GameChanger Virtualization

Driven by federal mandates to consolidate data centers andmigrate to the cloud, government agencies at all levels are

turning to virtualization to help lower expenses, streamline IToperations and reduce energy consumption.

The White House, the Office of Management and Budget and other federaloversight organizations have launched initiatives that direct agencies to identify ways to reduce IT expenses and consolidate the number of federal

data centers, which grew from 432 in 1998 to 2,094 in 2010. Among thenotable initiatives is the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative, an executive branch mandate that requires agencies to reduce the energy andreal estate footprint of data centers. To implement this, OMB wants agenciesto use one of four approaches: decommission, virtualization, cloud computingor site consolidation. By 2015, the goal is to reduce the total number of federal data centers by 40 percent.

Transformation Through Technology

In a survey of 610 government ITmanagers last summer, 77 percentof respondents said they wereimplementing at least one form ofvirtualization that ranged from serverto desktop and/or storage-basedvirtualization.

However, despite strong interestand substantial benefits, the processof migrating a majority of agencyapplications remains slow. And smalland midsize organizations aren’tinvesting in virtualization as quickly,both in the public and private sector.Nathan Coutinho, a Solution Architectand Manager who focuses on virtu-alization at CDW, parent company ofCDW-G, said most large organizationshave implemented virtualization forabout 35 percent of their IT opera-tions. On average, Coutinho added,it takes about two years to fully migrateto a virtualized server environment,which translates to 70 percent ormore of an IT organization’s softwarerunning on virtual server platforms.There are still core applications,such as ERP and legacy systems, andsecurity requirements, especially relatedto maintaining data privacy, thatmake server virtualization difficult.“As customers gain experiencewith virtualization managementtools, they are learning to planaccordingly for the operations thatwill take more time and effort tocomplete the migration process,”he said.

On the upswingVirtualization delivers a rangeof cost and efficiency benefitsthat include:

• Reducing the number of servers.Whether in stand alone, rackmountor blade form factors, virtualizationtranslates to fewer servers, whichin turn lowers capital expenses.

• Shrinking energy costs. Fewerservers require less energy andcooling.

• Consolidating data centers.Virtualization reduces floor spacerequirements, assisting ongoingdata center consolidation efforts.

• Hastening deployment. IT personnelcan create virtual machines almostat the touch of a button or increasecapacity on the fly as needed.

• Adding greater flexibility. ITorganizations can make changesin operations quickly and easily

and run multiple operating systemsand applications on a single physicalserver. This boosts server use rates,often from less than 20 percent tonearly 80 percent.

• Easing administration. Installationsand upgrades take place in secondsrather than hours or days. Also,with fewer servers and storage-areanetwork devices to manage, IT staffmembers, data center operatorsand network administrators canfocus on more strategic tasks.

• Improving availability and continuityof operations. If a physical servercrashes, other virtual servers cantake over so that applicationsremain unaffected. Using softwaretools, agencies can automatebackup, replication and rapidmovement of servers, desktopsand applications.

Revolutionizing public sector IT

After public sector organizationshave carefully evaluated

virtualization, industryobservers say it’s important to migrateservers first. Server virtualization isconsidered the most mature and delivers significant bang for any organization’s invested dollars.

The CDW-G survey found 91 percent of agencies are considering orimplementing this type of virtualization.The primary benefit is reducing thenumber of physical servers in the datacenter while simultaneously increasingtheir use.

After tackling server virtualization,industry observers say storage is the nextlogical area that should be virtualized.Storage virtualization solutions are usedto unite multiple storage devices intowhat appears to be a single storagepool. By abstracting many physicaldevices into one logical layer, storagevirtualization makes it easier to centrallymanage, back up data and performstorage tiering to move data to lessexpensive storage as time and requirements allow. This type ofvirtualization also makes it easier toachieve and maintain continuity ofoperations planning goals.

After servers and storage virtualizationhave been addressed, organizations

should investigate client or desktopvirtualization alternatives. Desktopvirtualization is a method of runningmultiple desktops and/or applicationscentrally from the data center. CDW-G’ssurvey found 84 percent of respondentsare considering or implementing someform of client virtualization. Key benefits include reduced hardware andsupport costs, rapid PC deployment,more efficient patching, and improved security.

What lies aheadTo meet the optimistic goals set

by the White House, the Office ofManagement and Budget, the GeneralServices Administration and otheroversight organizations, agencies willlikely need further guidance, alongwith metrics and training to successfullymaneuver through the process ofvirtualization and ultimately cloud-basedservices.

Organizations that have alreadydeployed virtualization unanimouslysay securing CIO buy-in, establishinganalysis and performance metrics upfront, and enhancing all forms oftraining are crucial to success. Nearlyhalf of respondents in the CDW-Gsurvey said their IT departmentsaren’t appropriately staffed and

Virtualization: A method of

decoupling an application and the

resources required to run it —

including the processor, memory,

operating system, storage and

network access — from the

underlying physical server.

trained to manage a virtual environment.

