Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • Networking
    • Storage

    Novell Defines Its Service-Driven Data Center Concept

    By
    Chris Preimesberger
    -
    April 13, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      In order to solidify a corporate image in the minds of potential customers, every major enterprise IT systems provider believes it must have an all-inclusive sales and marketing theme or strategy.
      Hewlett-Packard has its Adaptive Computing campaign. Sun Microsystems has long had its Open Systems approach. Cisco Systems recently unveiled its Unified Computing strategy.
      IBM has had a number of these over the years. “Autonomic” (self-monitoring, self-healing computing) was one in play a few years ago. In 2008 it was Information On Demand. In 2009 it has focused on the IBM Blue Cloud.
      Now it’s Novell’s turn. The open-source-oriented operating system company told eWEEK April 10 that it is now using “Service-Driven Data Center” as its go-to sales and marketing theme, centered around the March 24 launch of its SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 operating system.
      Basically, this is an indication to the market that the company is ready to bring the products of companies it has recently acquired-PlateSpin and ManagedObjects-into a corporate data center marketing scheme.
      There’s a lot of competition out there; any semblance of organization will look good to a potential customer.
      What’s a service-driven data center, anyway?
      Data centers by nature provide a service to the enterprises in which they reside. So what’s unique about a “service-driven” data center?
      “In many cases, organizations are already moving toward that [goal],” Novell Director of Product Marketing Richard Whitehead told eWEEK. “Our concept of the service-driven data center is specifically geared to delivering the services that business users need. It’s all focused around the IT department being a service provider, whether it’s internal to the organization or external with things like cloud [computing], even though we know cloud is still in its infancy.”
      The truly service-driven data center is geared toward providing agility and flexibility while still maintaining control of the data, Whitehead said.
      “I often talk to customers about something called ‘shadow IT,’ ” Whitehead said. “An example: The boss gets a new iPhone, goes to IT and tells them, ‘I want to get my e-mail on my iPhone.’ They say, ‘Ah, sorry, we don’t support it.’ The boss says, ‘Oh, that’s interesting; I’m going to call my buddy who put something [a service] on his credit card, and they can synchronize that for me.’
      “Next thing you know, you have a shadow IT thing going on, because you’re not providing the service the customer wanted.”
      Three main characteristics
      There are three main characteristics of a service-driven data center, Whitehead said.
      “No. 1, it must be properly built,” he said. “It must be able to work with multiple operating systems, hypervisors, virtualization, cloud computing-the whole nine yards. That’s where SUSE Enterprise Linux 11 fits, because it is interoperable with Unix, Windows, VMware, and most other applications and layers.
      “The next piece we call ‘Manage.’ This is where our PlateSpin products come in: to leverage all the assets within an organization, be they hardware, software or whatever. You need a management system that can support that,” he said.
      Novell’s PlateSpin Workload Management software uses the virtualization layer-be it VMware, Citrix or Microsoft-to optimize, balance and protect all servers in the data center.
      The final piece is what Novell calls “Measure,” Whitehead said.
      “That involves the recent acquisition of ManagedObjects, where our business service management plays. We feel we have a unique advantage because we are able to work across multiple platforms and hardware types,” he said. “If you can’t measure it, how do you know if you’re delivering the services you need to deliver?”
      SLES 11, PlateSpin and ManagedObjects data center components are available now. For more information, go here.

      Chris Preimesberger
      https://www.eweek.com/author/cpreimesberger/
      Chris J. Preimesberger is Editor Emeritus of eWEEK. In his 16 years and more than 5,000 articles at eWEEK, he distinguished himself in reporting and analysis of the business use of new-gen IT in a variety of sectors, including cloud computing, data center systems, storage, edge systems, security and others. In February 2017 and September 2018, Chris was named among the 250 most influential business journalists in the world (https://richtopia.com/inspirational-people/top-250-business-journalists/) by Richtopia, a UK research firm that used analytics to compile the ranking. He has won several national and regional awards for his work, including a 2011 Folio Award for a profile (https://www.eweek.com/cloud/marc-benioff-trend-seer-and-business-socialist/) of Salesforce founder/CEO Marc Benioff--the only time he has entered the competition. Previously, Chris was a founding editor of both IT Manager's Journal and DevX.com and was managing editor of Software Development magazine. He has been a stringer for the Associated Press since 1983 and resides in Silicon Valley.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×