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MARCH 2011

EI Here and Now

Organizations increasingly rely on information technology for their success, and many have invested heavily in their IT infrastructures but the IT function has not always provided the value that organizations expect. While there are many reasons for this failure at least in some cases, it is due to poor processes in the IT business function and the lack of focus on service delivery improvement.  A focus on Service Delivery Execution and Improvement is just one reason why clients engage EI.

ITIL Service Management, where Service Delivery Improvement resides, is comprised of two disciplines: Service Delivery and Service Support. Service Delivery sets the expectations of service, its availability, and timeliness, while Service Support encompasses the support processes necessary to ensure service quality.  Each is critical to Service Delivery Improvement and each needs to continually evolve and improve to meet the changing IT needs of all EI clients.
So what’s EI’s role in the Service Delivery Improvement engine?  Well it all starts with data.  Capturing task level data such as complete ticket data, accurate time reporting and detailed process documentation are the “fuel” to the EI Service Delivery Improvement engine.  That “fuel” drives an engine where the working components include metrics, SLAs and incident & problem management.  These components all working together produce great horsepower in the form of new service offerings, process improvements that take current practices to best practices, and ultimately provide EI with a competitive edge.

But no engine keeps running smooth forever without tools and engineers to tune it.  The tools are the vast technology toolset EI has invested in and deployed to help get the most out of the engine.  The engineer is our employees. They are constantly tuning the engine allowing us to perform efficiently and effectively for you, our clients.  Service Delivery Improvement is one of our initiatives to keep the engine running smooth, providing the driver with effortless control. How can we help you tune the engine today?

Top 5 Trends: VDI

As we continue identifying the top 5 trends for 2011, we turn our focus to virtualization. Although it continues to be a hot topic in the IT industry as many businesses consider the possibilities of migrating from the traditional method, virtualization is nothing new, the technology has just improved. There has been a lot of buzz around VDI over the past couple months as companies prepare to budget for desktop and OS refreshes and want to take advantage of the additional benefits VDI has to offer. 

The goal of virtualization is to centralize administrative tasks while improving scalability and workloads by separating computing layers that for many years, have been delivered as one unit.

A traditional computing model looks like this:

The traditional computing model delivers the operating system, hardware, application, user data and presentation in one piece.  This provides a stable, manageable and customizable work environment for the end user.

A virtualized model looks more like this:

The virtualized model separates each of the components of the delivery model.  Once each of the layers is separated, this enables IT departments to deliver the end user experience multiple ways.

Before considering the move to virtualization, there are four types, and in most companies they are explored in this order: Presentation, Server, Application and then Desktop Virtualization. We will take a look at Desktop Virtualization, also known as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

There are several vendors of VDI: Citrix, VMWare and a few other smaller players. VDI has some unique traits. The full desktop is presented to the end user, not just the applications, allowing for great customization of the end user experience. It is also a Desktop operating system, like Windows 7 or XP, so it can run the applications that are common to the desktop, even some graphically intense applications such as Flash which used to have poor performance over alternative methods. VDI can and should leverage the Citrix XEN App deployment if available, the virtual desktop can be accessed through the standard Citrix Client or other Desktop Broker tool, or VMWare View Portal. VDI is not appropriate for most Mobile Users that work in a disconnected mode and it can be difficult to make work with some peripheral devices.

VDI entails separating a user’s computing environment into a client-server model where the user’s entire operating system, application set and user settings are stored, executed, and secured on a server back-end.  This model provides a highly secure, highly available environment, while typically incurring higher storage costs.  In this model, the user’s entire normal working environment can be accessed from practically any device while still securing applications and data. Many vendors provide this form of desktop virtualization, led by both Citrix and VMWare.

Desktop Hypervisor is newer technology and has many advantages for standardizing desktop images and support while supporting disconnected use scenarios. The desktop hypervisor provides a virtualization layer to the PC or laptop so that one image can truly be deployed to any PC without worry of whether or not it will work. If the desktop supports the hypervisor, it can run one or more operating systems of varying security models, all from the same PC. This allows for centralized image management and distribution just like VDI. The end user can check out Applications (streaming) and use them when disconnected from the network and security options are very high with this virtualization strategy, but it is not appropriate for all business case scenarios.

The realities of Desktop Virtualization

You may spend more money on virtual desktops than physical desktops due to additional licensing costs and the use of expensive data center storage in place of the relatively low cost of desktop hard drives.

Users like diversity in their computing experience.  Screen savers, locally attached devices, etc. Client-server desktop virtualization can limit what users can do within their work environment and may result in complications with tasks that local computing easily satisfies.

