By Bharath Vasudevan, Product Manager, HPE Software-defined and Cloud Group As summer nears, many are getting ready to take summer vacations. While the idea of a vacation promises relaxation, getting ready can be hectic. One way to make sure everything gets packed and planned for is with a checklist. Clothes, check. Tickets, check. House sitter, check. A checklist can also help a business when it decides to simplify its IT infrastructure with a hyperconverged solution. Hyperconvergence, like a vacation, offers enticing rewards. But often, trying to choose a solution and decipher what is of value and what is just noise can be overwhelming. For companies interested in hyperconverged infrastructure, here is a checklist to make sure the solution is a simple, fast, and agile next-generation data center solution. √ Easy scalability Technologies that can move with a company’s momentum and allow them to start small and scale-out quickly and easily to meet demand are must-haves for today’s fast-paced IT environment. Organizations should look for flexible solutions that can add leading x86 building blocks to meet shifting business demands. √ A single vendor to deal with With a single vendor, everything becomes less complicated. Operations are streamlined, support is easier to connect with, and problems are fixed faster. There is no passing of the blame. Single-vendor solutions make hyperconverged infrastructure simpler and easier to navigate. √ Centralized management Centralized management is key for IT teams looking to reduce complexity at core data centers, as well as distributed sites and remote offices. A single console to manage all aggregate resources and VMs across all data centers massively simplifies the management process for IT administrators and frees the IT team to focus on other, more innovative projects. √ Improved Performance IT teams should avoid “Band-Aid” solutions that tack on component after component (after component!) to solve a symptom of a larger problem. Instead, teams should invest in a hyperconverged solution that solves the larger performance problem by reducing IOPS through inline deduplication, compression, and optimization to create a truly efficient and predictable IT environment. √ Built-in data protection A hyperconverged solution that can meet stringent service level agreements (SLAs) with integrated data protection capabilities is a solution that can lower both capital expenses (CAPEX) and operational expenses (OPEX) and have a positive impact by improving operational efficiency. √ Delivers VM-centricity and mobility Policy management at the VM level and automation features to eliminate manual processes are key aspects to consider when selecting a hyperconverged infrastructure platform. Next generation hyperconverged data centers should offer one-click operations at the VM level, including backups, restores, clones, moves, and migrations. √ Reduce costs and improve operational efficiency Organizations should look for solutions that can lower total cost of ownership (TCO) expenses and improve operational efficiency. The solution should also deliver enterprise-grade performance, reliability, and efficiency, along with cloud-like economics to make sure the data center stays up-to-date and under budget. HPE SimpliVity hyperconverged solutions check off all the requirements above and are simple, highly available, easy to manage, extremely efficient, and always protected. And while choosing a hyperconverged solution can seem overwhelming, the end result will deliver simplicity and speed to your datacenter. And like planning for a great summer vacation, you’ll be glad you researched your options and implemented the best solution for your business. Learn more about the ins and outs of hyperconvergence and what you should be looking for in a potential solution in this eBook. Technology Industry