade and one that simultaneously delivers enhanced business capability based on the client’s business needs and budget.  DataXstream focuses on understanding both the technical and business environment, establishing the approach, delivering an SAP upgrade project plan best suited to your company’s goals, and then executing that plan.

Time: 1:00 pm ET / 10:00 am PT

Duration: 30 Minutes

Speaker: Matt Lestock, Lead Infrastructure Architect, DataXstream

Please join us on Tuesday, May 3 at 1 pm ET for an overview of SAP virtualization. This thirty minute webinar will provide you with a synopsis of the strategic advantages of virtualizing your SAP landscape as well as an outline of the critical factors one must consider and decide on to ensure successful execution of the virtualization process.

What Will Be Highlighted:

• Hardware, Software, and Infrastructure Architecture Considerations
• How the right combination of the three can help reduce the cost of IT through highly automated and scalable solutions
• Best practice and planning consideration for cost effective deployment of an efficient enterprise and simplified virtualization management

Going Virtual: How Lumber Liquidators Optimized Its IT Investments and Lightened the Demand on Its IT Organization

The April 2011 issue of SAP insiderPROFILES magazine will feature an editorial on the virtualization of Lumber Liquidators’ SAP implementation. The piece takes you inside the thought process of Lumber Liquidators’ IT team as they recount the factors that led them towards virtualization, the selection of DataXstream as their implementation partner, and how they feel today about about the decisions they made a year ago during the virtualization process.

Visit DataXstream at the IT 2011 Conference

What: IT 2011 Conference

When: March 15 – 18, 2011

Where: MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV

Do More, With Less

Through our industry best practice tailored solutions and our rare combination of project leadership, thorough understanding of business processes and high level company goals, and SAP technical expertise, we allow you to achieve higher business performance,  maximize your return on investment, and truly do more, with less.

Come visit us at Booth 421 to learn more about these featured solutions:

• Server / Storage Virtualization
• SAP Solution Manager / CA Service Desk Integration
• SAP .Net Connector (NCo) 3.0 Upgrade
• SAP Upgrades
• Custom Integration and Product Development

Sign Up Now

Click Here to register for the event as a friend of DataXstream and receive $100 off your conference badge.

Leave Vegas A Winner!

Forget the slots. Fill out the form below and when you come by our booth you will receive a free DataXstream lanyard / flash drive filled with only the information that matters to you and be entered in to win our Grand Prize Giveaway at the end of the conference!

Other companies may have consultants that match ours in talent, but no one matches our skill. Talent is natural. Skill is only developed through tremendous work ethic and endless hours dedicated to honing one’s craft. Our craft is SAP: from the program level down to the specific functional, technical, and administrative details. Our depth of understanding and experience in SAP allows us to clearly see the big picture, and our detailed SAP expertise is used to build solutions that match your vision.

Because Experience Matters

DataXstream offers senior level consultants covering many types of SAP consulting services. Our deep domain expertise, particularly in technical activities, enable customers to tackle complex, challenging projects where time is of the essence. Averaging over 10 years SAP experience per consultant, we can fill most roles from analyst to project lead, to solution manager. When hiring DataXstream, you gain the commitment to success that is reflected in our 100% project success rating.

DataXstream’s range of services include:

Infrastructure Assessment and Systems Architecture

Whether you are looking to implement SAP for the first time, perform an upgrade, merge several legacy systems together, or virtualize your landscape (SAP or otherwise), it is critical that you take the proper steps in preparation for your work.  DataXstream can work with you to design a system landscape that is able to meet your business goals and adapt to business growth in the short, medium, and long- term.  We will review your existing hardware, software, systems architecture solutions (SAP and non-SAP) and make recommendations regarding the design of your system and the applications you need.  We will determine the sizing requirements for your new landscape (including the amount of hardware, storage, servers, etc. that is needed), identify gaps in hardware and software between your present system and the one proposed, and obtain all required licenses.  At this stage, we will also make recommendations as to whether to engage in a virtualization process or not.  If you decide it is in your company’s business interests, we will use our technical expertise to virtualize your landscape.

 Project Management

Once you have architected the optimized and efficient IT infrastructure needed to support your SAP system, DataXstream can assist you in the management of your SAP projects.  We work collaboratively with customers to develop and deliver strategies and engagement plans for projects in all phases of the SAP lifecycle; including implementations, development, integration, upgrades, data management, and support. We provide realistic project forecasts, deliverable timelines, estimated costs, and resource needs.  Whether it is during the stage of pre-implementation, execution, or post-implementation of your project, DataXstream remains highly involved in the process and can work with you on strategy, tactics, and execution.

SAP Technical Development and Functional Configuration

Once you have your infrastructure and the specifics of your envisioned SAP solution in place, DataXstream’s SAP experts can do the nitty-gritty work to make your plan into a reality. Our team of senior developers dive into the programming world of ABAP, BAPI, RFC, XI, PI, IDOCS, ALE, .Net, Java Connectors, as well as a number of middleware integration platforms, working to meet all the functional and technical specifications of your SAP system.  Our consultants have the necessary mix of  project leadership, thorough understanding of  business processes and goals, and SAP technical expertise to deliver solutions that are both technically-sound and business-process optimized. This work involves configuring all critical components of the SAP system, developing custom applications to enhance the capabilities of standard SAP solutions to meet your unique needs, and testing each of the SAP components to ensure your system performs as desired.  We integrate all critical process,  data sources, and third party software with SAP; cleanse and migrate data as necessary into your SAP system; leverage SolMan’s rich tool set to better manage and support your system throughout the application lifecyle; and provide the Basis administration to KTLO and support your SAP system’s day-to-day activities.

