Arraya Insights

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Many people think of Managed Services as the IT equivalent of a Swiss Army knife. It brings together much of what you need to solve a problem, all in one place. If your IT team is shorthanded during the summer, Managed Services can pick up the slack. If your organization hires a bunch of new people during the winter and they all need to be onboarded, Managed Services can help there, too. Just like a Swiss Army knife, Managed Services is a handy tool to have in a pinch. However, that mindset leaves the true value of Managed Services untapped.

No matter how handy it might be, a Swiss Army knife is only a tool. It exists strictly to fix a problem. Once it does, it goes back into a pocket until the next project. This is how many organizations see their Managed Service providers – and many Managed Services providers agree. These providers boast of their ability to keep things running smoothly. They focus their customers’ attention on the operational benefits of Managed Services.

What these providers miss is Managed Services’ ability to be more than a Swiss Army knife. Nowhere amongst that tool’s multitude of functions is the ability to provide advice. In this way, Arraya’s Managed Services is less a Swiss Army knife and more of a MacGyver-like figure – someone who knows how and when to use the right tools.

What do you want from your Managed Services provider?

Some Managed Services providers are content to fix problems, support changes, and fill gaps.  Arraya offers more. Our team can serve as a trusted adviser, helping businesses identify, plan, and implement improvements and efficiencies across the organization.

Here’s a use case which illustrates the difference between the two approaches. Picture this: An employee unexpectedly leaves your IT team. What happens next?

  • A traditional Managed Services provider could help you fill that open spot on your team until you can find, hire, and train a replacement. They might also offer to assume those responsibilities permanently.
  • Arraya’s Managed Services team can go further. We investigate the full scope of that person’s reach, including the small tasks he or she picked up that might not have been explicit in the job description. Our team analyzes their findings to determine the value provided by that position. They can advise you whether it is necessary to hire a replacement or if the person’s duties are best divvied up amongst both parties. Using the full breadth of knowledge, Arraya’s team can help you adjust that position to maximize its benefits. By serving as a trusted adviser, Arraya’s Managed Services keep your business from falling into the trap of sticking to familiar, if inefficient, practices.

The next evolution of Managed Services

Today’s IT is growing more complex by the day. It’s no longer enough for Managed Services to be strictly a tool used to solve problems. Managed Services need to serve as a strategic partner, one who can provide tactical leadership as easily as it can fix an immediate issue.

Want to learn more about how Arraya’s Managed Services can be your trusted technology adviser? Please visit: http://www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/. Our team is also reachable through social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

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April 11, 2017 and October 10, 2017. For most IT pros, these dates are probably nothing more than a pair of perfectly random Tuesdays. However, there are others in IT who have them circled on their calendars. Maybe even in bright red ink.

Can’t-miss birthdays and anniversaries aside, these are the end of support dates for a long-standing pair of Microsoft stalwarts. On April 11 of this year, support will run out for Exchange Server 2007, while on October 10, the same will be true for Microsoft’s full 2007 Office Suite. These are two of the bigger names on a lengthy list of Microsoft solutions going end-of-something in 2017.

Even if you don’t see anything you still use on that list, it makes sense to not put off upgrade conversations. After all, there was a time when 2017 seemed as far off as dates like 2020 and 2025 do now. Beyond that, time may be more of-the-essence than normal due to a notice Microsoft released at the end of last year.

Deciding which upgrade path to follow

Back in November, Microsoft announced that when Office 2007 solutions go end of support, customers will no longer be able to purchase custom or extended support. On-premises software has this problem and Office 2010 and 2013 aren’t too far behind. Still, it does provide additional incentive for customers to move more quickly when it comes to upgrades.

