On September 28, 2021, HPE announced a for HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform. This platform provides customers with unmatched capabilities to power digital transformation for their applications and data.

These modernizations will further accelerate HPE’s transition to a cloud services company, and give customers greater choice and freedom for their business and IT strategy in the hybrid work environment.

This announcement represents HPE’s entry into three large, high-growth software markets – unified analytics, data protection, and Adoption Framework.

What The New Cloud Services Are

The three new offerings, which add to the growing platform of HPE GreenLake cloud services, allow customers to innovate with agility at lower costs.

The new innovations are as follows:

• : Open and unified analytics cloud services to modernize all data and applications everywhere – on-premises, at the edge, and in the cloud. HPE GreenLake for analytics will be available in the beginning of 2022.
• : Disaster recovery and backup cloud services to help customers address ransomware head-on and secure data from edge-to-cloud. HPE GreenLake for data protection will be available in the beginning of 2022.
• : A comprehensive, proven set of methodologies, expertise, and automation tools to accelerate and de-risk the path to a cloud experience everywhere. The HPE Edge-to-Cloud Adoption Framework is available now.

How HPE GreenLake Analytics Are Optimized For Hybrid Environments

This is HPE GreenLake’s first cloud-native unified analytics and data cloud services optimized for hybrid environments. The analytics enable customers to accelerate modernization initiatives. They are built to be cloud-native which avoids complex data migrations to the public cloud. Now analytics and data science teams can leverage the industry’s first cloud-native solution on premises, scale up Apache Spark lakehouses, and speed up AI and ML workflows.

Included in the new are:

• HPE Ezmeral Unified Analytics: Modernized analytics and data lakehouse platform optimized for on-premises deployment.

• HPE Ezmeral Data Fabric Object Store: Kubernetes-native object store optimized for analytics performance, providing access to all data sets within edge to cloud.
• Expanding HPE Ezmeral Partner Ecosystem: Delivers a rapidly growing set of successful solutions from ISV partners that enable customers to build their analytics engines.

How HPE GreenLake Data Protection Innovation Protects Customers’ Data

Within the September 28 , HPE entered the rapidly growing data protection As-a-Service market with HPE GreenLake for data protection. The new cloud services are designed to modernize data protection, overcome ransomware attacks, and deliver faster data recovery.

The new include:

• HPE Backup and Recovery Service: Backup as a service offering that provides policy-based automation to backup and protect customers’ virtual machines across hybrid cloud environments, eliminating the complexities of managing backup hardware
• HPE GreenLake for Disaster Recovery: HPE plans to deliver Zerto’s industry-leading disaster recovery as a service through HPE GreenLake to help customers recover in minutes from ransomware attacks.

How HPE Adoption Framework Accelerates Cloud Experience

HPE has also a proven set of methodologies and automation tools to enable enterprises to take a data-driven approach to achieve the optimal operation model across all hybrid work environments – the HPE Edge-to-Cloud Adoption Framework.

The HPE Edge-to-Cloud Adoption Framework leverages HPE’s expertise in delivering solutions on-premises to meet a broad range of business needs for customers across the globe. HPE has identified multiple critical areas that enterprises should consider and measure to accomplish an effective cloud operating system.

Are You Interested In HPE’s New Cloud Services?

HPE is a global edge-to-cloud company helping organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all of their data. Built on decades of reimagining and innovating, HPE delivers unique, open and intelligent technology solutions. HPE’s new cloud services for the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform allows customers to accelerate innovation, deliver compelling experiences, and achieve high-level business outcomes. If you’re ready to make the change now, contact WEI to begin building a custom solution for your business.

NEXT STEPS: this executive brief to learn the power of the OpEX model for IT investments and find the middle ground for future It investments.

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Within the “CIO’s As-a-Service playbook,” it explains how the previous consumption-oriented model of the public cloud system changed everything. However, the previous consumption-oriented model required IT to buy service and resource capacities themselves, which introduced new risks for CIOs. These limitations were identified when contrasted with the scalability and cost efficiencies of the cloud. IT wants to deliver the public cloud experience their users crave, yet some workloads cannot make that transition and must remain on-premises for many reasons.

