Lanamark Vready

Mark Angelo, CEO of Lanamark, dropped by to tell me about Vready, a new service his company is offering. I've spoken with representatives with many smaller organizations and think that Lanamark has a good grasp on the problems these organizations are facing when they choose to embark on the journey to a more virtualized environment.

Here's what Lanamark has to say about Vready

Lanamark VReady is a free virtualization readiness assessment service that enables customers to

• Measure data center utilization
• Capture application workload and server resource trends
• Determine age and warranty coverage of existing servers

Lanamark VReady allows customers to monitor desktops and servers for up to 10 business days and then receive a free Lanamark VReady Assessment Report.

The VReady Assessment Report contains the following information:

• Workloads
  • Windows vs. Linux
  • Operating Systems

• Machines
  • Workstations vs. Servers
  • Age and remaining warranty coverage of hardware
  • Form factor of desktops and servers

• Processors
  • Count
  • Speed
  • Utilization

• Memory
  • Size
  • Utilization

To accelerate virtualization projects, customers can then upgrade to an in-depth VAssessment service delivered by Lanamark Solution Providers.

Snapshot Analysis

Although one would think that IT executives would have a clear idea of t the characteristics of their own IT infrastructure, it is surprising to learn that many do not have a full grasp on their own physical infrastructure. While they may have a fairly clear outline of their physical environment, it is likely that they really don't have a clear understanding at all of their virtual resources, how they were created, what they are doing and the operational dependencies between and among them.

This problem is often intensified by the limited funding and resources of the IT department in a smaller organization. So, these organizations typically depending upon help from a consultant, a value added reseller or some other outside help. When and where these outside resources learned about virtualization technology is not always clear. As I've often said, having a plan, an architecture, and then following those guidelines during the implementation of the virtual landscape usually results in a better outcome than one that grew organically without such a plan.

Lanamark has long saught to help these consultants, value added resellers and the like by providing tools. It seems that Lanamark is taking a page out of the open source playbook by providing a useful, albeit limited, tool at no charge. Some will be happy with what Vready does and others will see the limitations of this product and move on to a more sophisticated offering.

I'm convinced that, in the end, a better implementation plan will result in a happier environment.