Modern business needs technology. That technology has to run smoothly and uphold the organisation's infrastructure, and it needs support. Gartner believes the IT organisation must be run like a business with the costs controlled and investment in growth. So how can the small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) take on the weight of the IT infrastructure without having to carry the equally heavy burden of cost?
"Many vendors offer superb solutions to the SME market that are scalable, cost-effective and robust," says Greg Pothitos, general manager for the HP Enterprise Group at Tarsus Technologies. "HP's Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) Essentials licence is a brilliant find for the small business owner as it offers a wealth of services and IT solutions under one comprehensive umbrella."
HP has an innate understanding of how important it is for SMEs to operate as effectively as the enterprise. Customers and clients are not prepared to differentiate the service, so the smaller business needs to ensure that its technology drives productivity without demanding higher investment. The iLO Essentials licence is designed to give the competitive edge in growing the IT infrastructure and taking the first steps towards virtualisation.
This solution is extremely agile and efficient. E-mail-based alerting ensures faster time to resolution, and unplanned downtime can be caught and managed quickly. In addition, it works seamlessly with a business' BYOD policy, should it have one in place, with the HP iLO Mobile Application. Tablets and smartphones can be integrated into the system so that the real-time reporting and control of the servers can be done from any location.
"The small and medium-sized business is given the opportunity to structure their server hardware to meet the needs of their administrator," continues Pothitos. "They can access issues from both mobile devices and their desktop equivalent, and this means that downtime over nights or weekends can be minimised easily, without incurring excessive additional costs."
The HP iLO Essentials package comes with its own licence structure, a fact that the channel can use to develop tailored solutions for their clients. In addition, the features, specifications and qualities of this software can be adapted to match specific set-ups and requirements. And the entire package is free if the customer has HP Server. This is a big selling point for most small and medium-sized organisations, as the inclusion of value-added software, such as this iLO set-up, will drive their adoption.
"The more a vendor creates a solution that does more for less, the better it is for them, the channel and the end-user, and HP has clearly understood this with their continued investment into the software package," concludes Pothitos. "The iLO Essentials licence is a neat set-up that doesn't demand excessive investment, but will give them scope to add new technology and change systems as they grow."
As Gartner put it, there are three key challenges with IT cost optimisation: governance, budgets and cost transparency. These issues can be met head-on with careful planning, focusing on implementing the right technology, and taking advantage of vendor solutions that understand these concerns and provide robust pathways through them. Fortunately, solutions like the HP iLO Essentials are ready to do just that.
SOURCES:
1. Gartner: http://www.gartner.com/technology/topics/it-cost-optimization.jsp
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