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"I think there is a lot of hardware on the floor of most data centers that is underutilized both on the server and the storage side,"says Mark Settle.

How is the credibility of your IT organization among your R & D colleagues? Are you able to deliver what they need on time, every time? How well are you using your server inventory across locations? Are you looking to reduce your footprint in your server room, lower maintenance and labor costs, while better using your existing server space?

Join us as we talk with Mark Settle, Chief Information Officer at BMC Software, and find out how BMC's own virtualization project helped the company became even more responsive to business needs, while reducing costs and increases productivity.

Bio

Mark Settle is the Chief Information Officer at BMC Software. Mark joined BMC in June 2008. He has served as the CIO of four Fortune 300 companies: Corporate Express, Arrow Electronics, Visa International, and Occidental Petroleum. He is a former Air Force officer and NASA Program Scientist.

Questions

• What else was unique about this, especially as compared to what you've done in the past?
• When you first started the project, how did you describe the goals to Senior Management? Did you end up meeting or exceeding their expectations, how did all that go?
• Why didn't you think the 18 to 1 ratio was possible? What made it possible?
• When we talk about the process of configuring these new tools for improvement and productivity of the virtual servers, is there a kind of cookbook approach that will work? Does it have to be totally unique for every situation?
• So stepping back, what was the learning curve like?
• What are some of the key things you learned along the way? Were there some unexpected benefits?

Resources

BMC Industry Insights: Uncover the Benefits of Virtualization (pdf)

"Money aside, data center consolidation simplifies things," says Vick Vaishnavi

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(19:13 minutes)

Can downsizing and consolidating data centers yield long-term savings sufficient enough to warrant the project? There is no doubt. By right-sizing, you can often recoup the project costs in months, not years. Join us in a conversation with Vick Vaishnavi, vice president of Worldwide Marketing for BMC Software, as we discuss practical tips to help you build the business case for and implement a data center consolidation.

Bio

Vick Vaishnavi, vice president of Worldwide Marketing for BMC Software, is responsible for driving BMC’s global marketing strategy, market development, campaigns, and field operations activities.

Questions

1. Let's talk about Data Center Consolidation. What does it really mean?
2. Why would a client consider a project like data center consolidation at this particular time, given all the budget cuts and pullbacks? 
3. How hard is it to build a business case for this kind of undertaking?
4. You mention 5 steps for data center consolidation in your white paper. Can we touch on those steps briefly?
5. Is there any one step you would describe as being the most important step?
6. What's the relationship between data center consolidation and financial- or customer-data compliance requirements?
7. How can data center consolidation make a difference in the survival of the business?
8. What one question do you wish people would ask before starting a data center consolidation project?

Resources

Five Steps to Successful Data Center Consolidation (pdf)

"You need a good transition strategy for the changes that people have to experience ... or technology or process changes will be a constraint," says Anthony Orr.

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(20:43 minutes)

Are you skeptical about whether you can actually use out-of-the-box technology to achieve the most value from an IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL ® )perspective?  Have you ever selected technology that aligned with your goals but were surprised at what you found in the box? Are some of your staff ITIL trained or ITIL certified, but they still don't understand their roles in the ITIL process? Are you still trying to define your processes so you can start an ITIL initiative?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone. Industry experts have raised these same questions about getting an ITIL solution using out-of-the-box technology.

Join us as we talk with an ITIL expert, Anthony Orr, and explore this question, Can you Really Get ITIL Out of the Box?

Bio

Anthony Orr is Global Best Practice Director for Educational Services, at BMC Software. He has more than 25 years of experience in managerial, consulting, marketing, and technical positions for IT Service Management strategies and implementations. He is certified in Project Management (PMP), ISO 20000, and ITIL V2 Service Manager and ITIL V3 Expert levels. He is a senior examiner of ITIL V3 for APMG, has an Oracle Masters Certificate in database administration and application development, and holds a B.A.A.S. degree in computer information science.

Questions

It's my understanding these days, many IT organizations are turning to the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) for guidance on how to meet demands that they to reduce the cost of managing IT and ensure that decisions are based on customer value, business value, and business priorities. But, some industry experts are skeptical about whether you can actually use out-of-the-box technology to achieve the most value from applying the ITIL perspective on things.

1. With an initiative as long-term as ITIL, how does a company know when it's on the right road to success?
2. Let's talk more about identifying quick wins. What do they look like? What are some examples of those?
3. ITIL is mainly process focused, so how do we marry the process with the technology?
4. The technology is sometimes more advanced than the process stuff. It may have features and functions that you're not ready for yet. That can be daunting. So you've got this thing, and there are some immediate payoffs for it. But how can a company match the features they want with the technology they are purchasing?
5. What do we need to consider in terms of the human factor when we are making a decision about the technology?
6. Given all of this,what are the four top things you want to with regards to ITIL out of the box that would be most useful to the listeners?

Resources

Can You Really Get ITIL Out of the Box? (pdf)

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How has the role of the software architect changed through the years and what will it look like in the future? Jeff Hodges, manager of the Client Architecture group at BMC Software, Inc., says companies have traditionally looked at architects for their specialties with certain databases, applications, or systems. Companies with more mature IT organizations are realizing today that this role has evolved into that of someone who not only understands their technology-specialty areas, but also what is happening, on a larger scale, to the organization. This emerging role of the business service management architect is the key to helping IT successfully align and support the business.

As business service management (BSM) becomes a reality for any company, the role of the BSM architect becomes more and more critical to the organization. Jeff believes that this role of trusted advisor will evolve. He thinks more vertical or industry specializations will naturally occur and that more specialized training and education will become available, not only at BMC, but everywhere. But instead of focusing expertise solely around a particular technology, he advises, the BSM architect should understand your IT organization, the specific changes that need to happen to it, and how technology integrates into, and impacts, your business.

Resources

Services at BMC Software

Bio

Jeff Hodges manages the Software Consulting Client Architect team at BMC Software, Inc. Jeff has over 14 years of experience managing people, process, and technology to successfully develop and implement integrated IT Service Management solutions. He was formerly an R&D engineer and R&D team manager for HP, professional services consultant for Remedy Corporation, consulting manager for Siemens, independent consultant, and a project manager for Citigroup and client architect for BMC Software. Jeff holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from California State University at Sacramento, California.