BMC Podcasts
11 Posts tagged with the data_center tag
"Automation is not just application of technology. It's application of technology to proven processes," says Glenn O'Donnell.
Part Two—Data Center Consolidation
Play Part Two of the three-part series 20:12 minutes OR Listen to the entire Podcast 35:50 minutes
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Data center consolidation can help reduce costs and make the organization more nimble in responding to customer needs. Are you getting the most out of your monitoring and management tools? Are you looking to save costs or help make your data center more effective and efficient? Then listen in as we talk with Glenn O'Donnell and Jim Grant about saving costs with data center consolidation.
Bios
(See Part 1 for Bios and Photos)
Questions
- Having a consolidated service desk as a single point of contact is a core need for IT to move on to improving other business and IT processes. In the area of Data Center automation and consolidation, there is a lot companies can gain in operational efficiency. Glenn, to enable or prepare for data center consolidation, what strategies and technologies do you see companies putting in place to ensure their success?
- So Jim, back to you. BMC is seen as a leader in the data center management space. What does BMC provide its customers that enables them to consolidate their data centers and reduce costs? And How have your customers embraced data center consolidation and what are some of the benefits that they have realized?
Resources
Driving Down Costs and Improving Service with Service Optimization and Data Management
Posted by Tom Parish Jan 30, 2009Intelligent automation allows you to see a problem as it unfolds. You can respond to problem at that point as opposed to waiting until the application goes completely down and then you’re in react mode, says Bill Arledge.
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IT organizations are being driven to reduce costs, yet service-delivery expectations remain very high. We may be putting off CPU upgrades, but the business wants to deliver high levels of service.
Listen in as Bill Arledge, Consulting Product Manager, at BMC Software talks about Service Optimization and data management. Find out about combining intelligent automation with best practices, managing your environment to drive down costs and achieve the goal of improving service. Get tips for determining how Service Optimization can benefit your environment, and steps for implementation.
Bio
Bill Arledge is a Consulting Product Manager, at BMC Software. Bill is an IT veteran with 33 years experience across a variety of roles, including application development and database administration. Bill’s database experience began in the late 1970’s as an IMS DBA and developer. He began working with DB2 in 1984 as a database specialist at IBM. He worked with DB2 throughout the late eighties, consulting with numerous IBM customers on existing and planned DB2 implementations. Bill joined BMC in 1990 and is currently a technical product manager responsible for BMC’s DB2 data management products. In that capacity he consults extensively with BMC DB2 customers and works closely with BMC’s Research and Development organization to drive product direction.
Questions
We're really in a challenging environment for data management these days. IT organizations are being driven to reduce costs, but the service-delivery expectations remain very high. We live in 24 by 7, on-demand world and customers expect no downtime and the competition is always pushing new features to woe customers.
- Will you tell us a little about BMC’s service optimization strategy and how it can help accomplish these goals?
- What's your experience now, in 2009? Surely larger companies and data centers have gotten on board with Service Optimization, or is this still a new concept--are they still struggling with it? Can you give me an example where automation has made a difference, especially when it's dealing with the way things have traditionally been done?
- What are some questions IT managers should ask to determine the value Service Optimization would bring to their IT and business environment environment?
- What are the steps needed to implement Service Optimization?
- Can you provide examples of IT data management disciplines that can be improved using service optimization?
Resources
Service Optimization: Delivering More Business Value at Less Cost From Mainframe Data Management
Gaining Control and Managing Complexity in the Data Center through Service Automation
Posted by Tom Parish Nov 17, 2008"With the mushrooming of the sheer number of moving parts in data centers, manual baton passing is just not going to cut it for this new world," says Kia Behnia.
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Over the last decade, IT infrastructures have become exceedingly complex, resulting in a highly interconnected network of new and powerful technologies. In a world where IT budgets are shrinking and mergers and acquisitions are more and more common, how do you get the most value from your existing IT resources yet maintain agility?
