How much IT can you manage?

Let’s face it; without IT, many business transactions such as managing production cycles, purchasing over the Web, or automating order management between buyers and vendors would not be possible. And without IT, we'd gain no economic benefits from automation, which allows companies to manage the same activities more efficiently, which in essence is doing more for less money.

Unfortunately, that rosy picture conceals a striking paradox. Although IT can be a boon for most commercial activities, the same technology offers little help to manage its own processes, which often pile up and become both unreliable and expensive -- two aspects that don’t mingle well with business.

The dire consequence is that some of the cost reductions and efficiency gains from automated business processes partially disappear into an ever-increasing IT budget black hole. Moreover, the love story that company management purports to have with IT quickly turns ugly when business dependability is threatened

If that scenario sounds familiar, so should its cure. Enter utility computing, an over-hyped term that promises to magically transform IT from an unpredictable, budget-devouring Mr. Hyde into a reliable, cost-conscious Dr. Jekyll. 

According to a commonly accepted definition, at its best, utility computing should provide IT services from a computing grid, similar in concept to an electric grid, from which companies can purchase just the amount of resources needed, and only for the time they need it. 

As far as I know, no company has delivered on the promise of grid computing yet. Hence, in my book, utility computing is still more of a journey than a destination. However, it’s only fair to acknowledge that major companies including Computer Associates, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Sun have concocted their own strategies for success. 

Why then evoke that sleeping beauty, utility computing, you may ask? A very good reason is that a pure storage software vendor, Veritas, has been quietly fortifying its applications portfolio for utility computing.

The latest step in that direction is Veritas’ announced acquisition of another software company, Ejasent. That name isn’t probably on the tip of your tongue, but Ejasent has developed a couple of applications, UpScale and MicroMeasure, that can make anybody serious about utility computing.

In essence, UpScale can move a running application from one computer system to another according to a schedule and without disruptions. MicroMeasure has the more pragmatic ability to record usage data of IT resources and allow managers to turn them into cost charge-back transactions or gather technical analysis of performance and capacity.

Veritas plans to integrate both applications into its existing portfolio, with the objective of offering them to its customers immediately. With Ejasent, Veritas is clearly committed to realigning its entire application portfolio behind modules that promise customers reduced downtime, improved performance, and automated management of their IT structure.

Can Veritas deliver on its vision of utility computing, beating other vendors to the finish line? I believe that Veritas will deliver results, but it’s important to remember that its definition of utility computing is somewhat less ambitious, at least in its initial rendering, than what others are preaching.

According to Bob Maness, senior director of worldwide product marketing at Veritas, the company is taking micro steps toward utility computing, focusing initially on the traditional battlefield for Veritas. He commented that the company's DNA is storage, suggesting that it’s only natural for Veritas to begin the utility computing journey from there.

Nevertheless, Veritas' matter-of-fact approach to utility computing promises the tools to save money on management, while improving reliability and performance of the services delivered by IT departments. If Veritas can deliver just that, I expect to see many customers placing orders with them.