As-a-Service not only removes complexity, but it also speeds business outcomes and creates cost savings typically only seen with public cloud. The As-a-Service model enables rapid development of hardware, software, and services anywhere and anytime.

Basics Of The As-a-Service Model And How It Works

The As-a-Service model is an on-demand service available in a pay-per use format. There is no upfront capital investment; instead, CIOs utilize resources and pay for what is actually being used. Usage is determined based on metering technology, with units of measure aligned to the hardware and/or software being consumed.

The As-a-Service model mimics the public cloud experience, but in your own environment or co-location facility. In traditional environments, it’s difficult to predict how much infrastructure will be needed but with the new model it is now easier to scale up or down on-demand. Most organizations over-provision for storage capacity, according to . With the improved forecasting and use of IT resources, the As-a-Service model makes a significant difference.

With this model, companies can get the same cloud experience everywhere – in their on-premises data centers, at the edge, and in multi-cloud environments. CIOs can operate, manage, and control multiple business units and environments from one location. Companies are quickly shifting to hybrid cloud environments, where the workload placement can be determined on a best-suited basis. As a result of these changes, integrating, managing, and gaining visibility across newly complex IT infrastructures has become a challenge, making the As-a-Service model attractive to many enterprises.

Why Invest In The As-a-Service Model?

There are three value propositions for the As-a-Service model. First, in the “CIO’s As-A-Service Playbook“ Jason James, a CIO Net Health professional states, “In the next 12 to 18 months, many CIOs are going to focus as heavily on cost optimization as they are on digital transformation.” By paying only for the capacity that is actually used, CIOs can get a better handle on budgeting and forecasting and avoid the risk of over-provisioning resources.

Second, a study by found undoubtedly faster time to market among users of As-a-Service models. The ability to quickly scale on demand brought efficiencies in meeting deadlines. Additionally, it enabled business units to develop products, applications, and launch new projects even faster than before.

Finally, by optimizing costs and speeding project delivery, IT organizations can focus on more strategic tasks. In the “CIO’s As-A-Service Playbook Paige Francis, a CIO at the University of Tulsa states, “It seems by eliminating the need to manage the hardware piece and the budget piece, more time can be spent on focusing on our users, carving out exactly what they need – without having to spend time worrying about the transition period of one piece of hardware to the next piece of hardware.” Francis also explained that the beauty of the As-a-Service model is when companies can quickly deploy infrastructure and optimize their data centers for fast delivery.

How HPE GreenLake Works With As-a-Service

Many enterprise’s applications and data aren’t appropriate for the public cloud. They are still on-premises for a variety of reasons – security, compliance, governance, or legacy entanglement issues. However, this doesn’t mean these workloads can’t achieve the same cloud experience. Enterprises are switching to more hybrid cloud experiences like HPE GreenLake.

On June 18, 2021 HPE announced plans to offer by 2022. HPE GreenLake offers a wide range of cloud services delivered to your data center, co-location facility, or edge location. It provides the agility and economics of public cloud with the security and performance of on-premises IT. With HPE GreenLake, companies can centralized operations and insights across their entire hybrid IT estate using the As-a-Service platform.

works by allowing you to choose your cloud services. They offer a wide range of pre-configured services like VMs, storage, compute, data protection, or SAP HANA. Additionally, you only pay for what you consume. This allows CIOs to free up capital and gain financial flexibility for their business units to take on new ventures and operations. HPE GreenLake allows you to scale with ease with an installed buffer of capacity.

Are You Looking To Transition Into An As-a-Service Model?

HPE is a global technology leader focused on developing intelligent solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze, and act upon data from edge to cloud. HPE enables CIOs to provide a seamless cloud experience everywhere with its As-a-Service model. If you’re ready to make the change now, contact WEI to begin building a custom solution for your business.

NEXT STEPS: Read our blog on other new announcements at HPE.

The post How HPE’s “CIO’s As-A-Service Playbook” Improves The Business Environment appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

As global industry evolves, digital innovation that features a hybrid, “from anywhere” business environment has become critical to modern workforces. New formats, like zero-trust access (ZTA), allow employees and external partners to utilize digital resources, no matter when or where they choose to work.

