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News
Exploring Client Virtualization with Broadleaf
January 27th, 2010
Boston MA- January 27, 2010: IT professionals throughout the northeast are taking a hard look at client virtualization technologies this year. To learn more, CIOs, IT Directors and IT Managers in the Boston area joined Broadleaf for a presentation by Gregor Stewart, Broadleaf's Director of Technology Strategy at McCormick and Schmick's in Boston's Faneuil Hall. Stewart began by defining client virtualization as a collection of technologies for abstracting, delivering and managing end user (or client) functionality. The aim is to decouple functionality from OS and hardware and the vision is to provide consistent experience across all user devices with minimal management.
Mr. Stewart outlined two key kinds of client virtualization technologies: a hosted approach and a local approach. With a hosted approach, the workload is in the data center; virtual machines are running desktop OS's and/or applications, on servers in the data center; accessed by 'zero', thin or traditional desktop clients, usually via a connection broker, using a variety of remote access protocols, e.g. RDP, and most recently PCoIP. With a local approach, desktop and laptop hardware is running bare metal or user level hypervisors as a platform for centrally managed OS-bearing images, and/or containerized application packages. Stewart went on to look at why an organization would choose a hosted approach or a local approach.
The presentation focused on defining the types of users in an environment and how the users' requirements help to determine the most effective type of client virtualization for an organization. Stewart defined users in three categories: task based, knowledge based and power users. Further, he addressed important criteria for shared storage solutions that go hand in hand with client virtualization projects. During the last portion of the presentation, Stewart outlined costs for client virtualization and a process for an organization to follow in undertaking a client virtualization project. Two short case studies of client virtualization projects concluded the presentation. After a question and answer session, many attendees stayed for 'one on one' conversations with Stewart and Broadleaf Solution Specialists about their organization's particular needs and goals.
Burlington, MA Client Virtualization lunch:
December 15th, 2009
Twenty IT professionals from the greater Boston area joined Broadleaf for a lunch presentation on Client Virtualization today at Papa Razzi in Burlington. True New England weather resulted in this event being rescheduled from its original December 9th date.
Gregor Stewart, Broadleaf’s Director of Technology Strategy began by defining client virtualization and went on to provide a high level overview of the technologies along with benefits and risks. Further he discussed why companies are considering these technologies and how to best take advantage of client virtualization today.
Mr. Stewart explained differences in client virtualization technologies with the workload in the data center and with the workload in the edge. With the workload in the data center, virtual machines are running desktop OSs and/or applications, on servers in the data center; accessed by “zero”, thin or traditional desktop clients, usually via a connection broker, using a variety of remote access protocols, e.g. RDP, and most recently PCoIP. Workload at the edge means that desktop and laptop hardware is running bare metal or user level hypervisors as a platform for centrally managed images, and/or containerized application packages.
The presentation focused on why virtualize clients as well as what needs to be taken into consideration about the types of clients in an organization. Stewart defined users in three categories: task based, knowledge based and power users as part of the process in evaluating the optimal client virtualization solution for an organization. Further, he addressed important criteria for shared storage solutions that go hand in hand with client virtualization projects. During the last portion of the presentation, Stewart outlined costs for client virtualization and a process for an organization to follow in undertaking a client virtualization project. After presenting a short case study of a client virtualization project, Mr. Stewart summarized by saying that client virtualization is an evolving collection of technologies that allow companies to get closer to the optimal balance of control for IT and freedom for end users.
Broadleaf's vSphere 4 lunch series:
IT professionals throughout the northeast have been eager to get the scoop on VMware’s newest version, vSphere 4. After a well received presentation in Manchester, NH in August, Broadleaf’s Director of Technology Strategy, Gregor Stewart brought the content to IT professionals in the Boston area this fall. On October 7 and November 18, the Shipyard Room at McCormick and Schmick’s in Faneuil Hall was filled with IT professionals eager to learn about VMware’s vSphere 4.
Mr. Stewart ‘s presentation provided the Broadleaf perspective on why VMware is an optimal solution for server virtualization, what's exciting about vSphere 4 and how IT professionals can better communicate the value and ROI of virtualization and vSphere4 within their organizations. While addressing the 'how and why' of server virtualization, Gregor focused on planning capacity rationally, the necessity of implementing appropriate shared storage, configuring hosts, migrating applications and best practices for designing disaster recovery.
Mr. Stewart went on to look at vSphere 4 in terms of the features and benefits of performance, availability, administration and fault tolerance that make this new release so valuable to organizations.