Even though unsupported tools will continue to work after their end-of-life countdown clocks reach zero, sticking with them isn’t recommended. Businesses who do face greater risk as critical security updates dry up and their competitors gain an edge with new collaboration tools. Should your organization choose to get moving, there are plenty of migration paths available, including:

  • Moving fully to Office 365. The benefits of this move are well-traveled terrain on this blog, but they’re always worth repeating. As Office 365 is cloud-based, users have access to their Office apps (including Word, Exchange, PowerPoint, and Excel) and files, from any location and any device. Office 365 is always up-to-date, freeing you from refresh and patching cycles. Users are also guaranteed access to the latest features, including advanced threat protection, new collaboration capabilities driven by tools such as Teams, and more. It’s also flexible and scalable so, regardless of size or need, deployment options are available to meet it.
  • Going partially to the cloud. Businesses not ready or not able to move fully into the cloud can still take advantage of many of the upsides it offers. Let’s use Exchange as an example. Say the idea of getting out of the business of managing email sounds appealing to you. You can invest in the Exchange Online plan that best suits you, sending only that task to the cloud. Meanwhile, your users gain a 50 GB mailbox in the cloud, a web-based client, and a mobile app.
  • Stay on prem, but update. The cloud may not be the right course for everyone. If that’s the case, you can choose to follow a more traditional route and upgrade to the latest version of an unsupported solution. Sticking with Exchange, businesses looking to upgrade off 2007 could move to Exchange 2016. The downside is that even the most recent version is still a product that’s roughly four years into its lifecycle and is inching closer to its own end-of dates.

Let us help you find your way

Whether the clock is ticking on your Microsoft solution or you’re looking to plan ahead, Arraya’s Microsoft and Cloud Practice is ready to help. Our team has assisted customers from a wide variety of industries create and execute the right update strategy for them, whether it involves moving to the cloud, or staying on-prem.

If you’re interested in more information about moving from legacy Exchange deployments – including Exchange 2007 – join us on Feb. 21 for a free lunch and learn called “Say Goodbye to Legacy Microsoft Exchange.” This event will take place at Microsoft’s mid-Atlantic headquarters and Arraya’s Microsoft team will lead the discussion. Topics covered will include a look back at Exchange through the years, a look at the architecture of modern Exchange followed by a demo, and more. To register, visit Arraya.Rocks/Events.

Want to start a dialogue with our Microsoft team? You can reach them at mssales@arrayasolutions.com or through social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Follow us to stay in the loop with our latest industry insights and special events.

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Exchange Online migrations have a clearly defined endpoint: the cloud. Once there, businesses gain access to the inherent ease of use and management that goes with the cloud as well as features such as built-in anti-malware capabilities and data loss protection. If that’s where the journey ends, how does one get there?

Over the years, Arraya’s Microsoft team has helped countless organizations move into Office 365 tools such as Exchange Online. In that time, it’s been our experience that the smoothest migrations start with many of the same conversations. The sooner these conversations are decided, the sooner the business can start enjoying the benefits of Exchange Online.

Here are the six discussions that can save you time and secure a faster ROI on your journey to Exchange Online:

Discussion #1: What’s our internet speed?

It may seem 101, but it’s still a conversation worth having. As you move mailboxes and workloads into Office 365, there will be a definite spike in bandwidth usage. It’s important to know whether your network, as presently constructed, will be able to support that increase. If you need to boost your available bandwidth, a partner like Arraya can help you make that happen, saving time during rollout.  

Discussion #2: How do users access email?

When it comes to accessing email, what are your users’ habits? Are the methods they use to do so patched and updated to meet Exchange Online’s standards? For example: Exchange Online requires a minimum of Outlook 2007 with the latest patches while the recommended level is Outlook 2013 or Outlook 2016. If you’re not meeting that minimum requirement, decisions need to be made as to whether to upgrade to a more recent version or to obtain the necessary patches for your existing one (provided it is at least 2007). Also worth taking into account are the approaching End of Life dates for aging apps like Outlook 2007.

Discussion #3: Is your Exchange Server up to date?

Much like the clients employees use to access their email, considerations must be given to whether your Exchange Server is up to date and whether your version will mesh with Exchange Online. If not, steps must be taken to install the latest service packs and updates. Note: This process should be handled after clients have been updated to avoid service disruptions.

Discussion #4: How large are your organization’s mailboxes?

At present, Exchange Online user mailboxes have 50GB of storage space in the cloud with an unlimited amount of space on prem. Most users will fall well shy of that cloud limit. However, if you have any mailboxes that exceed the allotted space, then conversations should happen concerning how to accommodate them, e.g., online archiving.

