The author of this Pathfinder report is Mike Fratto, a Senior Research Analyst on the Applied Infrastructure & DevOps team at 451 Research, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence. Pathfinder reports navigate decision-makers through the issues surrounding a specific technology or business case, explore the business value of adoption, and recommend the range of considerations and concrete next steps in the decision-making process.

This report explores the following topics:

• the growth of already commonplace cloud usage for mission-critical applications
• the importance of cloud governance
• the top cloud security concerns for enterprises
• the adoption of third-party tools for cloud management
• the steps IT teams should take to make their cloud environments more secure and reliable

Vladimir Galabov, Director, Cloud and Data Center Research, and Rik Turner, Principal Analyst, Emerging Technologies, are the co-authors of this eBook from Omdia, a data, research, and consulting business that offers expert analysis and strategic insight to empower decision-making surrounding new technologies.

This eBook covers the following topics:

• the current landscape of cloud computing, including the BIG problems
• the advantages of using a multi-cloud approach
• the dangers of shadow IT, including billing surprises and security breaches
• the move of mission-critical applications to the cloud
• the considerations regarding cloud security, including recommendations for IT teams

While VMware Horizon provides a powerful virtualization platform, technologies and capabilities like Microsoft Windows, Active Directory, authentication, DNS, network, group policy, and third-party apps must work seamlessly to provide a great digital employee experience. This eBook will focus on improving the logon duration for EUC and VDI deployments.

And view this solution page for more information. 

Since 2016, many users have turned to Apache Guacamole, a community-driven open-source remote desktop platform that is free for anyone to use and if your organization is technically savvy. The source code is publicly available to compile and build.

However, if you’d like software that’s ready to deploy for the enterprise and comes with responsive, professional support, Keeper Connection Manager (KCM) can provide an affordable way to get all the benefits of Apache Guacamole.

KCM provides users with a secure and reliable way to remotely connect to their machines using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), Virtual Network Computing (VNC), Secure Shell (SSH) and other common protocols. Moreover, KCM is backed by a responsive team, including the original creators of Apache Guacamole, ensuring expert assistance is always available.

Let’s dive into the importance and challenges of remote access below.

Contents

• What is a network digital twin?
• Outages are expensive and preventable
• A network digital twin saves time and money
• Time is money
• General use cases
  • Workflow automation
  • Inventory management
  • Automated compliance/audit
  • Change management
• Network security use cases
  • Security posture verification
  • Incident response
  • Vulnerability management
• Multi-cloud use cases
  • Continuous multi-cloud security audit
  • Service assurance
  • End-to-end visibility
• Network operations use cases
  • Path verification/analysis
  • Outage prevention
  • Troubleshooting

In recent years, the demand for real-time remediation solutions has been on the rise as organizations seek to streamline their support operations and improve customer satisfaction. Real-time remediation solutions are designed to help IT support teams quickly identify and resolve user issues by automating common troubleshooting tasks and providing actionable insights. Another reason for the rise in demand is the massive shift to work from anywhere that has occurred post COVID-19. According to Gartner, Inc. a research and advisory firm, it is predicted that work from anywhere will continue to rise. By year-end 2023, 48% of knowledge workers will be working hybrid and fully remote, up from 27% in 2019, with 39% of those working hybrid, up from 12% in 2020.

Hybrid is no longer just an employee perk but an employee expectation, challenging employers to create a human-centric approach to “hybrid.” However, there is no sign of a decline in hybrid work. According to a Gartner, Inc. Hybrid Work Employee Survey, 74% of hybrid or remote employees say their expectations for working flexibly have increased. Only 4% of current hybrid or remote employees have a preference for an on-site arrangement. This hybrid working shift creates a challenge for IT admins to have the ability to monitor and remediate remote endpoints, and this is where real-time remediation solutions come in. This whitepaper will examine the current market for real-time remediation solutions, including key trends, challenges, and opportunities.

AIOps is an umbrella term for underlying technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Analytics and Machine Learning that automate the determination and resolution of IT issues in modern, distributed IT environments.

Here's a brief overview on how AIOps solution work:

• AIOps data usually comes from different MELT sources.
• Then, big data technologies aggregate and organize it, reduce noise, find patterns and isolate anomalies.
• The AIOps automated resolution system resolves known issues and hands over the complicated scenarios to IT teams.

Learn from this whitepaper on what are the Best Practices IT Teams and IT Leaders should follow in implementing AIOps in their enterprise.

• CISOs face stringent government regulations, such as the current administration mandating 12-18 months of log retention.
• Chief Enterprise Architects worry that the average cost of a single enterprise service outage is $400K and the average MTTR is over 7 hrs.
• Companies such as Facebook lose $65 million and 4.8% of their stock valuation over a 5-hour outage.
• Security breaches mar organizational reputation and prove a threat to business.
• 91% of leaders agree that monitoring tools are siloed and domain-specific, complicating the log management landscape.
• VP Cloud/IT Services acknowledge the accelerated pace of digital transformation post-COVID-19 and recognize the need for more sophisticated security monitoring and SIEM adoption.
• Log management market size reaches $2.3 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow to $4.1 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 11.9%.

• Hypervisor Integration: Seamless integration for better performance and scalability.
• Cost Efficiency:  Eliminates expensive server hardware and storage controllers.
• Built-in Deduplication: Core-level deduplication for minimal performance impact, maximum efficiency, and significant cost savings.
• Intelligent Hardware Failure Protection: Enhanced resilience with data copies across multiple nodes and drives.
• Advanced Snapshot Capabilities: Unlimited, efficient and independent snapshots.

Discover the Essential Guide to VMware Migration

Transitioning from VMware to VergeOS requires careful planning to minimize disruption. Our guide provides a structured process for a smooth migration:

Key Sections of the Guide

1. Evaluation of Alternatives
   - Research and Trial: Identify and test virtualization solutions for performance, compatibility, features, and support.
   - Cost-Benefit Analysis: Compare costs and calculate ROI to evaluate benefits over VMware.

2. Planning the Migration
   - Detailed Plan: Outline timelines, resource allocation, and risk management.
   - Infrastructure Preparation: Ensure hardware and network compatibility

3. Execution and Post-Migration
   - Pilot Migration: Start with non-critical systems to test the process.
   - Full-Scale Migration: Schedule during low-usage periods, back up data, and execute the migration.
   - Post-Migration Testing: Verify functional and performance standards in the new environment.

4. Phased Migration Process
- Backup/DR: Use VergeOS for cost-effective backup and disaster recovery of the VMware environment.
- NAS Replacement: Replace Network Attached Storage with VergeOS.
- Testing: Test workloads for compatibility and performance.
- Conversion: Incrementally convert virtual machines, starting with low-priority workloads.

Download the full guide now to optimize your virtualization strategy.

Technical Marketing Manager, and former IT engineer Mike Lossmann demonstrates features within Forward Networks