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Next steps
CIOs need to determine how the solutions fit into their agencies. Costs are a typical starting point. Both sides claim that their approach is less expensive, so apples-to-apples comparisons must be evaluated carefully for each project.
Next, fit is a consideration. The hyper-converged systems are compact: “A hyper-converged system may be a solid choice for a ship or an aircraft,” Butler said.
And with high-profile data breaches making headlines daily, security is an ongoing concern. Some agencies feel more comfortable keeping sensitive data on site rather than moving information to the cloud.
Latency is also an issue. Cloud technology introduces another set of network connections — from government users to an off-site data center. That was a key consid- eration for the local government of Vail, Colo. The town supports public safety applications that have stringent performance requirements, including a 911 dispatch sys- tem, business-critical Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle databases, and a video surveillance system. IT Director Ron Braden said the agency opted to keep those applica- tions on site with a SimpliVity hyper-converged solution.
Public cloud, however, has done well with general-
purpose applications. Vendors like Box and Dropbox have grown into significant industry players because they offer hor- izontal services, such as storage, to a broad range of clients.
Cloud has also excelled in handling unpredictable work- loads. “Some organizations have seasonal spikes in usage, and there, public cloud is a good option,” Howard said.
And of course, the Obama administration’s “cloud-first” guidance is a not-so-subtle encouragement for agencies to look to public cloud solutions before building new on- premises infrastructure.
Because of its fast deployment and potential for reduc- ing costs, cloud computing has been working its way into federal data centers. But with the emergence of hyper- converged systems, CIOs now have one more option for building a pliable IT infrastructure. And although the selec- tion process has become more complicated, that flexibility is a good problem to have. n
Paul Korzeniowski is a freelance writer based in Sud- bury, Mass., who specializes in federal government com- puting issues. He has been covering technology for more than two decades and can be reached at paulkorzen@aol. com and followed at @PaulKorzeniowski.
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