Discussion #5: What’s going to happen to our public folders?  

A migration into Office 365 opens the door for other transitions, including the move away from public folders. In their place, businesses have the opportunity to begin utilizing other, more effective tools, such as shared or resource mailboxes. IT must ask itself whether it wants to keep public folders and migrate them into Office 365 or if they would rather convert to one of those other options beforehand. By converting to a resource mailbox, for example, businesses would gain access to features such as automatic approvals and delegations.

Discussion #6: Which is better – Big Bang or Phased?   

Migrations typically happen in one of two ways. The first, called Big Bang, involves moving all mailboxes into Exchange Online at the same time. This is faster and eliminates the coexistence issues that happen when you have some users on one system and others on something totally different. On the downside, going all at once can be risky, training is difficult, and the help desk could be swamped as a result. The other option, the Phased migration, involves sending users into Exchange a few chunks at a time. This is slower, but allows adjustments to be made between rounds to guarantee efficiency and limit calls to the help desk. There are pros and cons to each path. It’s a matter of deciding which is right for your company.

Let us assist with starting the conversations

You can choose to have these conversations internally, before seeking out an IT partner to aid with your Exchange migration. Or you may choose to engage with a partner such as Arraya and leverage our experience in facilitating these and other must-have planning and strategy discussions..

Are you ready to get started? Do you have a question about Exchange Online or Office 365 in general? Join us on Feb. 21 for a free lunch-and-learn entitled: “Say Goodbye to Legacy Microsoft Exchange.” This event will be held at Microsoft’s Mid-Atlantic headquarters and will be led by members of Arraya’s Microsoft and Cloud Practice. During the event, we will look back at Exchange through the years, embark on a demo of modern Exchange architecture, and analyze the various paths forward and the reasons for each. To register, visit Arraya.Rocks/Events.

Our team of Microsoft experts is only a click away. Visit: to start a dialogue with them today. They are also accessible through MSsales@arrayasolutions.com or through our social media accounts: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Follow us on any of those sites to stay updated on unique learning opportunities, blogs, and more.

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When you hear the words “Managed Services,” do you think of password resets and a few extra hands during vacation season? Managed Services can and does do each of those things. However, at Arraya, we want clients to see our Managed Services as so much more than off-site tech support.

Arraya’s stance is that IT is a bridge to the future and Managed Services is an important component in its construction. Our team partners with IT to discover what’s working within an organization, highlight what can be done better, and help design and execute improvement strategies. That’s in addition to handling the customary break-fixes, MACs, and other workloads traditionally assigned to Managed Services.

We believe our take is unique among those who do what we do. It’s the culmination of efforts headed by Robert Whann, Arraya’s Director of Managed Services and Operations. When he joined Arraya roughly five years ago, Whann set out to redefine what it means to be in the business of Managed Services.

“When I started in IT, I was a tech. Then I moved up to system admin. I used to run a team that provided endpoint support for 30,000 nodes worldwide,” explained Whann. “Because of these experiences, I know what it means to be a remote support provider, working in a lot of different environments. I’ve also dealt with many of the problems our customers face.”

Whann funneled what he learned from his career in IT into his innovative vision for Managed Services. Perhaps the word that best describes that vision is “partnership.”

“When you sign up for Arraya’s Managed Services, we invest in learning your business’ objectives and aligning them to our own,” Whann said. “We’re committed to treating your goals like they were our own.”

To do this, Whann’s team hunts for answers to questions such as: What function do you see IT fulfilling in your organization? What does the business ask of IT? Conversely, what does IT ask of the business? These are just some of the questions Whann’s team works with new customers to answer during onboarding.

These relationship-building efforts are supported long-term by a Technical Advocate. This is a ranking member of the Managed Services team who serves as a liaison between Arraya and the customer.

Whann defined the position in this way: “The Technical Advocate is like the customer’s right-hand man. That kind of trust doesn’t come from reading reports. The Technical Advocate works directly in the customer’s environment to learn all they can and make recommendations based on real, practical knowledge.”

