Johannesburg, 03 Mar 2010
Novell is investing in the emerging market of intelligent workload management (IWM) and cloud computing.
Matthew Lee, Novell channel manager for data centre solutions, says it has tied its IWM strategy to the virtual and cloud environment. “We've diversified completely into the IWM space. A major driver for this was the demand from CIOs for flexibility and control.”
According to Novell, IWM integrates identity and systems management capabilities into an application workload based on policies. It also reduces the risks of working across multiple environments by increasing security across physical, virtual and cloud environments.
Lee says Novell is well positioned to leverage itself in this space because it already has the required technologies in place, such as identity management, systems management and operating systems. Lee adds that Novell will use its partner ecosystem to drive the strategy forward.
Into the cloud
Last month, Novell signed a partnership deal with Citrix Systems to drive virtualisation interoperability for channel partners and cloud computing service providers.
Lee adds that its acquisition of PlateSpin two years ago has bolstered its IWM strategy by enabling Novell to provide tools within the virtualisation consolidation arena.
“IT departments should continually monitor their virtual environment since it is more susceptible to change than the physical environment,” notes Lee. “PlateSpin manages data migration from physical to virtual or virtual back to physical. It allows customers to have a software disaster recovery solution, should the workloads go offline.”
According to Lee, Novell is also driving consolidated disaster recovery and backup in the cloud. “Typically, disaster recovery tests are implemented in six-month cycles because of cost and complexity. Each test normally takes two weeks, but we've reduced this to three days because we're taking those workloads and facilitating the test in a virtual environment.”
Over the next 12 months, Novell says it will roll out eight products for the IWM market. Lee notes that the company's modular IWM approach is divided into four pillars, namely: building intelligent workloads using Novell's SUSE Appliance Program, securing workloads using Novell's Identity Manager, managing workloads using Novell's PlateSpin Workload Management, and measuring performance using Novell Business Service Manager.
Share