In this Podcast, with Kia Behnia, Chief Corporate Architect at BMC, find out how service automation can help you navigate the”perfect storm” of new technologies such as server virtualization, as well as legacy distributed and mainframe computing environments that support millions of transactions through multi-tiered applications.
Discover the pain points that can lead a company toward service automation, and how you can benefit from not only from thinking tactically about holes that automation can plug, but also by looking at areas the enterprise that can get the biggest bang for the buck both in the near term and long term. Behnia talks about looking beyond the individual elements that currently exist in the data center or IT environment, and looking at the many ways that automation can help prevent critical human error in the highly interconnected environment. Finally, he outlines ways companies can get service automation right, and leaves us with a summary of the three most critical benefits of service automation.
Bio
Kia Behnia Chief Corporate Architect at BMC responsible for virtualization management. over the last 2.5 years he’s also be responsible for setting BMC’s service automation strategy and direction. Prior to joining BMC Software, he was CTO for Marimba, and earlier in his career he was one of the principal technologists for Tivoli Systems.
At BMC. Kia Behnia offers strategies to reduce the frequency and scope of IT failures, better support dependent business services and drive down operating costs with the right change and configuration management approach and technology.
Questions
- Are there any notable differences between data center automation and service automation? If so, what are the differences?
- In your paper, you say you should start with identifying pain points. Do you have any examples of extremely painful starting points you’ve seen?
- What types of holes might persist in an update and maintenance plan that you constantly have to “plug” with automation? Or is that too reactive of an approach?
- What sorts of environments lend themselves really well to service automation? In other words, what do you consider to be “low hanging fruit?
- What’s the number one thing an IT department can do to get automation right?
- Any other stories you want to tell today, and do you have any remaining important points to leave with our listeners?
Resources
BMC Industry Insight: Five Steps to Gaining Control and Managing Complexity in the Data Center through Service Automation
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Brent Sullivan, Lead Solutions Manager, BMC
What is Service Automation and how does it go beyond Data Center Automation? What are the benefits? Where do you start? Find the answers to these questions in this interview with Brent Sullivan, Lead Solutions Manager at BMC. Learn how you can deliver IT services faster, safer, and more cost effectively in this 20-minute podcast on Service Automation.
Bio
Early in Brent Sullivan’s technology career he was instrumental in helping a Houston start-up earn its spot on the Inc. 500 list, creating and marketing availability and performance management services and outsourced administration. Brent has since brought innovative ideas to both Compaq Computer Corporation, where he developed Pre-Failure Warranty and an innovative database deployment and configuration capability, and BMC Software, Inc. where he initiated enterprise application solutions and transaction management solutions. Today, with BMC Service Automation solutions, he is once again focused on helping customers solve problems around data center deployment and configuration.
The Power of Simplicity: Podcast interview with Scott Sloan, solutions marketing manager for infrastructure and application managment for BMC Software.
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Just as today's enterprise is becoming more complicated than ever -- a mix of multiple platforms, vendor software, open source, mainframe, and distributed systems -- the quest for simplicity is becoming more important. Simplicity can mean the difference between an efficient and agile IT that provides great service, and an IT that is slow, costly, and ineffectual. Simplicity in managing your infrastructure can mean the difference between IT being a business drag or a business driver.
In this podcast interview, Scott Sloan, solutions marketing manager for infrastructure and application management for BMC Software, talks candidly about why it takes not just service level management, but unified service level management to drastically improve service quality and service responsiveness for the business. He also discusses ITIL, and why it is becoming such a cornerstone for global IT, about leveraging virtualization for the enterprise, and how the agent-based versus agentless debate may finally be settled. Join us as we talk with Scott Sloan about how simplicity rules in today's complex global IT environment.
Resources
Scott Sloan's Blog: Expanding Your Insight Into the End-User Experience
Bio
Scott Sloan is a Senior Manager in BMC Software's Solutions Marketing organization focusing on distributed database management and transaction management solutions. While at BMC the past 9+ years, he has held a variety of marketing positions based in the US and Europe. Prior to joining BMC, Scott worked as a systems integrator with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) where he developed expertise in designing and building client/server applications. He has advanced degrees in business and Latin American studies.
What Does IT Have to Do With the Price of Oil? Podcast interview with Dave Wagner, solutions management director for Capacity Management and Provisioning at BMC Software, Inc.
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Data center efficiency is the ratio between how much useful work is done and the total cost of IT. It seems like a simple equation, but it has Dave Wagner, solutions management director for Capacity Management and Provisioning at BMC Software, scratching his head. The problem, he says, is the price of oil. With energy costs rising as much as 30 percent per year, depending on where you live, the dollars you spend on power will soon surpass what you spend on servers. This poses a problem for data center managers who need to accurately manage capacity. We can measure the cost of power at the data center level and even down to the rack level, but there is no way to measure power consumed per server. If you've ever thought about "going green" in your data center, be sure to listen in.
Dave's blog, Twenty-First Century Capacity Management, has some thought provoking posts on this subject. He writes about the impact of global warming on IT and the data center thermal runway. And, he poses questions you might never have pondered. Here's one: If power is a bigger part of the cost equation than servers, shouldn't you be doing capacity management on power instead of on servers?
Resources
Dave Wagner's email: david_wagner@bmc.com
Bio
Dave Wagner is a solutions management director for Capacity Management and Provisioning at BMC Software. He is responsible for driving overall solution strategy, pricing, requirements, and positioning for BMC's families of proactive performance analysis, modeling, and dynamic provisioning and orchestration solutions across leading enterprise platforms and their associated application environments. He has spoken at numerous conferences including the Computer Measurement Group, the premier conference for resource management and performance evaluation professionals.
Industry Analyst Series - Datacenter Optimization: Podcast interview with Fred Johannessen, vice president and program executive for data center solutions at BMC Software, Inc., and Julie Craig, senior analyst at Enterprise Management Associates
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With 80 percent of IT budgets today being used to maintain the status quo, very little is left over to implement newer technology and services that will help take the business to the next level. How can you lower costs, yet improve services and unleash innovation in your enterprise? Fred Johannessen and Julie Craig have the formula. Done right, you can achieve datacenter optimization and realize significant and demonstrable savings that can be used for new technology to grow your business.
Fred discusses a four-step continuous improvement process that will help you resolve the cost versus quality dilemma in your datacenter. The key is optimization, he says. Julie Craig throws best practices into the mix, describing what CobiT might bring to the table that ITIL does not. She talks about the exciting products that are coming out in the market right now and how the CMDB is contributing to product intelligence that is positioning technology to manage systems better than humans for the first time ever. She's also excited about new products and workflows that are helping companies navigate through the ITIL puzzle while helping them model, implement, and enforce their processes. If you're having trouble putting the pieces together, tune in to this informative interview.
Resources
Webinar and white paper: http://www.bmc.com/optimize
Bios
Fred Johannessen is vice president and program executive for data center solutions at BMC Software and has been with BMC nearly 10 years, serving in a variety of executive roles.
Julie Craig has over 20 years of deep and broad IT experience in software development and enterprise systems management. Her experience as a developer in commercial software companies included analysis, design, and coding in diverse development environments, as well as management of programming teams. Her Master’s Degree area of emphasis was on Object Oriented Technologies with a focus on Java. As a former IT senior engineer, she has extensively evaluated enterprise management solutions for ROI and functionality and has implemented multiple system, application, and performance management products. At EMA, Julie’s focus is on application and performance management, ITIL, and emerging technologies including Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Autonomic Computing. Prior to EMA, her most recent position was as a manager in the Global Architecture and Core Technologies group at Accenture, where she worked extensively on ITIL-related consulting projects.
Industry Analyst Series - Closed Loop Client Management with Kia Behnia, chief corporate architect at BMC Software,and Andi Mann, senior analyst at Enterprise Management Associates
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Andi Mann, senior analyst at Enterprise Management Associates, and Kia Behnia, chief corporate architect at BMC Software, explore the concept of client management and closing the loop on managing the lifecycle of software on client devices. This has become an increasingly complex topic as more devices are created and more ways to access them become viable. Closing the gaps that exist and connecting the entire change process is a logical progression, but in order to really reduce costs and improve security, you must embrace IT best practices like ITIL and the right technology solutions for your complex environment.
