What Is the Next Technology That Gets Commoditized?

Written on August 6, 2019. Posted in Blog, Cloud, IT Outsourcing. Leave a Comment

The consumerization of IT started with the rapid adoption of the smart Tablet by companies like Apple with the iPad. The corporate workforce wanted their IT to work with the ease of use they experienced with the iPad and one-click or one- touch applications. Applications on demand from the free iTunes platform started a revolution of transforming how users interact, and rising expectations pressured IT to keep up. That transformation has led to Shadow IT, where non-IT departments started consuming virtual server workload resources in the form of cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. This was done to get around perceived hurdles in user experience and time to market.

The next round of technology is expected to change the digital world as we know it in many ways. They are ranging from advancements in artificial intelligence to more secure cloud computing, private on-premise cloud cost parity, automated workloads and more. Here are the next technologies you might expect to get commoditized in the near future.

The Future of Server Technology

Servers are already highly commoditized, and vendors are now differentiating in terms of the application of form factors, out of band management tools, support and power consumption. While highly optimized and infused with premium technologies that enable businesses to operate at superior levels, further consolidation is likely to occur. Though there is always room for advancement, and server-less computing is utopia, the in-house or on-premise servers are not going away. They are, however, becoming more commoditized in terms of parity and performance expectations.

Traditional cloud environments for the most part still run virtual workloads and the hyperscale public cloud providers are still consuming physical servers at a high rate, based on pricing and availability. As the software community develops next generation applications, they do so more by using containers and developing to a cloud native standard. This allows the freedom to ignore underlying operating systems and hardware. A cloud native standard is particularly beneficial for developers as they’re able to focus their attention on their expertise, instead of worrying about the operating systems and servers, or the management and provisioning aspects.

The change to server-less technology is the result of developers beginning to divide applications into smaller micro-services, which can operate in lightweight containers. This change enables function-as-a-service (FaaS) computing, which is anticipated to replace the need for most traditional servers used today. Make no mistake, servers are not going away, they are just moving to a more transparent and commoditized part of the IT stack.

What Corporate Desktops?

The landscape of the client workstation and notebooks in business has been under pressure for over a decade with consumer-grade devices abundant in the workplace. Operating systems are moving to subscription models, applications started moving to subscription years ago, and next, we will see more of our devices application move to these models as well. and the device’s applications have typically run on are also moving to as-a-service models, like Desktop as a Service.

Supply and demand are going to determine the future of most end user clients. Security, however, is still a battleground for innovation in the market, where vendors are now fighting over who has the most secured or the most ‘private’ device for conducting work. When we think of the mobile worker, we see notebooks, tablets and smart phones, not only abundant on office floors but also in coffee shops, restaurants, fitness centres, subways, trains and planes. The digital and social footprint of where our employees work and interact with others has changed rapidly. What may save the corporate PC or notebook from further commoditization, is security. To the vendor with the most robust secured end user productivity device will go the spoils.

The next desktop technology to be commoditized is the virtual desktop broker. With more and more applications moving to browser SaaS based access, the need for fat clients like a PC or Notebook are becoming less and less a requirement. Consumer tablets and even some smart phones are becoming good enough to run corporate applications on. Even at Zycom we demonstrate using Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) technology on most smart phones…if we squint hard enough. Look for more competition and more parity in the VDI broker solutions available in the near term.

Hypervisor is Next

Consolidation in the Data Centre can be largely attributed to the hypervisor. The hypervisor makes it possible to share server hardware with multiple applications, each running on their own operating systems. This led to maximum utilization for server hardware investments and soon led to increased availability and resiliency of applications using hypervisor innovation.

Fast forward to 2019; multiple hypervisors are on the market with very similar features and price points. Some hypervisors are very low cost, even free, and are enterprise-grade by today’s standards, and some are good enough. VMware continues to enjoy the market share, but competition is shared, shifting that dominance away with the choice.

Hypervisors have become centric to most virtual server workloads and are a pre-requisite in most cases to migrating a workload to public cloud. Hypervisor to cloud compatibility dominates discussions for hybrid cloud but no one ever asks how the public cloud giants are running their virtual workloads. Why? Because you do not need to know how in most cases. For that reason, public cloud has driven the highest amount of hypervisor commoditization in the market.

Layer in hyper-converged or software-defined into the mix, and you see solutions that are hypervisor agnostic. Why agnostic? The market demands choice and one hypervisor over another may be very similar today, but customers still drive choice based on experience, training and a willingness to change.

For more information on how commoditized technologies can benefit your business, visit Zycom.

Microsoft Support and How It Relates to IT Managed Services

Written on June 24, 2019. Posted in Blog, IT Outsourcing. Leave a Comment

By choosing to outsource your IT management, you’re able to free up space for your in-house managers to dedicate their time on tasks that will grow your enterprise. Nearly all businesses are now opting to hire management services to further their company. Though, in order to harness the benefits of outsourcing, it’s imperative to find an IT managed service that aligns with your business standards, mission, and quality.

What are managed services?

