 September 2010
Welcome to the September edition of Tardis Talk.
We’ve started the new financial year on a high note here at Tardis – we achieved excellent results in FY10 by continuing to grow the business, broaden our customer base and expand in all our key markets. We’ve also grown as an organisation, with new faces and new perspectives enlarging our world view, most notably that of new Sales and Marketing Director, Michael Holt.
Michael comes to us from George Weston Foods where he spent nearly five years, first as IT Manager, later as CIO. He has over a decade’s experience in leading and delivering IT value to businesses in a variety of industries, managing budgets of $60 million and teams of up to 200 staff. He’s already bringing great value to our business. This appointment is an excellent opportunity for our customers to leverage Michael’s experience in best-practice IT operations management.
This edition of Tardis Talk includes a feature on the state of the IT industry – how the competitive landscape is changing and what that means to your business. We also look into the evolution of information security, the new IBM® Virtualised Disk Solution (VDS) which simplifies your storage environment by virtualising it and the new VMware® release on which we’re offering some special pricing for those who want to upgrade. We also present a new case study on our exciting Dynamic Infrastructure project with Fuji Xerox Australia and an overview of the areas you need to cover off when you’re choosing an IT services provider. All in all, this is an issue of Tardis Talk that’s got something for everyone, whatever your current IT agenda.
If you have any suggestions for forthcoming articles on areas of particular interest to you please don’t hesitate to let us know – our intention is to help your business grow in every way we can. As always, if you have a colleague or friend who would benefit from Tardis Talk, feel free to pass it along with our compliments.
And if we can assist with anything else in the meantime, just call.
Until next edition,
Cheers,
The Tardis Team
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Every now and then there’s a quantum shift in the way things happen. We are in the midst of one such shift now as the technological advances delivered by the IBM® POWER7™ marque set new benchmarks for IT standards. POWER7 was always going to be good news but it’s proven even better than expected, both for IBM itself and its customers, by delivering such high innovation at such low prices that IBM’s Unix volumes and revenues are up sharply.
By contrast, Sun and HP – the other members of the Unix Top Three – have both suffered with share and revenue figures falling since POWER7’s release in February this year. Six months has now elapsed in the marketplace; enough time to demonstrate that POWER7’s massive leap in capacity, virtualisation and energy efficiency as well as its leading per-core performance is leaving the opposition on the starting grid.
It is widely acknowledged that virtualisation is the way forward. The technology is maturing (both in Intel and Unix) and moves now are towards large-scale consolidation for data centres that are more efficient in every way. Workload-optimising AIX® POWER systems now offer almost limitless virtualisation, automated processes and close to continuous availability with up to 90% energy cost reduction and significant decreases in rack space and operational costs.
Businesses that are consolidating in this way are achieving not just good ROI but exponential ROI. If getting into this new environment is on your company’s IT agenda (and what company doesn’t have cost savings on its agenda?), then IBM’s Migration Factory can take all the upheaval out of migrating, leaving you with only the upside.
The IBM Migration Factory isn’t a building – it’s a group of 350 of the world’s top experts, who travel the globe helping businesses migrate more quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively than they’d thought possible. They’re the people to talk to about migration; they have years of experience answering the tough questions - What will give me the best ROI? The lowest TCO? How long would it take? And where would I start? Along with those answers, they can provide you with a personalised roadmap for your organisation.
If you do decide it’s time to migrate, Tardis is offering incentives on the POWER 750 Express and the eX5 Virtual Desktop until the end of October – call us on 8870 9000 to talk through your needs with us and set up an initial discussion with IBM’s Migration Factory.
And there’s even more good migration news if you’re on Linux. Red Hat has announced that the just-released Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 will support the latest POWER7 models, POWER 710, 720, 730, 740 and 795. IBM intends that POWER VM Lx86 will support the next major release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux on IBM POWER Systems. All the more reasons to take that first step now.
|
|
Bringing Outsiders in Offers the Best Protection
Remember when all the information security we had to worry about was whether our filing cabinets were locked up tight? Those were the days. Every business – small or large – is now facing increased cyberthreats. Today they’re about damage not just to our data and our cash flow, but to our reputations which, whilst years in the making, can be destroyed overnight.
Ironically, technological advances mean that the increased number of user, customer and supplier touchpoints we now enjoy also provides more potential entry points. In addition, ZDnet research says when it comes to security, people are the weakest link – all the way along a spectrum from genuine mistakes to active sabotage attempts. For those in the ‘active sabotage’ category, revenge seems to be the main motivator, with most saboteurs committing their offences after they’d been suspended or terminated.
Outside your organisation, organised crime now rules the cyberthreat landscape – no longer is it ‘hacking for fame’, today it’s ‘hacking for fortune’. And fortunes are there for the taking, with criminals becoming increasingly sophisticated and effective. For example, those who have had their computers compromised and material such as child porn planted often pay up when the inevitable blackmail demand arrives.
Proper governance sounds dull but lack of it means that unknown systems can proliferate on your network. In fact, nine out of 10 data breaches in the last four years involved a system on the network operating outside the reach of administrators, with data storage abilities, connections, accessibility and privileges that shouldn’t have existed.
Your IT staff can’t be experts in everything. Along with managing your infrastructure, network and users as well as keeping abreast of the latest technological advances, an internal IT team may not have the capacity to be security experts as well. Enlisting external help from industry-leading IBM Security Services will allow your business to embrace the latest technological innovations without compromising information safety.