But this new approach creates complications for CISOs and other because business applications and data leave traditional corporate perimeters. Specifically, it broadens the attack surface of internal networks. Combined with evolving threats, this factor dramatically expands the risk of potential breaches.

In this article, we’ll explore how a zero-trust access approach to security featuring endpoint protection can help.

Mitigating Risk At The Edge

Conceptually, traditional security models feature “gateways” whereby permitted entry means users and devices can be trusted in perpetuity. But unpredictable and broadening access points render this traditional approach obsolete. Bad actors can steal credentials and access networks from any device, for example. This threat increases the complexity and risk of more frequent, more nuanced attacks.

ZTA is therefore critical to security as digital innovation continues. With ZTA, CISOs and other executives can ensure all users, devices, and applications are consistently authenticated, trustworthy, and managed. ZTA ensures users have only the correct frequency and depth of access as well.

What Is ZTA With Endpoint Protection?

The ZTA framework features a combination of security solutions that continuously and holistically identify, authenticate, and segment users and devices seeking network and application access. With these capabilities, security teams can:

• Establish identity through multiple authentication and certificate measures
• Enable role-based privileged access
• Ensure ongoing network control through automated orchestration and threat response
• Optimize the user experience, even with rigorous security measures

Essential Zero-Trust Access Capabilities For Modern IT Security

ZTA does more than offer superior security as enterprise attack surfaces expand. Enterprises that incorporate ZTA with endpoint protection as part of their integrated security strategy also enjoy the flexibility to support their business needs, beyond traditional security models.

Three critical capabilities ZTA features that optimize security and workflows on expanded networks include:

1. Authentication for Every Device, Every Time

Unlike traditional perimeter models, a ZTA-based security strategy assumes every user and device poses a risk. In this paradigm, ZTA authenticates every device before access is authorized. Because ZTA provides a seamless experience for users, automated security features can continuously authenticate devices every time a new or familiar device requests access, without adding friction to user workflows.

2. Role-Based Access for Every User

In this paradigm, security teams continuously monitor every user, no matter the user’s apparent risk. As part of this approach, security teams have visibility into the role-based access of every user, emphasizing a “least access policy” whereby users only access resources that are necessary for their roles.

3. Asset Protection, On and Off Network

Increased remote and mobile activity among users means that there is a greater risk they will expose their devices to bad actors. In doing so, they expose organizational resources to security threats, whether they realize a risk is present or not.

The ZTA approach improves endpoint visibility to protect against the risks associated with remote endpoint devices. Endpoint security measures share security telemetry data each time the device reconnects to the enterprise network. This provides security teams with visibility into vulnerabilities and threats, as well as into missing security patches and missing updates to role-based access, when applicable.

5 Essential Features Of Today’s Leading Zero-Trust Access Frameworks

Once CISOs and other IT executives understand the rationale behind ZTA frameworks, they must understand the ZTA market and the leading features each solution provides.

Consider the following five essential features as you review the leading solutions available today:

1. Automated Discovery Classification

Network access control discovers and identifies every device on, or seeking access to, the network. The ZTA system automatically scans those devices to ensure they are not compromised, then classifies each device by role and function.

2. Zone-of-Control Assignment

The system automatically assigns users to role-based zones of control where they can be monitored continuously, both on and off network. Network access control microsegments users in mixed environments featuring vendors, partners, contingent workers, and others in addition to employees, supporting robust capabilities even as companies expand the edge.

3. Continuous Monitoring

This feature is founded on the premise that no single user or device can be trusted, even after authentication, a device may be infected or a user’s credentials could have been compromised. ZTA frameworks continuously monitor users and devices, imposing streamlined authentication at every point of access as a result.

4. Secure Remote Access

The ZTA framework provides users with safe but flexible options for VPN connectivity, improving the user experience even as it imposes more robust security features. The framework also ensures internet-based transactions cannot backflow into each VPN connection, which would put the enterprise at risk.

5. Endpoint Access Control

The framework uses proactive visibility, defense, and control to strengthen endpoint security. Discovering, assessing, and continuously monitoring endpoint risk streamlines endpoint risk mitigation, risk exposure, and compliance. The framework supports encrypted connections across unsafe networks and continuously retrieves telemetry data to measure endpoint security statuses as well.

