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Appliance Deployment Featured Article
April 16, 2012
The Benefits in Appliance Deployment
By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor
Companies rely heavily on the network to support standard business processes. What happens when something goes wrong with the network? Are you dead in the water, or do you have the right strategy and infrastructure in place to ensure business continuity?
Appliances are increasingly in high demand, as an appliance platform’s pre-configured servers help to improve many aspects of a network. From making software installation easier to boosting the manageability of the network – an appliance gives you more bang for your buck.
According to this NEI (News - Alert) blog post, an appliance platform that includes various monitoring and alert services as well as management features, drives an increase in value as it provides enhanced capabilities.
Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) are especially keen on appliance deployment because it makes installation of their solutions much easier. After an appliance deployment, all one generally has to do is bring power to the server and connect to a secure network.
Appliances that offer the best functionality have their operating systems and applications in a self-contained unit that is not made available to users. This is a great deterrent to hackers or anyone who might unintentionally compromise the system. In addition, appliances are a great way to boost security as well as reliability.
Information technology infrastructure has become more and more complex. As a result, appliance deployment is becoming more attractive to ISVs and their clients. Not every IT staffer is going to have the abilities to negotiate the IT infrastructure, which is why appliances come in handy.
They offer an easier way for IT to stay current with changes to software and operating systems, and at the same time, IT can spend fewer hours troubleshooting and more hours adding value to the platform. Appliances have also shown to be of value to companies with limited IT staff, or satellite offices where there is no IT staff, as administration can be done remotely.
An appliance gives companies the ability to take on applications that operate with fewer headaches, offer better scalability, and more manageable and reliable processes. A backup appliance is also becoming an increasingly popular means of protecting data.
Through a mix of storage hardware and the appropriate software to backup data, the installation is fairly quick, while also offering invaluable peace of mind. Small and medium-sized businesses that have outgrown their storage hardware are finding value in choosing backup appliances instead of all new infrastructure.
Moreover, businesses are finding out that after implementing an appliance they gain not only data protection, but faster recovery times, too. And, because the software on appliances comes pre-configured, there is only one point of contact for support. Any way you look at it, you’re gaining profits with an appliance platform.
Edited by Jamie Epstein
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