Northeast Delta Dental and Broadleaf Bite into Virtualization to Dramatically Improve Availability and Recovery
Boston, MA - November 10, 2009: Broadleaf , a leader in designing and implementing vendor solutions for virtualization, data storage, protection, availability and recovery, today announced that Concord, New Hampshire-based Northeast Delta Dental engaged Broadleaf to deliver a comprehensive server virtualization and storage solution. Broadleaf used its proven engagement process to enable the dental insurer to reduce its disaster recovery time from weeks to hours (or even minutes) and cut its administrative and energy costs. Northeast Delta Dental joins a growing list of enterprises enlisting Broadleaf for cost-effective strategies for server and storage virtualization, replication, business continuity and disaster recovery.
As companies of all sizes become increasingly dependent on uptime for both applications and data, the demand for cost-effective, easy-to-manage storage and protection strategies, including business continuity and disaster recovery components, continues to grow. Responsible for claims of nearly 700,000 people, Northeast Delta Dental recognized the business imperative of reducing its recovery time in the event of server downtime or data loss. They looked at the myriad of vendors and sought a partner that could design an architecture tailored to the insurers' daily business needs and disaster recovery goals and recommend the optimal virtualization and shared storage technology.
"Broadleaf analyzed all the possible solutions and recommended the technologies best suited to our specific needs and goals," said Mike Bourbeau, Northeast Delta Dental's vice president of information systems. "With Broadleaf's solution and implementation expertise, Northeast Delta Dental successfully deployed server and storage virtualization that guarantees improved data protection, application availability and recoverability in case of an on-site loss. Not only does our new infrastructure minimize our disaster risk, it also ensures that we will have rapid recovery, limited downtime and little or no data loss in the event of a disaster beyond our control." "Entrenched in the storage and virtualization solutions and markets, the Broadleaf team helps our customers achieve their data storage and protection objectives," said Eric Faucher, VP of Client Solutions for Broadleaf. "By first taking the time to understand our clients' business and technical environments, needs, challenges and budget, we can then design the optimal architecture to achieve the storage, protection, uptime and recoverability goals and recommend the ideal vendor solutions."
About Northeast Delta Dental
With nearly five decades of expertise in the dental benefits industry, Northeast Delta Dental administers the dental benefits of close to 700,000 people in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. It offers programs for businesses of all sizes and individuals with no access to employer–sponsored group dental insurance.
For more information, please visit www.nedelta.com
Manchester, NH vSphere 4 lunch:
Reduce Costs, Improve Availability, Implement Disaster Recovery
August 20, 2009
Manchester, NH- About twenty-five IT professionals from Massachusetts and New Hampshire enjoyed lunch at Fratello's in Manchester today while learning about VMware vSphere 4 from Gregor Stewart, Broadleaf's Director of Technology Strategy. The presentation was designed both for those with existing VMware environments as well as those considering server virtualization for the first time.
Gregor's presentation provided the Broadleaf perspective on why VMware is an optimal solution for server virtualization, what's exciting about vSphere 4 and how IT professionals can better communicate the value and ROI of virtualization and vSphere4 within their organizations. While addressing the 'how and why' of server virtualization, Gregor focused on planning capacity rationally, the necessity of implementing appropriate shared storage, configuring hosts, migrating applications and best practices for designing disaster recovery.
Mr. Stewart went on to look at vSphere 4 in terms of the features and benefits of performance, availability, administration and fault tolerance that make this new release so valuable to organizations. After exploring how organizations can accurately measure the ROI for vSphere 4, Mr. Stewart led a group 'question and answer' session which was followed by small group conversations among Broadleaf Solution Specialists and IT Directors about their particular environments, needs and goals.
Broadleaf and VMware highlight benefits of vSphere in Burlington, MA
July 9, 2009
Burlington, MA- More than 30 area IT professionals joined Broadleaf and VMware for lunch at Papa Razzi in Burlington on Thursday to learn about the value that VMware's new version, vSphere brings to environments of all sizes. vSphere dramatically reduces capital and operating costs and increases control over delivery of IT services while preserving the flexibility to choose between any type of OS, application and hardware, hosted in-house or using external resources. Also, noteworthy in this latest version is VMware Essentials which provides industry-leading uptime in environments of 20 or fewer servers. Dan Sullivan, VMware's New England Territory Manager, highlighted new capabilities including: Fault Tolerance, Distributed Switching, Host Profiles, vApps and vStorage Thin Provisioning.
Eric Faucher, VP of Client Solutions along with Gregor Stewart, Director of Technology Strategy for Broadleaf outlined how vSphere capabilities can improve business continuity through cost effective HA and disaster recovery as well as how simplified VM back ups at the file and image level enhance data recovery. At the conclusion of lunch, guests lingered for more detailed discussions about their specific environments and needs with Broadleaf Solutions Specialists.