Consider Fortinet ZTA For A Fully Integrated Security Strategy

As an IT leader, your ultimate responsibility is not only to keep your company, resources, and users secure but also to help users innovate, improve the bottom line with new efficiencies, and generally meet the needs of the business. That’s why the experts at WEI recommend to IT and security executives who are re-thinking their approach to enterprise security as risks and business requirements evolve.

Framework includes:

1. Complete and continuous control over who is accessing applications
2. Complete and continuous control over who AND what is on the network
3. Integrated ZTA solution for Fortinet Security Fabric that works on-premises and in the cloud over LAN, WAN, and remote tunnels
4. A complete, integrated solution coming from one vendor

Featuring comprehensive visibility and control across infrastructure, users, and devices, Fortinet ZTA provides security leaders with the capabilities they need to both protect enterprise resources and enable modern workforces, no matter the location of each user or device.

Fortinet is leading the way with zero-trust for the enterprise

Fortinet offers comprehensive and holistic security solutions for the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organizations in the world. From firewalls to cloud security, Fortinet ensures security without compromising performance. Here at WEI we have expertise across all Fortinet solutions and can help you evaluate and determine the best approach to an integrated security strategy that delivers on your desired business outcomes.

Next Steps: Download our eBook highlighting the right mix of security solutions for your enterprise to help protect your business from emerging threats while keeping your users productive and happy. Click below to start reading!

The post 5 Critical Features Of Your Zero-Trust Access Strategy appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Over the last handful of years, the adoption of private and public cloud solutions has revolutionized enterprise IT and offered a level of operational agility that was previously unheard of.

Today, enterprises are increasingly choosing to make use of multiple cloud solutions and deployment models. To properly manage and administer these hybrid cloud environments, many organizations have turned to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), which offers the ability to support integrations between public cloud application platforms, as well as a common management platform for the entire hybrid cloud environment.

One such HCI solution is . In this two-part blog series, we will discuss the proven benefits of this solution, as reported by and based on real customer feedback.

As part of the research process for the study and subsequent report, IDC interviewed organizations “with experience with or knowledge about (Nutanix Enterprise Cloud’s) benefits and costs. The interviews covered a variety of quantitative and qualitative questions about the impact of Nutanix Enterprise Cloud on their overall IT costs, operations and businesses.”

In this first article, we take a look at the most prevalent business and operational benefits of Nutanix Enterprise Cloud.

1. Improved IT Agility Delivering Storage and Compute ؛£½اض±²¥

In the study conducted by IDC, participants shared that through utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud, they saw significant agility improvements when it came to deploying and upgrading core compute and storage environments.

Various capabilities of the solution contributed to enhancing agility in these areas, including “having a common pool of storage and compute resources, the ability to easily add capacity to their Nutanix environments, automated provisioning of resources, and offering self-service to users.”

According to IDC, participants saw the following benefits when utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud:

• Average time to deploy new storage systems was 82% faster
• Average staff time to deploy each system was reduced by 85%
• Average time to update storage systems was 70% faster
• Average staff time for updates was reduced by 66%
• Average time to deploy new physical servers was 53% faster
• Average staff time to deploy new physical servers was reduced by 44%

2. Improved Data Protection and Reduced Operational Risk

IDC’s study also found that participants reported improved business continuity and reduced operational risk when utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud. This was achieved by “reducing the frequency of unplanned outages affecting applications and services running on their platforms and having more robust data backup and recovery environments.”

According to IDC, participants reported:

• An 85% reduction in unplanned downtime
• A 72% increase in the frequency of data backups
• A 29% increase in data recovery efforts completed within the objective

By reducing the frequency and impact of unplanned outages, enterprises utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud are also reducing the costs associated with these business interruptions. This offers an opportunity for organizations to put those cost savings to work by investing it back into the backup environment.

3. Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Offers A Business-Enabling IT Platform

It’s never been more apparent than now how essential business agility and adaptability is to an enterprise. For organizations utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud, many of the challenges associated with managing a highly distributed workforce and its data are vastly reduced.

Participants in IDC’s study found that they saw improved customer satisfaction, faster onboarding of new branches and partners, and the ability to increase focus on business objectives when utilizing Nutanix Enterprise Cloud.