Rethinking the role of Managed Services

Managed Services used to be thought of as an organizational fire fighter. Arraya understands that, even when there isn’t a fire to fight, Managed Services can still provide value. Room for improvement exists even in times when everything appears fine. Our team tracks down these opportunities while tending to the functions expected of Managed Services providers. Although, Whann also has a different idea of how to deliver on those expectations.

“I don’t like telling our customers that we do this, this, and this,” Whann said. “That’s not what a true partner does. A true partner jumps in and provides support without thinking ‘Is this within scope?’ A true partner is, ultimately, always ready to help.”

Want to learn more about Arraya’s Managed Services? Feel free to reach out to us with any questions you have. We can be found at: www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/. We’re also available on social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Follow us to be first in line for news on our latest learning opportunities, events, and blogs.

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Right before I was promoted to IT Manager, my manager and CIO tasked me with sorting out a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement. For years, our company had been purchasing licenses as one-offs, but our goal was to be a world-class IT organization. Part of that was consolidating vendors to a list of key strategic partners and one of those was Microsoft.

I spent months gathering our server inventory, interviewing our business application owners with regards to SQL usage, talking to site support about the feasibility of rolling out new Windows and Office licenses, debating on Exchange vs. Office 365 and generally looking for every scrap of Microsoft licenses we had and could retire. It wasn’t an easy exercise. Luckily, my Microsoft Account Manager was there to help, but it was still painful.

In the end, we decided to go with Exchange on-premises and the EA was signed. We committed to three years and started the work of displacing incumbent, non-Microsoft software.

About nine months into the EA, we switched gears and the initiative came down to moving to Office 365. Since we committed to the EA, this was a costly change. Microsoft stepped up and helped lower the price, but it was still rough and we still owed our initial commitment.

EAs can be great vehicles to buy licensing if your business is over 500 seats, predictive and stable or if you’re looking to Microsoft as a strategic partner and key vendor to your business. If you are covered under an EA, you also are entitled to the latest Microsoft software.

By contrast, some customers see a downside with the three-year commitment, annual adjustments and general lack of flexibility. Also, when you enter an EA, you traditionally work with a licensing partner that takes your order, but does little to help you use any of it.

As Microsoft and customers move to a cloud first, mobile first world, the speed at which businesses operate can make an EA less appealing. Customers are looking for more flexible licensing options and real help in getting the latest technology deployed and supported. Luckily, Arraya is part of a Microsoft program that can help.

Under Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, Arraya can become a strategic partner for your business in two ways. First, we can directly sell Azure, Enterprise Mobility + Security and Office 365 licenses to your business. Second, your purchase comes with our 24/7 support and ability to help you make sure you are getting the most out of your investment.

With the flexibility to add, remove or adjust users and services when you want and be billed for just your usage, more and more customers are starting to consider CSP a viable alternative to a full EA, especially if they are under 500 seats. CSP delivers on the subscription promise of an EA with scale and flexibility.

With CSP through Arraya, you are only paying for what you are using. As your business shrinks and grows, you don’t have to worry about a lengthy commitment or true-ing up users annually. If you shrunk in size, you could be leaving money on the table with an EA, but with CSP, you just adjust. We’ve put together a comparison guide to help customers decide when to purchase Azure and Office 365 through the CSP Program vs. an Enterprise Agreement.

Microsoft recently announced significant changes to their licensing, eliminating Pay-As-You-Go options for MPSA customers, which are agreements for companies with 250-500 seats. Customers will be directed to work with a CSP partner, like Arraya to help them. You can still get Pay-As-You-Go with either an EA or directly from the Azure portal, but the CSP ensures you have the right guidance through a strong partner.

If you are considering options on your Microsoft licensing and would like some expertise to help guide you, our Microsoft and Cloud Practice stands ready to help you with these decisions. Reach out to us today at mssales@arrayasolutions.com!

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There are many great cybersecurity solutions out there.  Firewalls, endpoint protection, encryption, intrusion detection, and data loss prevention make up just a handful of the point solutions at a
CISO’s disposal for countering a cyber attack.  Unfortunately, the tools alone are not enough. There needs to be an executive ownership and accountability aspect to prioritizing and implementing the RIGHT controls to protect sensitive data and information.