Managing more risks with fewer resources, IBM Security Services gives you a better security result at a lower cost. Recognised by IT analysts Gartner and IDC as a leading security provider, it is also the PCI (payment card industry) compliance services market leader. IBM Security Services has the expertise, solutions, knowledgeable practitioners, proven methodologies and global reach that make it the security partner of choice for thousands of businesses around the world.
Calling us today on 8870 9000 to discuss your information security concerns is the first move towards a newly protected future with IBM Security Services.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Specially made for SMEs
IBM storage is ideal for SMEs. But don’t take our word for it – here’s what the experts at Gartner have to say, “IBM storage solutions represent the best fit for VMware server virtualisation, Oracle database, Microsoft SQL database or Exchange infrastructures.”
SMEs traditionally maintain small IT staffs which have, with their limited resources and very limited budgets, responsibility for servers, networking and storage. They are, as a result, often too busy to breathe. Server sprawl has made IT architecture overly complex and expensive yet if you’ve bitten the bullet, consolidated and virtualised, you can then be faced with storage that’s too convoluted to be effective.
You have enterprise issues but not an enterprise budget. Time then, to upgrade to scalable, flexible storage with room to spare. Storage that contains enterprise class features at an SME price. A small SME price.
Welcome to the Virtualised Disk Solution (VDS), IBM’s industry-leading storage virtualisation system. If you’d drawn up a wish-list of storage features, this would be the result. Pre-tested and fully integrated, it has the performance, scalability, flexibility and features of enterprise storage at a fraction of the cost.
VDS transparently migrates data from your current storage and integrates new and existing storage into a simplified tiered storage environment with a single point of control, reducing your investment requirements. Sophisticated replication and thin provisioning functions with no need for extra hardware or server software are included and VDS simplifies management, improves storage utilisation by as much as 30%, includes automated provisioning functions, monitors end-to-end SAN health and doubles productivity.
The IBM Virtualised Disk Solution is the solution for all your storage needs. It’s space efficient, environmentally friendly, it delivers much more return per terabyte purchased and best of all, it’s here now. For SMEs, this is the answer to a prayer. Call us today on 8870 9000 and we’ll show you what VDS will mean for your business ... and your sanity.
|
|
Just as virtualisation is becoming the benchmark in business systems, VMware’s vSphere has long been the benchmark in virtualisation standards. It’s efficient, trusted and proven ... with more than 190,000 customers worldwide relying on it every day. vSphere 4.1 has just been released and its new capabilities and enhancements are guaranteed to save organisations time and money.
vSphere 4.1 creates more virtual machines and virtualised hosts than ever before ... at lower costs than ever before. Hard to beat, isn’t it? Opening new possibilities for cloud computing, it offers groundbreaking new memory management and new granular controls. vSphere 4.1 extends 4.0’s availability and security capabilities for better, safer environments and offers more freedom of choice than ever before with increased hardware and software support.
If you’re heading for the clouds, vSphere 4.1 can take you there. And Tardis is your VMware supplier of choice – combine our knowledge with our special pricing on vSphere 4.1 and we’re unbeatable. Ask Tardis for a special price before your next purchase - we’re on 8870 9000, to help with your ascent to vSphere 4.1 as soon as you’re ready.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Still on the topic of virtualisation and leading provider of document management, printing and publishing environments, Fuji Xerox Australia has logged its first six months using a Tardis-provided consolidation solution consisting of a three-node virtual farm running VMware vSphere 4.0 with IBM DS 3400 storage. Even though it’s early days, they’re more than happy with the results.
Their new cluster meets all their environmental sustainability needs, saves significant costs in a variety of areas (hardware, software, licensing, electricity and floor space, to name just a few) and is enabling the business to react more quickly, giving it the ability to take advantage of new opportunities.
With 40 per cent of their Windows and Linux servers now virtualised, Fuji Xerox Australia plans to increase its farm from three to five nodes as well as exploring virtual software development and testing with VMware’s Lab Manager to provide a future that’s more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable than ever before.
Read the full case study here, then call us on 8870 9000. If, like Fuji Xerox Australia, you can see the benefits of virtualising your environment.
|
|
Much More than Just Hardware
As IT infrastructure becomes ever more complex, hardware’s only half the battle. These days, choosing the correct solution for your business from amongst many competing offers, then implementing and managing that solution is beyond the reach of many organisations ... and not just SMEs, many large enterprises are also seeking expert guidance to avoid falling into technology potholes.
Outsourcing your IT services to
an external provider has many benefits.
 |
Saves you money
|
|
Lets your IT team focus on end users’ core activities |
|
Gives you access to professional capabilities and a variety of experience |
|
Enables you to take advantage of up-to-the-minute education and certification without the cost or time |
|
Makes your business more flexible and adaptable to change |
But before you make the move, there are a few areas to be
aware of:
|
Don’t choose a provider on instinct – make sure their capabilities match your needs
|
|
Clarify the provider’s costs, the exact nature of the services on offer and any terms and conditions upfront
|
|
Flexibility to vary your IT demands to suit changing business conditions |
|
Ensure service level agreements are written into your contract |
|
Make sure there is a mutually agreed procedure for negotiating any issues |
|
Contact the provider’s reference customers |
Following the points we’ve outlined will ensure you retain control of the process and get the most out of it. Tardis Services, of course, meets all of those criteria. If you’re thinking about outsourcing any aspect of your IT services, we’re always happy to discuss how we can meet your needs – call us on 8870 9000.
|
|
 |
|