Support

As you are engaging in your SAP project, DataXstream can assist with every phase of an SAP lifecycle.  Our consultants have been through countless SAP lifecycles and have experienced the details of every stage. We know when certain support activities need to be done and can plan pro-actively to resolve them to eliminate unnecessary issues. DataXstream also understands the need for process discipline, along with clear communication during an SAP lifecycle, and can assist you with putting such critical processes in place. When it comes to your support needs, DataXstream can assist in planning and vision, full post-production support, and adaptation of the support model as you respond to internal and external changes.

Upgrades

At some point in time, it may become necessary to upgrade your SAP landscape.  When that day comes, DataXstream can assist you.   DataXstream has been helping companies with SAP upgrades since 1998.  Consequently, we understand upgrades and the need to execute upgrades quickly and effectively to minimize disruption and ensure business continuity.   Our upgrade process involves understanding your technical and business environment in order to establish an approach that meets your business goals; assessing your existing infrastructure and doing a gaps analysis between what exists now and what is needed for the upgrade; and executing on the upgrade plan.  If it is in your company’s best interest, DataXstream can also virtualize your landscape before executing the SAP upgrade.

With DataXstream’s Prepackaged AIO (All-In-One) SAP virtual landscapes, businesses can greatly reduce their overhead, hardware costs and time to implement an SAP All-In-One Infrastructure.

Leveraging our extensive experience with SAP virtualization, DataXstream has created prepackaged SAP All-In-One infrastructure solutions which offer unprecedented flexibility. With our prepackaged offerings, you now have the ability to easily and cost effectively deploy business critical backup solutions, as well as disaster recovery and even site recovery solutions which fit your business and budget requirements.

SAP All-In-One Infrastructure Deployed in Two Weeks

That’s right, two weeks.

Because SAP All-In-One is a standards based installation, DataXstream has the ability to deploy an entire All-In-One Virtual infrastructure in just two weeks; significantly reducing the capital investment and time to implement a traditional All-In-One infrastructure. But beyond the ease of deployment, your solution should be flexible, which is why as a Dell and VMware Partner, we leverage the vSphere 4 virtualization architecture to enable your SAP All-In-One Infrastructure to grow with your business.

Why A Prepackaged Solution?

• Built upon SAP best practices
• Industry leading hardware
• Designed for high availability
• Reduced implementation time
• Expand as your business grows
• Rapid return on investment

All-in-One Packages Include

• Prebuilt, ready to deploy SAP Virtual Landscape
• 2 week setup time

Install Features

• Preconfigured for High Availability
• Easily deploy remote Disaster Recovery solutions
• Flexibility to expand with your business needs

*Does not include SAP licensing or SQL Server licensing

Hardware

• Dell PowerEdge Servers
• Equallogic PS Series SAN
• Force10 iSCSI fabric

Software

• VMWare vSphere
• Windows Server 2008
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008*
• Preinstalled ECC Landscape*
• Preinstalled Solution Manager Landscape*

With 3 SAP AIO Solutions We Have An Infrastructure That’s Right For You

 Read the Case Study:

A Decade of Experience with Virtualization

DataXstream has embraced virtualization technology for nearly a decade, beginning with our first use of desktop virtualization in 2002 to better manage our multiple clients and then continuing with our conversion of our SAP datacenter in 2004. Even before virtualization became officially endorsed by SAP in 2007, DataXstream leveraged virtualization’s flexibility and cost saving features to better meet the needs of our SAP customers. Over the years, virtualization technology has given us a competitive advantage in the marketplace, allowing us to rapidly adapt to the changing needs and requirements of the SAP world and clients. Through years of experience, we have been able to streamline a proprietary model to forecast the right hardware and software configuration for SAP, as well as the tuning parameters necessary to insure optimal performance.

We are now on our 4^th generation of Dell Virtualization Servers, leveraging Dell’s latest 710 series, which just recently replaced our Dell R900’s. Migration to the new servers was completed in a matter of days and was accomplished with no outage to our internal systems. With our recent upgrade to VMware’s vSphere 4 Enterprise, we are now able to run our entire virtual infrastructure in High Availability (HA).

Over the past 7 years, DataXstream has worked with most storage technologies available, utilizing internal storage, NAS (Network Access Storage), DAS (Direct Attached Storage), SAN (Storage Area Networks), and Virtual SAN products. We develop techniques to successfully architech our SAP virtual storage infrastructure that are now considered SAP best practices in virtualization.

Let the Experts Virtualize Your SAP Landscape

So you are ready to virtualize. Whether you already have SAP on a physical landscape or you are implementing SAP for the first time, DataXstream can help you. DataXstream is a certified Professional Solutions Provider of VMware virtualization software. Our consultants have completed VmWare education training and are certified by VmWare to install, implement, and optimize their software for any ERP infrastructure. As a certified partner, we also have access to the latest virtualization software technology as well as studies, best practice methodology, and training.

Virtualization Solutions for Small Businesses

So you are ready to virtualize, but you are a small business. This means you have less time and money to implement a virtual solution. You ask: is virtualization even an option for you? Well, you are in good hands. DataXstream has a prepackaged, cost-effective, yet flexible All-In-One (AIO) virtual infrastructure that can be deployed in just two weeks. So you may be small, but you need not miss out on the benefits that virtualization can bring to your business.

Virtualization Solutions for Disaster Recovery

Unexpected IT outages and loss of data due to natural or human-initiated disasters can unleash a procession of direct and indirect consequences, with both short-term and far-reaching consequences.  At DataXstream, we  deliver innovative, reliable and cost-effective disaster recovery solutions that tap into our deep understanding of virtual infrastructure and take advantage of the inherent disaster recovery capabilities of VMware.

Optimizing your SAP Landscape with VMware Virtualization