People can often be the problem

Have you ever clicked on that ad on your favorite news website promising a beach vacation?  Or, have you ever plugged in a USB device you got at a trade show?  No, of course you haven’t. How many of your co-workers, however, have done those things – or worse?

Suppose each employee at your company encounters 10 such risks per day.  It’s no wonder the news is full of successful data breaches.  The human element will just about always nullify the best security tools.  The bad guys know this and are counting on it to get what they want.  Hacking a system is expensive, time consuming, and inconvenient.  Hacking a person is easy, scalable, and often yields a high reward.

IT alone can fail – executive leadership needs to care

If people are an issue, what can be done to get them in line?  That’s where the executive leadership team comes in.  Leaders must be involved in building, monitoring, and enforcing the organization’s information security program.

The more familiar executives are with the risks, the more likely they are to become IT’s biggest ally.  For example, when executives see tangible examples of how much damage people with administrative rights can do, they’ll be more likely to support tightening up policies around these rights. They’ll feel invested and accountable. If leaders are out of the loop, IT will be left alone to face the consequences of exploited vulnerabilities.

Protecting everything is impossible – protecting what’s important is feasible

Companies know what is sensitive data and what is not.  Whether or not the business has defined and articulated that to IT is another story.  Investing time and energy into protecting and monitoring the vacation tracker spreadsheet is most likely a waste.  Shifting those resources to protecting the human resources database or accounting system puts the controls right where they need to be.

As for cost, you may be able to implement a particular security tool at a lower cost using a focused approach, and then phase in additional, lower-priority targets as the resources to do so become available.  By working with your business partners and prioritizing, you can protect what’s important sooner, while keeping costs to a minimum.

A risk-based approach to building an enterprise information security program is critical to prioritizing and resourcing the program successfully.  Point security solutions do a great job at solving specific problems.  If you really want to lower your vulnerability footprint and provide controls that actually have impact, however, it’s crucial to engage the entire leadership team to work together with IT to implement controls that actually work as well as drive business value.

Want to start a conversation with Arraya’s Cyber Security Practice? Reach out to us at: www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us. You can also find additional insights, news on our upcoming events, and more on social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

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In my last job, I was an IT Manager responsible for Microsoft and VMware. It was pretty exciting, but mostly because I was working at a semiconductor. We were on the cutting edge of technology in a lot of ways because we were building the technology of the future. Not all IT Managers had a similar experience.

IT Managers have been shaped by the turbulence and constant change of technology over the past 20 years, but there’s been another force at work. With the economic downturn of the 2000s, IT was the first one hit. This left a lot of IT Managers and staff feeling jaded. Here’s how it went down:

  1. IT sees the potential in technology to help the business.
  2. The business, trying to save money, not only doesn’t listen to IT’s ideas, but cuts budgets and staff.
  3. IT Managers learn an important lesson – namely they aren’t the business partners they thought, just a cost center.

I went through this. I’ll be honest, it was hard. I had been promoted and very quickly realized that I wasn’t a driver for the business. For semiconductors, it is about storage and compute.

IT is at an intersection. The cloud has moved past being an interesting way to deliver virtualization services. Sure, this is a great benefit, but like Exchange Online and OneDrive, IaaS is a commodity IT services.

Microsoft has put new messaging around Azure, but it isn’t just the latest marketing tagline. The cloud enables every company to now be a startup. Even your company can take advantage of the latest technology without having to make a slow, up front investment.

Think about what this means for your business. You can now try new ideas in days instead of months or years. If something doesn’t work, you scrap it without much effort. Even Uber, who revolutionized public transit, is still using the cloud to deal with business risks.

Uber is piloting facial recognition in the face (see what I did there?) of growing security concerns. Imagine the infrastructure it would take to run such a solution on-premises in a data center? Then, if it didn’t work, how would you ever recover?