IDC identified that the support Nutanix Enterprise Cloud offers to business activities results in a higher average revenue, which IDC quantified to be an average of $932,800 per organization per year.

When it comes to VDI, participants in IDC’s study also reported benefiting from faster VDI application performance and found it was easier to extend their VDI environments with Nutanix Enterprise Cloud. This translates to improved productivity from employees at these organizations.

Are You Interested In Nutanix Enterprise Cloud?

The data in IDC’s study and the feedback from its participants makes it clear that Nutanix Enterprise Cloud makes a positive impact on business and operational activities for the organizations that deploy it. Enterprises of all types and from a variety of industries are adopting this solution to modernize data centers, improve IT response time and refocus IT on activities that generate revenue instead of just keeping the status quo.

NEXT STEPS: Learn more about the benefits of software defined infrastructure and how to get started with hyperconverged infrastructure in our eBook. Click below to start reading.

The post 3 Proven Business and Operational Benefits of Nutanix appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

When it comes to pieces of the IT puzzle where skimping or going with the option that’s just “good enough” will inevitably come back to haunt you, backup and disaster recovery tops the list.

, a global leader in backup and replication software, and , an innovator of hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), have teamed up to offer Veeam Backup for Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) giving enterprises data resiliency, protection and unparalleled data access, regardless of the workload type or location.

Before we jump into the additional benefits of this partner solution, let’s talk a bit about each of them individually.

Veeam Backup Replication V10

Veeam’s is an industry-leading BUDR solution that offers availability for cloud, virtual, and physical workloads though a simple management console. Backups are easy to recover, reducing operational costs and getting enterprises back on their feet faster.

In their latest update, Veeam added a host of , including network attached storage (NAS) capabilities for data protection and recovery, storage snapshots support, and a forever-incremental backup engine.

To help enterprises defend again ransomware attacks, Veeam also added an immutable backups feature, which protects recent backup copies from unauthorized changes or deletions though S3 Object Lock.

Nutanix AHV

is a native hypervisor solution which integrates with Nutanix’s enterprise Cloud OS stack. It offers secure, enterprise-grade virtualization to give enterprises an easy way to manage storage, with the added the benefits of built-in security practices, low operational costs and optimal performance for even the most demanding applications.

To reduce the IT burden, Nutanix prioritized ease-of-use, allowing administrators to effortlessly manage storage and virtualization all from one place.

Use cases include server visualization for Linux distributions and Microsoft server and desktop operating systems, VDI and DaaS, infrastructure and databases, and remote or branch offices.

The perfect backup and data protection pair: Veeam backup for Nutanix AHV

While both solutions are effective options on their own, combining them offers enterprises a new, agentless approach for virtualized environments.

Management functionality, including job management scheduling, data compression and duplication, retention policies, and other backup and restore activities, is conducted within the AHV Proxy, leaving the Veeam backup server to operate as a repository, reducing overall complexity.

In the event of a BUDR emergency, the restoration begins with the backup data, provided by the AHV Proxy though the use of snapshots. This allows for complete file and disk level restoration and the simplicity of the solution’s design guarantees fast recovery.

The flexibility of Veeam Backup for Nutanix AHV offers a host of different options for backups, including converting them into VMDK, VHD or VHDX formats for use in various virtual or testing environments. Likewise, the unmatched performance of the solution and instant recovery options reduces disruptions and downtime, ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted end-user experience.

With the recent updates to Veeam Backup Replication, Backup for Nutanix AHV also has , including:

• Console integration which displays job status, start/stop/disable jobs, and the option to launch the proxy web user interface.
• No additional licenses are required for the proxy appliance as the license management is solely performed by the Veeam Backup Replication server.
• New VeeamZIP support for AHV workloads, easily accessed through the Veeam Backup Replication console.

Additionally, the restore features of the solution also underwent improvements, including the addition of live file-level recovery through AHC FLR Appliance, entire VM restoration though Veeam’s universal VMK backup file format, AHV snapshot restores and the addition of instant VM recovery.

has also been integrated within the solution, as well as support, which provides protected VM reports on AHV backups.

Ready to discover the benefits of Veeam Backup for Nutanix AHV?