There are several factors that drive the creation of closed loop client management solutions:cost, business service, and risk management. There is a balance in implementation that requires using standards, tools, and processes. Kia and Andi help you bring all these together and take you through the steps required to close the gap. After listening to the podcast, view the webinar at http://www.bmc.com/clientmanagement and download an Enterprise Management Associateswhite paper.
Resources
For more information, download the webinar and white paper at: http://www.bmc.com/clientmanagement
Bios
Kia Behnia, chief corporate architect for BMC Software, has helped develop BMC Software's industry-leading Change and Configuration Management (CCM) strategy. Prior to joining BMC Software, he was CTO for Marimba and, earlier in his career, he was one of the principal technologists for Tivioli Systems.
Andi Mann, senior analyst at Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), has worked within the IT departments of various global corporations and with several enterprise software vendors for over 20 years. At EMA, his focus is on the intelligent and automated management of IT, specifically surrounding systems and applications management, configuration management, provisioning, and virtualization of systems and applications.
The Real Impact of Change in Your Data Center: Podcast interview with Kia Behnia, Chief Architect at BMC Software and Andi Mann, Senior Analyst at Enterprise Management Associates
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Andi Mann, Senior Analyst at Enterprise Management Associates and Kia Behnia, Chief Architect at BMC Software explore how data center managers can derive significant benefits by becoming better at planning and predicting change. The key is to implement best practices from ITIL (the IT Infrastructure Library) and important related technologies like the CMDB to help your organization thrive in a rapidly changing IT-supported business environment.
IT managers are searching for the correct processes and data to more holistically manage change in their data center. Whether driven by business requirements or new technologies, data center change is unavoidable. Yet, it is this very change in the IT infrastructure that creates problems in performance, efficiency, and the end-user experience.
Bio - Kia Behnia
Kia Behnia has helped develop BMC Software's industry-leading Change and Configuration Management (CCM) strategy. Prior to joining BMC Software he was CTO for Marimba, and earlier in his career, he was one of the principal technologists for Tivioli Systems.
Bio - Andi Mann
Andi Mann, Senior Analyst at Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), has worked within the IT departments of various global corporations and with several enterprise software vendors for over 20 years. At EMA, his focus is on the intelligent and automated management of IT, specifically surrounding systems and applications management, configuration management, provisioning, and virtualization of systems and applications.
The Power of Simplicity: Podcast interview with Scott Sloan, solutions marketing manager for infrastructure and application managment for BMC Software
Play Podcast (Right click to download)
Just as today's enterprise is becoming more complicated than ever -- a mix of multiple platforms, vendor software, open source, mainframe, and distributed systems -- the quest for simplicity is becoming more important. Simplicity can mean the difference between an efficient and agile IT that provides great service, and an IT that is slow, costly, and ineffectual. Simplicity in managing your infrastructure can mean the difference between IT being a business drag or a business driver.
In this podcast interview, Scott Sloan, solutions marketing manager for infrastructure and application management for BMC Software, talks candidly about why it takes not just service level management, but unified service level management to drastically improve service quality and service responsiveness for the business. He also discusses ITIL, and why it is becoming such a cornerstone for global IT, about leveraging virtualization for the enterprise, and how the agent-based versus agentless debate may finally be settled. Join us as we talk with Scott Sloan about how simplicity rules in today's complex global IT environment.
Bio
Scott Sloan is a Senior Manager in BMC Software's Solutions Marketing organization focusing on distributed database management and transaction management solutions. While at BMC the past 9+ years, he has held a variety of marketing positions based in the US and Europe. Prior to joining BMC, Scott worked as a systems integrator with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) where he developed expertise in designing and building client/server applications. He has advanced degrees in business and Latin American studies.