IT Managers are now in the driver’s seat of business (or soon will be). If you are one, congratulations, your future is bright. Even if your budget has been cut, someone at the CxO level will come knocking on your door soon with a request to do something quickly to match the disruption they are seeing in the industry

‘If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door’

You need to be prepared. Here are some steps you can take today to make sure your company and your job are around in 5 years:

  1. Budget for some low level cloud projects and see what all the fuss is about or just sign up for a trial and play.
  2. Learn everything you can about the non-technical – security, data privacy, compliance and protection.
  3. Learn the concepts behind IoT, data analytics, machine learning, modern application platforms and artificial intelligence.
  4. Apply what you learn to thinking about what the cloud can do for your industry, not just your business. This gets you thinking bigger right off the bat.
  5. Become a champion for innovation in your business and explain what the cloud is and how it can actually make a difference to drive new revenue streams, transform products or optimize operations.

This is all built on Microsoft’s messaging around Digital Transformation. The cloud only is IaaS until you start doing something with it. So, what will you do?

I hear them knocking – get moving!

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Arraya has a unique take on Managed Services. Many providers rattle off familiar platitudes concerning uptime, availability, and track record. We like talking about those things, too, but we believe a best-of-breed Managed Services provider has much more to offer.

A journey is happening in IT. Some IT departments focus on supporting the infrastructure that drives the business. Others have grown into a service provider that helps end-users securely obtain and leverage critical business functions and applications. Still others have evolved to the point where IT is seen as a business adviser, one who helps shape the company’s technological and business directions.

Wherever a customer’s IT team stands on that journey, Managed Services providers must be able to provide the necessary resources and expertise. They must also provide the guidance needed to make the next level achievable. This is what sets Arraya apart.

To further illustrate that point, let’s take a look at what life is like for Arraya’s Managed Services customers.

Getting to know you

It starts with our mantra: “Your goals are our goals.”  We understand Managed Services is no longer about simply providing a service. Anyone can remedy problems after they happen. Arraya is focused on understanding an IT organization’s responsibilities and planning an actionable strategy for the future.

Turning that philosophy into action starts early during the onboarding process. We establish a regular cadence with key IT folks and focus our discussions around want vs. need. These conversations help us get to know a customer’s team better and adjust our goals. The information gleaned is coupled with data uncovered during an upfront assessment to determine where things stand vs. where the business wants them to be. Arraya’s team can then offer guidance on how to achieve those goals.

Fostering the relationship

Modern technology environments need to be nimble, scalable, and ready for anything. Those three things are not often associated with Managed Services providers, where rigid service contracts and strict scope boundaries limit the way things are done. This is another area where Arraya differentiates itself.

Every Arraya Managed Services customer is assigned a Technical Advocate. This individual will immerse him or herself in the customer’s environment and learn their appetite for change and growth. The intention is for this person to become a “right-hand man” of sorts and provide guidance and expertise. If changes are needed, the Tech Advocate can identify and recommend them. Best practices provide a starting point, but the real value of the service is learning when to implement them.

This is particularly important as IT teams follow that evolutionary path we laid out earlier – from infrastructure keeper to service provider to business adviser. If the customer’s environment is subject to change, what good is a Managed Services provider who is unable to say the same about its services?

Building and maintaining an elite team

Elite IT teams don’t just happen. It takes careful deliberation during the hiring process and a commitment to providing regular opportunities for team members to better themselves – and, in turn, the company. This equates to an investment of time and resources, two things not easy to come by in IT.

Like all Managed Services providers, Arraya takes care of those things so our customers don’t have to worry about them. We hire and retain our own support staff and provide them with the access to training they need to stay on top of their games. What sets us apart? Our approach to who makes the grade.

Over the years, we’ve developed a checklist of what makes an ideal Managed Services candidate. Although technical knowledge is important (and our team members have the certifications to back it up) it’s also about having a knack for creating positive customer experiences – even in the briefest of interactions. We pride ourselves on our ability to find the right people to wear those hats.

What comes next?

Want to learn more about what life is like with Arraya’s Managed Services team by your side? We can be reached by visiting www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/. Arraya can also be found on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Feel free to start a conversation or follow us to keep up with our latest blogs, special events, and industry insights.