Veeam Backup for Nutanix AHV offers enterprises a way to modernize data centers through increase agility and simplicity with the confidence is data is highly available for your enterprise users. The solution is designed for ease-of-use and centralized management, reducing IT costs and time spent administering backups.

NEXT STEPS: Have you integrated cloud in your backup and DR strategy? You might be interested in exploring our white paper, , which covers:

• Best practices for protecting and restoring your data
• Where HA and replication technologies fit in your organization
• Questions to consider when switching to a cloud solution

Read the white paper today and please contact us to talk to our backup experts with any questions about modernizing your backup or improving your data protection strategy.

The post Why Veeam Backup for Nutanix AHV is a Beautiful Thing appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Each Friday you can expect to see a new “Industry Info to Know” blog post from WEI consisting of a roundup of articles from industry experts, analysts, and our partners that we find insightful and helpful. We will also include links to industry news that you need to know about, news that will impact your business so you can plan ahead for it. We all need to help each other right now, we’re all in IT together.

As a team of trusted advisors to your company, we put a lot of effort into perfecting our practice. We are continuously learning, testing, and expanding our expertise across all facets of the enterprise IT landscape. That being said, we have an obligation to stay ahead of trends, look forward to the future of IT and provide insights to help our customers navigate the ever-evolving IT landscape.

There were a lot of great articles that caught our attention this week. Let’s take a look…

Industry News Insights

Remote access needs strategic planning right now
Regardless of the length of the current pandemic disruption, IT must plan for situations in which it will have to support a large distributed workforce. This Network World article discusses why IT pros should start work on a better remote-access architecture, focusing on secure access service edge (SASE).
Read more

Nutanix DR Multi Site Recovery
In a world where uncertainty is certain and IT disasters don’t come with a warning, IT leaders cannot afford to take the risk of not being prepared. Learn about how Nutanix supports three major DR topologies, with details for multi-site disaster scenarios and recovery workflows.
Read more

One of the goals of NetOps and DevOps teams is to optimize the application experience, but complex infrastructure and dynamic application flows pose challenges. In this post from Cisco, learn how Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud simplifies workflows by automating the tasks needed to deliver a better application experience.

How do you create a consistently functional remote work environment when faced with inconsistent home internet connections that your employees are using? This article from an HPE VP shares six best practices that can help you significantly improve the overall functionality of your remote work environment in the face of inconsistent last-mile connections.

This CIO.com article shares how corporate IT at Oshkosh Corporation has shifted its mindset from supporting core technologies to one that is more closely in tune with business objectives and customer needs. Plus, learn about 5 keys steps for digital transformation that helped them transition the business.

Cisco’s 2020 Global Networking Trends report provided a glimpse into what that future means for IT networking professionals. This article discusses new jobs that will emerge to address changing IT needs such as business translator, network guardian, network detective, and more.

This pandemic has reshaped the economy, the workforce and how technology supports all of it. CIOs are now looking to the future to prepare for the lingering effects it will have on business technology. See what CIO Dive has pulled together as some of the most pertinent stories to emerge from the last two months.

Industry Conferences Update

We are actively monitoring the status of industry tradeshows and conferences and will provide updates as they come in. We’ve been referring to this helpful roundup from SDxCentral: .

Assess your remote worker strategy today

We are finding that companies are all over the gamut when it comes to preparedness for remote workers at scale. WEI has experience and expertise in VDI and Desktop as a Service solutions from the industry’s leading vendors. We invite you to take us up on a VDI assessment or VDI Health Check up today.

How can we help?

We’ve been in tight communications with all customers and are providing peace of mind with the mantra, “Whatever you need, we’ll make IT work.” And we’ve answered the call, helping our customers with everything from supplying equipment, parts, cloud advice, architecture design, VDI, networking support, remote monitoring, staff augmentation services, and so much more… Contact us today to learn how we can help your business.

NEXT STEPS: Explore our other editions of the ‘Industry Info to Know’ Blog Series:

• Industry Info to Know – 05.01.20 Roundup
• Industry Info to Know – 04.24.20 Roundup
• Industry Info to Know – 04.17.20 Roundup
• Industry Info to Know – 04.10.20 Roundup
• Industry Info to Know – 04.03.20 Roundup
• Industry Info to Know – 03.27.20 Roundup

Subscribe to our blog using the form on this page to ensure you get a copy of this weekly email each Friday in your inbox.

