Category: Blog

A whole host of hardware products have reached End of Service Life (EOSL) between the end of 2017 and now, with many set to lose support in 2018. What's the best way to prepare for EOSL? It may be time to consider third-party maintenance. … [Read more...]

A Dilbert strip once featured the Pointy-Haired Boss declaring to Dilbert that, from now on, Dilbert was to use open source for everything, as it was free. Dilbert, alarmed, then turned to Alice for help, and the duo returned to the boss with a demand for him to hand over the trade publication, so that no one had to get hurt. Open source looks great on the surface—it's free!—but it doesn't come without issues of its own to consider, particularly in the data center.What Can Open … [Read more...]

We've seen a lot of changes over the last few years strike the data center, but none so substantial as the cloud. The cloud has struck the data center down to the bare walls. So what specific changes have impacted the data center in recent days? There's a lot more going on, both positive and negative, than you might think.What Changes Has the Cloud Made to the Data Center?Down to the bare walls. Thanks to the rise of cloud-based services, many purposes that could only be accomplished in an … [Read more...]

Normally, when businesses consider maintenance, they have two options. There's the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), which offers some clear value when it comes to maintaining products, but there's also third-party management (TPM), which can offer value in its own right. Some, however, are beginning to wonder if the third path is best, a hybrid TPM / OEM path that seeks to provide the best of both worlds.What Are the Benefits of a Hybrid TPM / OEM Solution?The best part about a hybrid TPM … [Read more...]

If there's one thing that's been made abundantly clear the last few years, it's that data is the new lifeblood of business. Perhaps second only to cash, data means better sales and improved operations. That kind of value comes with a price, and that price is data storage. What's coming up in the data storage market for 2018? Knowing the answer to this question might help businesses get more out of that valuable asset.What's in the Future for Data Storage?The landscape is constantly changing in a … [Read more...]

In 1975, researchers from Harvard and the University of Illinois set users to watch a recording, counting the number of bounce passes basketball teams engaged in. Out of nowhere, a visitor in a full gorilla suit walked through one recording. When asked, most did not even notice the gorilla, despite watching closely. Sometimes, we get the same way, even when choosing a third-party maintenance provider. We get so focused on some things, we miss the obvious. So knowing what to look for in the best … [Read more...]

One of the biggest new developments in the data center is machine learning, and this single field is bringing with it many of the new opportunities that the data center can produce.What is Machine Learning Doing to the Data Center?Machine learning has a real potential to fundamentally alter the data center landscape thanks to a slate of new options for users.Improved data gathering. The best part about machine learning in the data center is that it not only can learn what to look for, but it can … [Read more...]

FUD is one of the main strategies original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) use to gain a competitive edge over third-party maintenance (TPM) providers. OEMs will try to instill fear, uncertainty, and doubt with regard to the effectiveness of TPMs. But there's no validity to the assertions made in an attempt to create FUD. … [Read more...]

The data center manager, these days, enjoys a peculiar position. Protected by sheer importance—the data center is an increasingly vital part of everyday operations and the long-term health of the company—yet potentially doomed by that same importance, the data center manager must be kept on hand. Yet should something go wrong, it could mean disaster. The smart data center manager, therefore, works to protect against as many potential problems as possible. But what are some of these … [Read more...]

It may seem to anyone but the most involved and careful viewer that everything is available on an as-a-service basis these days. Even that careful observer notes that an increasingly large number of things formerly available as stand-alone programs are now available as-a-service, leading some to call it an everything-as-a-service (XaaS) environment. In such an era as this, what room is there for the data center?What Functions Can the Data Center Provide in a XaaS World?Though XaaS operations … [Read more...]