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If you’re the kind of person who learns best when given the opportunity to get your hands dirty, Cisco’s dCloud should be right up your alley. This free, cloud-based lab infrastructure is open to anyone, partner, customer, or interested observer, provided he or she has a CCO ID. As long as you have that login handy, you’ll have access to the oodles of Cisco product demos and sandbox environments collected under the dCloud banner.

Many of Cisco’s dCloud labs are scripted, but that doesn’t mean users are locked into a singular experience. Those scripts can be customized to give users greater control over their programs. Additionally, Cisco offers sandbox environments to allow users even more freedom on how to become better acquainted with a given solution.

What skills can you learn through Cisco’s dCloud labs? Let’s take a closer look at what’s available and how these experiences – pooled with the guidance of a partner such as Arraya Solutions – can help businesses modernize their IT infrastructure.

Improving cybersecurity readiness

Cybersecurity grabbed plenty of headlines in 2016 and it’s a safe bet to do so again in 2017. Awareness of the top threats stalking today’s technology landscape goes a long way toward keeping businesses safe. However, awareness is only so helpful without the support of advanced cybersecurity architecture and solutions.

Cisco’s dCloud lets businesses try out some of those innovative solutions. Covered in dCloud’s catalogue is Rapid Threat Containment (RTC), which combines Cisco’s FireSIGHT Management Center and Identity Services Engine (ISE) to provide a more robust defense against malware intrusions.

By taking part in the scenario contained in dCloud, users will gain a better understanding of how RTC responds to security hazards. This includes how FireSIGHT Management Center catches threats and relays information about them to ISE, which isolates the threat pending closer inspection.

Creating the workplace of today

When’s the last time you said something like “I have to run to the office to get some work done”? Depending on your business, there’s a chance it’s been a while. In many industries, getting something done doesn’t require running to the office, or anywhere at all.

Achieving the flexibility inherent in the “workplace of today” requires a set of tools much like those found in the Cisco Collaboration 11.0 demo on dCloud. This session shows off how tools such as Jabber, Cisco Collaboration Meeting Rooms, and more can improve remote business communication and activate boundary-free collaboration through features like persistent chat and high-quality video conferencing.

Besides just experiencing the features, users also have the option to learn what it takes to provision and deploy many of the supporting utilities.

Streamlining data center management

What’s an orchestra without a conductor? A football team without a coach? No matter how talented the individual pieces of those groups may be, it’s tough if not impossible to attain a consistent level of success without a person who is tasked with keeping everyone together. Cisco’s UCS Director fills that role for the data center.

Cisco’s dCloud features multiple labs designed to walk users through various UCS Director use cases. Today’s data centers are often home to multiple types of technology. UCS Director plays nicely with solutions from many leading vendors, as it restructures the process of data center management.

Among the features you can explore in dCloud are the hundreds upon hundreds of pre-built tasks that slash the time needed to make data center changes or upgrades from weeks to minutes. The labs also highlight the efficiency-boosting reports and analytics UCS Director brings to businesses.

Get the inside track on IT success

Sometimes it takes a little firsthand experience to see how an offering can benefit your business. While dCloud labs are helpful, they aren’t the only resource at your disposal. Arraya’s award-winning Cisco team has designed and deployed innovative solutions in many industries and stands ready to supplement your findings with our own knowledge and guidance.

Ready to learn more about the latest in Cisco technology? Want to start a conversation with the members of our team? Visit: www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/. Arraya Solutions is also accessible on social media: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Follow us to keep up with our latest blogs as well as industry insights and alerts about our upcoming special events.

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Unless you happen to have a crystal ball handy, predicting what’s coming next in the fast-moving world of IT is a tall order. We don’t have a crystal ball, but we do have the next best thing: a collection of plugged-in IT experts with diverse skills sets. We decided to tap in to the collective expertise of our team to see what they think 2017 has in store. Here’s what they had to say:

Ryan Benner, Vice President, Enterprise Infrastructure

Perhaps the biggest trend in 2017 will be digitization. If they aren’t doing so already, organizations will be looking to digitize their business processes in 2017 to gain a competitive edge. This includes exploring ways to improve their data analytics processes to collect and analyze data more quickly. Whether this is through gathering new information via Internet of Things deployments or more efficiently mining the data they already have in their systems, this type of transformation will be key.

