Data Center Virtualization Provides Long-Term Cost Savings

The director of IT for a local, multi-branch credit union was ready to virtualize his operation. But like many IT leaders, he wasn’t sure of the best way to achieve that goal.

He explained his concerns and questions to MicroAge’s Chris Reinhard. To help the IT director understand his options, Chris arranged for presentations from several major SAN and hardware/server platform vendors.

“What we brought to the table blew him away,” Chris says. “We wanted him to listen to the vendors and then listen to their clients as well. We even got him into a competitive credit union to show him what they were doing with virtualization.”

Reduce Costs and Maximize IT Efficiency with VMware

The client selected a complete HP hardware solution with VMware.

“HP gives you the toolset to manage that environment, trains you and is there with you through the entire process,” Chris explains. “HP has been absolutely stellar.”

Before virtualizing, the credit union had 78 servers. Post-virtualization, they have three DL380 boxes (soon to be five) and an HP P4500 LeftHand SAN (as well as another P4500 SAN with Symantec at their disaster recovery site).

Today, the client continues to benefit from the virtualization project and the products he chose. Previously, a large room was dedicated to the data center.

“Now, it’s a rack,” Chris says. “And they’ve seen overall cost savings for electricity.”

Plus, Chris contacted the client’s local power company to inquire about green credits. The client earned a $1,500 credit for its efforts in addition to the power savings.

“It was a significant front-end investment,” Chris notes. “But the long-term savings is huge.”

And as the IT director has learned more about the capabilities of his HP and VMware solution, he calls Chris.

“He cannot be happier with the way this solution has made his team more efficient,” Chris says. “He has more time in his day now to focus on big-picture IT operations.”

Plus, he’s referring others to Chris and MicroAge.

“We go above and beyond. That’s what we’re about. It’s how you design and implement solutions and overcome challenges,” Chris says. “He didn’t realize we’d be with him the entire process, and we’re still with him today. The success of this project was putting together the right team of people to help him see where he is today and where he can be tomorrow and then assisting him in the transfer of knowledge to get there.”

Whether you’re looking for a virtualization solution or any other technology solution, contact Chris directly at 480-366-2091 or christopher.reinhard@microage.com.