Desktop virtualization within the virtualization space has many options.  Reported industry experiences have shown that desktop virtualization is not a good fit for all users, and multiple variations of virtualization may be the optimal solution.
Desktop Virtualization projects typically face many issues that can cause a stall in a project such as an inefficiency in one or all of the most common issues; incorrect management structure, the crossing of legacy barriers, lack of virtualization experience, failure to keep the end user in mind, a poor understanding of the organizations hardware and software inventory, and a limited measure of success.

After learning about VDI, why make the jump? VDI streamlines deployment and speed time to functionality. Virtualized endpoints are typically all based on single base image (“Gold Image”). That image consists of the operating system, relevant patches, and standard applications. There is an extended desktop hardware lifecycle, with thin terminal access. With VDI, all systems are centralized in the datacenter, so complying with regulations is much easier. Controls mandated by regulations can be implemented and enforced to virtualized endpoints in a repeatable, streamlined fashion in the datacenter, much more easily than in a traditional desktop environment, where endpoints are dispersed.
Maintaining desktops in a VDI environment is much easier than in traditional environments. Rolling out patches, deploying new software, and even adding RAM or hard-disk capacity all happens at the central server level. This eliminates concerns about endpoints being switched off at the time of patching or software deployment. The ability to dynamically allocate hardware resources to virtualized desktops not only saves time, it also enables much more efficient use of hardware resources. For example, if a user calls in with a support issue, the support staff can access the virtualized desktop in the datacenter rather than having to access a physical machine that might be remote in many support circumstances.

VDI can help productivity through a centralized, secured environment by providing a number of benefits to the organization.  A virtual desktop can be saved and subsequently restored in minutes, and offers improved management productivity, adherence to corporate standards, compliance and regulatory requirements. VDI offers management ease and convenience whereas it has been traditionally more difficult with physical desktop machines.  VDI is managed in the same way other virtual servers are at the data center, and high availability and disaster recovery can be built into the process from the beginning. It also improves user productivity; users can experience improvements in responsiveness. Desktops run on faster server hardware, with reduced latency in applications due to the proximity of the core network. The tools available today can ensure that a virtual desktop is only available to the user if patch requirements are met. Another benefit of VDI is the control costs, desktop management costs decline by simplifying and standardizing the server hardware and client access devices and memory, process, and disk resources of a virtual machine can be modified with very little to no interruption in a user’s workday.

VDI can occasionally cause headaches for certain businesses; here are a few of the most commonly made mistakes when switching over to VDI:

1. The Right Business Reason, the wrong technology, VDI has been deployed where XENAPP is a better, more cost effective solution. Evaluate the need and detail the requirements.
2. 2 Processors are faster than 1, not in the virtual world. Always start with a single V-processor
3. Anti-Virus can significantly impact the entire VDI environment, Every AV vendor implementation is different and must be tuned to the VDI Deployment or performance will suffer
4. Static Virtual versus Real Time Provisioning, the value of VDI comes from Real Time Provisioning, a Static Virtual Desktop is just another desktop to manage.
5. Image Optimization: Migrating a Physical Desktop to Virtual, will not provide an optimized Image for Virtualization.  The Image must be built from the ground up to be a Virtual Desktop Image.
6. Server hardware optimization, unless space is a constraint, using the largest Server you can purchase is not always the best design for fault tolerance purposes and load balancing.
7. Just like the experience with Citrix XENAPP, deploying VDI across the WAN can cause poor performance if the bandwidth is not properly scoped and quality of service aligned.

Meet the Team:

Robert Topper, also known as Topper, recently joined EI to work on the CSX VDI project. He has spent his career focusing on the Desktop environment and figuring out ways to make the user experience as painless as possible. Topper has worked mainly with distributing software automatically to manipulate the environment. He has noticed the transition to virtualization, as it is a strong point for enterprises in the future, therefore, shifting his focus in the same direction. Topper has come to EI to help focus that knowledge and help companies like CSX achieve their virtual goals.

Another new addition to the EI family is Cindy Brackett as Project Manager, responsible for the VDI project for CSX.  Cindy's background includes the management and delivery of IT migration services in a variety of industries including transportation, communications, manufacturing and hotel industries. She has been in the IT management/project management field for 10 plus years and looks forward to using that experience in her new role. Cindy and Topper are assisting with the implementation of the Virtual Desktop environment that will support the move of Technology to 550 Water Street with telecommuting capabilities.  VDI will also reduce desktop refresh and support costs.