Halim Chtourou, Team Lead, Virtualization

VMware has begun to position themselves as the glue that sticks multiple different environments together, regardless of whether it’s a VMware environment, a trend I see continuing in 2017. This is evident in the release of vRealize Automation 7.2, which can provision VMs not only to local private clouds but to Azure, vCloud Air, etc. while also offering a comparison of how much it’s going to cost in each environment to deploy a VM there. Also, the vRealize Automation 7.2 portal can integrate with Hyper V, KVM provisioning, and even certain physical infrastructures as well, like AIX.

Jason Kline, Microsoft Cloud Architect

Cloud adoption is ramping up. The end of 2016 has shown us businesses are opening up more to the cloud discussion. Trust is one of the biggest concerns for any business adopting cloud services. Microsoft has been working to build that trust over the years and has built an impressive portfolio of security certifications and meets an equally-impressive number of regulations. This, coupled with more and more use cases appearing in every industry, is what I believe is driving this new interest. I believe 2017 will be the year we see the majority of customers begin their journey to the cloud and Arraya will be ready to help them get there.

Ron Longley, Data Management Practice Manager

I believe that, for many companies, 2017 will be the beginning of the end for interest in hybrid storage arrays for primary storage requirements. Technology has advanced to the point where the performance, ease of use, and density of flash drives have all gone up, while price has come down. I see businesses taking a much closer look at all-flash because of these factors.

Jeremy Rupczyk, Senior Solutions Engineer

A big trend recently, and one I don’t see changing in 2017, is the move toward the digital workspace. People no longer have to be in the office to do their jobs. If possible, they want to work from home, a coffee shop, wherever. It’s part of the idea of anytime, anywhere workplaces that VMware has focused on for the last few years and will continue to do so in 2017.

Matthew Sekol, Microsoft Practice Manager

Microsoft placed a lot of focus on security in 2016 and going forward into 2017, I think this story will become even more solid. Microsoft has owned identity in the Enterprise for the past 20 years. As companies and employees move to the cloud, identity is the one control point that can be leveraged to secure content, access, and devices.

Threat Intelligence and using machine learning to detect attack patterns and behaviors on the network and across devices will also be the next frontier for Microsoft. Remember, they are operating one of the biggest IT infrastructures on the planet and can use that data set to determine what represents a threat in IT environments. Analytics and security from Microsoft will be game-changing in 2017, getting more and more people to think of Microsoft as a security company.

Rajasekar Shanmugam, Team Lead, Cisco Collaboration

I see Cisco Spark Hybrid Media Service as being one of the top stories coming to my focus area in 2017. It lets us bring a little “cloud magic” to on-premises deployments. It gives customers the option to deploy Cisco Spark meetings on-prem, in the cloud, or even both at the same time. The service automatically determines the best way to deliver the meeting for each user based on location. It also simplifies resource planning by adding users via the cloud after local resources are tapped and can hold as many participants as needed.

Kevin Taggart, Team Lead, Network Services

I’m looking forward to having Sourcefire start to replace the ASA Firewall. New hardware and software are maturing and product features are slowly migrating. It should be ready next year. The unified threat defense image will be a big win.

Robert Whann, Director, Managed Services Operations

As CIOs and Directors find their role moving to that of a business adviser in their organization, Managed Service providers will also evolve. I see us being asked to take on an even more active role in 2017, engaging in more consulting while working with different levels of management to help a customer’s company thrive.

Thomas York, Director, Delivery and Project Management

Managed Services focused around cloud, specifically Azure-hosted workloads will be big in 2017. We’re moving beyond Office 365 to a period of cloud transition. Key business services and applications are moving to the cloud, and there’s a need to guarantee availability, performance, and security.

What else is on deck for IT in 2017?

Have any questions about our 2017 predictions? Have a few of your own you’d like to share? Our team can be reached at www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/. They can also be reached through our social media presence: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Be sure to follow us for all of our latest blogs as well as alerts about upcoming special events.