The post Industry Info to Know – 05.08.20 Roundup appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

In part of one this two-part blog series, we discussed the recent study by Forrester Research outlining the economic impact of Macs in the enterprise. The study showed that while the initial purchase price of a Mac is $500 more than a comparable PC, its true cost is actually $50.25 less over a 3-year product cycle once hardware and software costs are accounted for. The disparity in costs is even more pronounced once supporting costs such as provisioning, deployment, help desk tickets and energy are factored in. Forrester found the resulting cost savings to be $678.56. In the end, TCO matters far more than the initial price tag.

Little cost savings that add up big returns

In part one of this two-part blog post, we outlined some of the substantial savings that seven companies realized in provisioning and support costs after allowing their employees to transition to Macs through recently implemented employee choice programs. The appreciated cost savings was experienced from many other facets as well though.

For instance, a Mac requires less energy to operate, 50 percent to be exact. Not only does that mean lower energy costs per device, but it also means greater productivity as users can operate on battery for longer periods of time. Decreasing the dependency on power cords means that work can get done whenever and wherever it needs to.

Saving time translates into saving money

PC users are used to waiting. In fact, PC users spend 5 minutes per day just waiting on tasks such as wake or reboot. Compare this to who only spend 1 minute per day. All in all, the study went on to show that Mac users regain 48 hours of improved productivity per year. Now multiply this recapture of time by the average hourly wage of your employees. Then multiply that figure by your number of employees. Forrester goes on to estimate that organizations comparable in size to those that participated in the study can expect 10,000 users to choose Macs the first year of the program. This is based on a 10 percent transition rate the first year, which increases to 20 percent and 30 percent in years 2 and 3 respectively. In business, minutes can quickly compound into serious savings.

Improved employee performance and retention

The productivity gains realized by Mac conversion is due to more than just reduced startup times however. Because the hardware and software operate in seamless cohesion with one another, the machine operates better, thus reducing employee frustration and nonacceptance. It also improved employee engagement which led to improved retention rates. In fact, employees who chose a Mac showed a 20 percent improvement in employee retention rate compared to their fellow PC users.

This recognized boost in productivity has been found elsewhere too. In an article published in , IBM, after implementing a Mac program four years prior, realized a savings of $543 per Mac compared to a PC (a figure very similar to the Forrester Study). They also found that Mac users tended to close sales deals that were 16 percent larger on average than Windows users. Mac users were also 17 percent less likely to leave IBM. No one will debate the expensive cost of employee turnover.

Great security translates into direct cost savings

No article comparing computer platforms would be complete without mentioning security. According to benchmark research conducted by the Ponemon Institute in 2018, the likelihood of a data breach within an organization is 14 percent per year. The Forrester study showed that this likelihood was reduced by 50 percent per device when switching to a Mac. One of the study participants noted they had as much as 90 percent fewer security incidents on their Mac devices. The Mac has a fundamentally more secure architecture than the PC thanks to its T2 security chip that provides the foundation for encrypted storage and secure boot capabilities.

While the Mac is more secure, logic says that the increased level of security should cost more. Again, not the case. The Mac’s security first architecture and included security features negate the need for some of the additional endpoint security licenses that are required for comparable PC deployments. The Forrester study reported a savings of $40 per year, per machine in additional endpoint security licenses. Better protection at lower cost. Apple certainly has their own way of doing things.

Invest in employee happiness

It is rare that a product that so many crave has a lower cost of ownership. By implementing an employee choice program, you can please your employees that embrace their preferred brand, as well as the bean counters that keep track of the nickels and dimes. Except we are not talking about nickels and dimes, we are talking about hundreds of dollars per device. Macs breed happiness, loyalty and heightened productivity, all for less money than comparable machines that exhibit lower benchmarks across the board. Give your employees the choice they want and give your company the ROI it demands.

Questions about implementing a Mac as a Choice program in your company? As an Apple authorized reseller, WEI can help. Learn more about our experience and the white glove services we provide by reading our Apple Services brief below, and contact us to start a discussion.

The post Forrester Study shows that Macs are Actually Less Expensive appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.