Despite training and complexitychallenges, the pace of virtualizationdeployment is expected to acceleratein 2011, said CDW’s Coutinho.One reason is that advanced virtualization management toolshave rolled out in recent months tohelp public-sector IT organizationswith the complexities of capacityplanning, automation, performance,security and configuration. Amajority of agency respondents in the CDW-G survey said theylikely will fully implement client,server and storage virtualizationby 2015.

Migration: Step by step

GameChanger VirtualizationTransformation Through Technology

Executives at CDW Government, one of the industry’s leading providers of virtualization solutions from the widest range of suppliers, offers the following advice for public-sector organizations seeking to streamline IT by using virtualization.

Lead: Secure non-IT leadership support for virtualization, and ensure adequateend-user education along the way.

Analyze: Conduct cost/benefit and performance analyses and set benchmarksfor evaluating the organization’s return on investment.

Plan: Audit current IT environments to determine areas that can immediatelybenefit from virtualization, along with the applications or areas that will requireadditional planning.

Implement: Begin with a small-scale deployment. Apply lessons learned tosubsequent implementations.

Advice from the trenches

As public sector organizations examine how toimplement virtualization solutions for server,storage and client-based environments, they can

trust CDW Government LLC (CDW-G) has the expertiseand supplier knowledge to support each of them throughthe selection, deployment, training and management ofvirtual environments.

CDW-G is fully committed to delivering everything agovernment agency needs to make the right purchasingdecisions, from products and services to information onthe latest technologies to help address each organization’sspecific requirements. Parent company CDW has been aleader in the virtualization market since 2001, with morethan 1,500 certified professionals currently trained todeploy and manage the leading virtualization platformsfrom VMware, Citrix Systems and Microsoft. CDW is considered a top-tier partner of each of those suppliersand participates on all advisory boards to provide inputfor product development and better advise customers onupcoming enhancements and other pertinent news.

“Because product development cycles have shortened toas little as six months, we remain actively involved with eachof the leading industry suppliers to help our customers stay‘in the know,’ ” said Nathan Coutinho, a Solution Architectand Manager for CDW, with a focus on virtualization.

There are also more than 200 CDW professionalsfocused solely on virtualization presales and sales toassist government organizations in designing virtualizationenvironments tuned to meet precise requirements. Andbased on CDW’s relationships with key suppliers, morethan 100 integration partners with specialized training in federal security clearance requirements can assist government agencies in the completion of any virtualizationmigration effort.

What customers sayThe benefits associated with virtualization are exceptionally

compelling in the current budget environment. Manystate and local governments have started to deploy virtualization, working with CDW-G. The city ofChesapeake, Va., is one example. Facing physical datacenter space limitations and hefty energy costs, the citydecided three years ago to deploy virtual servers toreplace 10 racks of 135 physical servers that resided in itsdata center. Since then, the city has gained:

• Energy cost savings of $3,000 a month (50 percent).• Annual hardware cost savings of $200,000.• A reduction in physical server count from 135 to 20.In addition to exploring cloud-based services and

expanding virtual storage, Chesapeake is also currentlyevaluating client-based virtualization. Similar gains havealso been realized in Stanly County, N.C., which decidedto migrate to virtual servers a few years ago, driven by alack of adequate disaster recovery for general IT operations and critical 911 emergency services. By virtualizing servers, Stanly County was able to:

• Create a fully redundant data center to improve continuity of operations.

• Ensure improved availability of emergency 911 services.• Condense seven physical servers down to three.

What sets CDW-G apart

GameChangerTransformation Through Technology

For more information about CDW-G product offerings, procurement options, service andsolutions, call 800-808-4239, e-mail cdwgsales@cdwg.com or visit www.CDWG.com.

Government virtualization overviewMost government IT managers report they are currently implementing andbenefitting from some form of virtualization

77%are implementing at leastone form of virtualization

89%are benefitting from

virtualization

of these organizations:

Source: CDW-G 2010 Government Virtualization Report

A wholly owned subsidiary of CDW LLC, ranked No. 38 on Forbes’ list of America’s Largest Private Companies, CDW Government LLC (CDW-G) is a leading provider oftechnology solutions to government, education and healthcare customers. The company features dedicated account managers who help customers choose the right technology products and services to meet their needs. The company’s technology specialists and engineers offer expertise in designing customized solutions, while itsadvanced technology engineers assist customers with the implementation and long-term management of those solutions. Areas of focus include software, network communications, notebooks/mobile devices, data storage, video monitors, desktops, and printers and solutions such as virtualization, collaboration, security, mobility, data center optimization and cloud computing.