Broadleaf Celebrates Matt Van Wormer's Five Year Anniversary
July 1, 2009
Burlington, MA- Broadleaf celebrated Matt Van Wormer's, Field Engineer, five year anniversary with the company today. James Tenner, CEO noted that as a field engineer, Matt is closely involved with each step of a customer's project from the first design meeting all the way through the final step of implementation and post project follow up. Tenner stated that "Matt's skills in all of Broadleaf's storage and virtualization solutions make him a vital asset to each project whether it be storage consolidation, storage centralization, server and storage virtualization, business continuity or disaster recovery planning.”
Broadleaf and Riverbed at the Top of the Hub
June 3, 2009
Boston, MA- With magnificent views of the Boston skyline on one of the few sunny evenings in June, Broadleaf and Riverbed hosted guests at the Prudential Center's Top of the Hub for an evening of cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and a discussion of the value Riverbed WAN optimization solutions bring to organizations. Topics covered during the evening included: how to reduce bandwidth utilization by at least 60%; how to remove or reduce infrastructure in remote offices with the Riverbed Services Platform (RSP)- run up to five additional services and applications with VMware on the Riverbed appliance, allowing deployment of local services in branch offices without the need for physical servers; how to reduce remote office cost, complexity, and backup with "branch office in a box" strategy; how collaboration is improved even for mobile workers; and how Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans become a reality with Riverbed appliances.
As a strong Riverbed partner, Broadleaf Solutions Specialists often implement Riverbed appliances as key components of data storage and protection projects.
Broadleaf Sponsors SpiceWorld Boston 2009 for IT Professionals
March 2009
Somerville, MA - Spiceworks users from all over the northeast are expected to turn out on March 27 for the premier 2009 SpiceWorld event. IT leaders from small-and-medium sized businesses will gather to discuss IT challenges, get practical hands-on training, meet and swap ideas with their peers and explore new products and services that can help them accomplish their tasks. Spiceworks is free IT management software that combines everything needed to manage IT in one easy-to-use application: software inventory, network inventory, PC inventory, network monitoring, Exchange monitoring, license monitoring, asset reporting and more as well as Helpdesk and IT portal. 500,000 IT professionals worldwide enjoy the benefits of Spiceworks in their environment.
Broadleaf is a proud sponsor of SpiceWorld Boston 2009 and will be on hand to share expertise on data storage, data protection, data management and data delivery solutions including key topics on server and storage virtualization, improving backups, business continuity, disaster recovery, email and file archiving and WAN optimization. For more information and registration for SpiceWorld Boston 2009 to be held March 27 in Somerville, MA, go to: http://www.spiceworld2009.com/boston/
Gregor Stewart has joined Broadleaf as Director-Technology Strategy
February 2009
Broadleaf Services is pleased to announce that Gregor Stewart has joined the firm as Director - Technology Strategy.
In this role, Mr. Stewart will ensure that Broadleaf stays ahead of the curve with its storage and server virtualization
solutions.
According to Broadleaf’s President and CEO, James Tenner, “Gregor’s knowledge and expertise will help us
continue to provide high value to our customers, and he will be key to helping the company manage its growth.”
Mr. Stewart will also work directly with customers, to determine optimal solutions. Mr. Stewart’s strong background in
IT leadership, consulting, and systems integration provides the versatility needed for this challenging role.
IT Roadmap Conference & Expo draws crowd for Virtualization and Next Generation WAN Services
June 2008
Boston, MA - Over 500 IT professionals ventured to the IT Roadmap Conference and Expo at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center on June 18. Five different morning tracks provided up to the minute information on Virtualization; VoIP & Unified Communications; Network Management, Automation & Control; NAC: Network Access Control; and Next- Generation WAN Services.
In the Virtualization track, attendees focused on virtualization for IT & business agility. Important topics included how to: better utilize your servers, increase operational efficiency, speed up server provisioning, cut energy costs and use SAN replication for disaster recovery. After the virtualization track, attendees, hungry for more information, flocked to the exhibit hall to visit Broadleaf Services. Broadleaf’s expertise is in data storage, data protection, data management and data delivery solutions. Broadleaf’s Solution Specialists and Engineers were ready to provide more detail about building a virtual infrastructure from server to storage. Their discussion emphasized the benefits and simplicity of deploying solutions provided by their “best in class” partners, Virtual Iron and NetApp. Broadleaf, known for their consultative approach, provided key information to booth visitors about Virtual Iron for server virtualization and NetApp for virtualized storage. Many visitors immediately scheduled follow up appointments for demos and to learn more.
Broadleaf, a certified Riverbed partner, also attracted visitors from the Next-Generation WAN Services track. Riverbed Wide Area Data Services enable LAN-like access to virtual infrastructure for all users regardless of their location. A raffle for a gift certificate to Boston’s new acclaimed, Clink Restaurant at the Liberty Hotel, was held for those who visited both Riverbed and their partner, Broadleaf in the Exhibit Hall.
Attendees at the IT Roadmap Conference and Expo agreed that the day was time well spent with vast amounts of relevant and useful information.