Managed services is the practice of outsourcing tasks within your business to improve operations. Managed services have been used by enterprises since the beginning of the tech market. Originally, companies would choose outsourcing their services to gain access to the Internet and to rent server space so their business applications, such as their company website, could have a POP (point of presence) on the Internet. Since then, managed services have evolved to encompass every business tasks, from managing the hardware, operating system or applications on the server to overseeing business-to-business integrations and operations; from planning and processing transportation to marketing; from account management to customer service, and more. Managed services provide a vast array of solutions to relieve businesses of day-to-day operations that can be done off-site.

What are the benefits of managed services?

Outsourcing managed services enables your team members to invest their time focusing on the tasks that require their direct attention. It allows a third-party service to handle daily tasks, such as account management and customer service, without taking valuable team members away from the duties that are imperative to ensuring optimal day-to-day operations.

When you allow managed services to carry out certain responsibilities, your enterprise is able to advance as a result of the following benefits:

Prioritize support with the fastest response times for communication with your customers
Generate new business opportunities
Increase technical readiness
Solve complex IT challenges
Minimize downtime with in-depth support services
Increase productivity and performance
Reduce operational costs
Optimize processes, automation and workflow by removing unnecessary manual effort

Managed Services with Microsoft Support

Microsoft Support via help desk is a leading managed service that offers flexible support across all Microsoft technologies. Utilizing helpdesk and operational services frees up your staff of mundane daily tasks, such as responding to emails requesting a new password or answering phone calls where a customer needs help navigating the website. This allows them to devote their expertise to business operations that require their skillset, business operations that you hired specific people to oversee due to their experience. The services available provide you with a support plan that delivers superior services to your customers.

Additionally, Microsoft offers SharePoint Helpdesk App for businesses running O365. SharePoint can be used by both internal departments for communication with customers. It’s entirely supported on the hosted app to ensure your data never leaves your Office 365 tenant, which offers optimal security and protection of your business’ most valuable information. Integration is made easy with the Active Directory, and the app is compatible with all browsers and is fully integrated with services such as Skype, Yammer, MS Teams, MS Dynamics and more.

What are the benefits of Microsoft Support Services?

Microsoft Support includes premium services tailored to your business needs to maximize revenue and prioritize customer value. It enables a collaborative workspace that allows team members to work collectively to provide premium service. Tasks are able to be completed faster and with fewer distractions to your in-house IT operations due to the unique advantages of using Microsoft Support specifically:

Dedicated support with hands-on assistance
Training tailored to your business needs
Training courses available on a variety of topics
Flexible support across all Microsoft technologies
An assigned account manager and escalation management services
Self-service portable*
Create teams specific to specialty, department, location, etc.*
Collects complaints from social media channels and creates tickets for them*
Transform phone calls from customers and employees into tickets*
Routing algorithm to ensure tickets go to the correct team*
Adds closed tickets to a knowledge base for future reference*
Reporting*

* Services available with Sharepoint

Whether you are migrating, updating or planning a new solution for your business, managed services can help you achieve your business goals. Microsoft Support offers superior options that reduce unnecessary workload while maximizing customer support and value.

Why Is IT Outsourcing On The Rise?

Written on September 25, 2017. Posted in IT Outsourcing.

Instead of staffing an entire IT department, many companies are outsourcing these roles. IT outsourcing is on the rise for many reasons most of which are essential to how businesses adapt to the changing market (e.g., moving everything online). So why is IT outsourcing becoming increasingly popular?

Companies are shifting their spending

Organizations of all sizes are moving their spending toward outsourcing IT services in order to keep up with digital demand. The content management and information structures are all online, which requires an expertise that the traditional employee does not have. Yes, we can all use a computer, but when there’s something wrong with the program we’re using, we can’t fix it ourselves. Companies see this issue and are combatting it with additional IT help offsite.

Companies need their own app

In order to be competitive, you need an app. Clients need to be able to access your services when they’re on the go, and an app provides the perfect platform for that. One of the major ways IT outsourcing is happening today is through application development. Hiring an outside developer to create your company’s app gives you access to an IT professional with experience who can work as needed even after the app is created. You can continue to outsource the app developer beyond the launch period so that bugs and kinks can be worked out and updates made ready. Furthermore, as skilled as your IT department may be, you may not have anyone on staff who is well-versed in app development.

From help desk to disaster recovery

Besides app development, IT outsourcing fills the need for a virtual help desk. Service providers are giving companies desktop support, disaster recovery, and data operations on demand. IT professionals can work remotely while being available to assist your staff as necessary. This gives you an opportunity to save money without disrupting the workflow. Something’s wrong with Brad’s computer? Send a ticket to the virtual help desk and Veronica will remotely access the computer and fix the problem. You only pay Veronica for the work she does and Brad’s workflow is only temporarily disrupted. You may be thinking, “Why doesn’t Brad send a ticket to the in-house IT department instead?” The in-house IT department may be busy but Veronica is on-call to perform tasks like this and will get to Brad’s computer issue right away.

Outsourcing your entire IT department may be only a few years away, but don’t change your current IT department just yet. You still need them for now before the transition.