Optimize Your Infrastructure Without Breaking The Bank

The software-defined tool bag. You name it and it can probably be found under the software-defined definition. Organizations are now looking at commodity hardware because of technologies like software-defined networking. Now, you add compute, storage, and even the datacenter layer, and you've got a powerful SDX platform. Software-defined technologies help abstract the physical layer for better management and direct optimization.

Software-based WAN optimization. In many cases, optimizing datacenter traffic required a hardened appliance. Now, all you need is a hypervisor. New kinds of tools allow the administrator to deploy WAN optimization solutions from a software appliance platform. These can sit at numerous points, consume very little resources, and still optimize specific types of traffic and data points.

Clientless computing. This is a really cool one. Application, desktop, and resource delivery can now be done without a full client. Examples include VMware Blast and Citrix Receiver for HTML5. Furthermore, security admins can create clientless VPNs for even greater security. HTML5 and new types of delivery methodologies allow organizations to centralize all resources, and deliver it to a diverse number of end-points. Remember, these types of technologies are all virtual.

Virtual security services. Where standard unified threat management platforms fall short, virtual security appliances and services can pick up the slack. Physical security appliances can be robust, with a lot of integrated services. But what if you have a smaller office? Or what if you require very specific security services like IDS/IPS, DLP, or an application firewall, but don't want to spend the money on a physical appliance? This is when you look at virtual security systems. They can sit anywhere on your network and monitor all sorts of traffic. The ease of a virtual system can create some really powerful network monitoring and control methodologies.

Creating the right hybrid model. Instead of buying new hardware and equipment, why not create powerful pay-as-you-go cloud model? A lot of organizations are deploying logical orchestration and automation tools which allow them to dynamically span into a cloud model only when needed. This creates direct cost controls and on-demand resources utilization. A hybrid cloud model is a lot easier to deploy now than it was even a few months ago.