Virtualization

As businesses move toward more on-demand services, many are recognizing ―and capitalizing―on the benefits of virtualized infrastructure. Built-in abstraction capabilities inherent with virtualization allow you to manage servers, storage and other computing resources in pools no matter where they are physically located. The result: lower operating costs, increased application flexibility, and better resource optimization.

At BACS, we help you leverage the benefits of virtualization, recommending the right infrastructure and the optimum configuration for your unique business needs. Our consultants work closely with you to define your business requirements, create a deployment strategy and implement the right technology to accelerate business performance and safeguard data and infrastructure.

An effective virtualization strategy requires a smart IT infrastructure plan and a fresh perspective. BACS experts use the latest tools and proven techniques to develop a solution that aligns with your business objectives. We work with leading technology providers to bring your business into a new era of productivity and efficiency.

Our in-depth analysis and technology planning help ensure the best approach to virtualized migration of platforms and applications to deliver superior performance and optimum return on investment. We provide the specialized knowledge and regulatory expertise you need to make sure your systems and applications are optimized, secured, and properly configured.

BACS provides virtualization consulting expertise across several core areas:

• Infrastructure and technology assessment
• Desktop, server and storage virtualization
• Backup and disaster recovery planning and support
• Strategy, design and implementation
• Compliance, risk and security services
• Hybrid design and configuration
• Application monitoring and maintenance

As businesses increasingly look to their IT departments to drive better efficiency, virtualization offers an appealing solution. While you can achieve quick results by focusing on a single component or area of infrastructure, more substantial benefits can be gained by implementing a more comprehensive approach across an array of applications, devices, and systems.

That’s where BACS can help. Whether you’re planning to make an initial move toward virtualization or seeking to consolidate an entire server environment, we can assist you with our extensive technology planning experience and domain expertise.

Every virtualization project has its own set of advantages and limitations. While resource optimization is important, transitioning to virtualized infrastructure is about choosing what is best for the enterprise―not entirely about reducing costs. Creating a purpose-focused strategy should be a chief priority.

That’s where working with an experienced consultant like BACS can provide immense value. Our flexible delivery model is designed to meet your unique business needs while minimizing the impact on business operations. Our team of consultants can help you:

• Improve scalability to meet shifting capacity requirements and workload demands
• Accelerate time to market and capitalize on cutting-edge innovations
• Improve flexibility with location-independent access to applications and systems
• Optimize resources and conserve your in-house talent for strategic priorities

Businesses can virtualize a variety of different infrastructure elements.

• Servers: Divides an individual server into multiple virtual servers, with each virtual server independently running its own processes, applications, and operating.
• Desktops: Partitions a physical computer from its operating environment while your enterprise servers host individual desktop images.
• Storage virtualization: Abstracts storage hardware and physical devices so they operate as a single storage resource.
• Network virtualization: Blends network resources into a single virtual network, or can divide capacity into distinct channels to be allocated to devices as needed. 
• Operating system (OS) virtualization: Rather than implementing a dedicated server for each operating system, businesses can deploy a single server that can run several operating systems.

Most businesses today are benefitting from virtualization of some form due to its ability to help reduce costs, scale resources, and optimize assets. As market demands fluctuate and businesses seek greater agility, virtualization is expected to continue to expand across industry sectors.

While virtualization can help boost business performance, navigating the range of options and selecting the right approach isn’t always easy. BACS has deep knowledge of hardware and software virtualization use cases and capabilities. Our extensive experience and modern approach to your virtualized migration helps ensure you get a tailored, ROI-focused solution.

BACS consultants work closely with you to define and clarify your vision, leveraging technology and resources for optimum efficiency and value. We work with leading technology providers to give you broader options in virtualization cost, performance and scale.

With virtualization expertise from BACS, you’ll be better positioned to:

• Make strategic decisions: Planning for business growth is an ongoing process. That’s why it’s important to take a strategic, long-term approach to technology planning and infrastructure migration. Central to this process is understanding the goals of the business and the role virtualization plays in supporting those goals.
• Improve productivity: Virtualized components can be configured and implemented quickly, reducing the time and complexity involved with provisioning new servers, storage or other resources. Fewer physical components also reduces the time and expense needed for ongoing management and support.
• Safeguard assets: Data protection and security are chief considerations in virtualized deployments, particularly in regulated environments. Safeguarding systems and processes needs to be carefully balanced against long-term business goals and objectives.
• Scale easily: A core benefit of a virtualized environment is the ability to quickly configure infrastructure to meet shifting business needs. Our team will work with you to optimize and balance workloads using automated tools, freeing you from the time-consuming task of having to make physical hardware changes and updates.
• Ensure quick recovery:  Virtualization can help streamline data backup and recovery. BACS consultants work with you to develop a disaster recovery and business continuity strategy that protects assets and defends against ongoing threats. We’ll determine an optimum balance of storing your most sensitive data on a more secure infrastructure, providing an extra layer of security.

Although companies are enjoying the benefits of virtualization, many are not taking full advantage. The inability to keep pace with rapid technology changes and a lack of planning are among the top reasons.

Infrastructure planning must take into account the present, along with the future, so it’s important to build hybrid scenarios into your virtualized deployments. Your virtualized environment should also be able to scale as needed, reduce management costs, and allow vendor flexibility.

BACS consultants work with you to develop a strategy that leverages the advantages of both cloud and on-premises environments. We’ll evaluate your current IT capabilities and consider your technology options.

In planning your virtualized approach, it’s important to look beyond the potential cost savings and make decisions in the context of an actual business case. That means carefully considering your goals, computing needs, resources, and many other factors. It’s complicated, and often involves trade-offs with significant strategic impact.

Your virtualized infrastructure should be designed to effectively and efficiently meet the day-to-day demands of your business. This includes corporate demands for stability, service continuity, and security as well as efficiency and cost optimization. At the same time, it should also deliver innovation, speed, and shorter time-to-market in order to quickly implement changes.

At BACS, we understand the challenges and complexities of virtualized deployments and work to make sure you to optimize your existing infrastructure and resources, allowing you to easily integrate new applications and functionality while safeguarding your data. We provide the deep knowledge and technology insight you need to make sure your systems and applications are optimized, secured, and properly configured.

The benefits enabled by technologies like virtualization also come with risk. Mitigating those risks and leveraging virtualization’s full potential requires a careful, balanced approach, taking into consideration cost savings advantages, performance requirements, and potential risk factors.

While no single strategy can cover every possible need or scenario, a sound plan should deliver optimum flexibility; define core business needs and priorities; and adhere to best practice methods and procedures for data backup and recovery.

At BACS, we work with you to determine which applications can be effectively migrated and managed over time, taking advantage of the most beneficial and cost-effective delivery model at each stage.

Virtualized technology is rapidly changing, and many deployment models are including hybrid configurations. That trend will likely continue so it’s imperative that you configure your virtualized infrastructure in a way that can scale and adapt to meet evolving market demands and business needs.

BACS consultants consistently track technology trends to recommend the best solution for your unique situation. We help you define your IT goals, map out the best strategy, and assist you with execution.

BACS provides strategic technology guidance in several core areas:

• IT Assessment and Strategy
• Technology Planning and Roadmap Alignment
• Business Application Management
• Information Security Strategy
• Budgeting and Resource Planning
• Benchmarking and performance Assessment
• Technology Capabilities and Systems
• Cloud Strategy and Assessment
• Risk Management and Compliance
• Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity