Software-defined data centre technology taking the world by storm

The software-defined data center (SDDC) is gaining attention from IT and business professionals alike as it proves its worth as an effective enterprise solution.

According to a new research study by HyTrust, as sophisticated workload security technologies help overcome fears of security risks, 93% of high-ranking executives believe that the benefits of migration to virtualisation and the cloud are undeniable and quantifiable.

When asked whether optimal SDDC strategies and deployment can quantifiably drive up virtualisation ratios and server optimisation, and noticeably benefit the bottom line, 88% of the respondents said yes.

Furthermore, when queried as to how well current SDDC platforms and strategies ensure top-tier security that meets their organisations' needs, 94% of the executives surveyed say they do either 'very well' or 'somewhat well.' On an equally positive note, only 4% of the respondents say 'not well.'

On top of this, 93% of respondents say better security will help companies more quickly derive the obvious benefits of an SDDC, including cost savings, agility and performance enhancements.

"It's always been hard to deny the potential benefits of SDDC infrastructure, but in the past the obvious advantages have sometimes been overshadowed by concerns over security and compliance," says Eric Chiu, HyTrust president.

"What we're seeing now is clear progress in this exciting arena, as technology solutions that balance high-quality workload security with effortless automation push back those fears. The focus is now exactly where it should be: ensuring that the virtualised or cloud infrastructure enables tremendous cost savings with unparalleled agility and flexibility," Chiu says.

Some industries are embracing SDDC over others, and maintaining, or even exceeding, their previous levels of security. Technology companies as well as consulting and management businesses are the top adopters, with 41.4% and 40.6% respectively.

Not far behind are emergency services, and financial services, banking, insurance and trading at 34%. The latter comes as something of a surprise, given the industry's habitual early adoption of technology innovations, according to HyTrust.

Telecommunications is another surprise, coming in at 27.6%, while healthcare/biotech/medtech/life sciences/pharma's showing is at 28.6% perhaps reflecting remaining concerns about security. Retail registers at 12%, showing considerable room for improvement, HyTrust says.

Some differences do appear when high-level executives are queried about their perception of the benefits to be accrued through optimal deployment of the SDDC paradigm.

For example, when asked "Do you believe optimal SDDC strategies and deployment can quantifiably drive up virtualisation ratios and server optimisation, and noticeably benefit the bottom line?" 92% of those in the C-suite, as well as those at the VP/EVP/SVP level, say yes. Most of the responses here are positive, though the number does drop to 80% among participants at the director level, according to the research.

When asked whether they believe better security will help companies more quickly derive the obvious benefits of SDDC, the C-suite executives say yes by a factor of 89.6% - a high number by any account, but the lowest among the job titles surveyed. And when asked to identify the top vertical industries that deserve attention for the way they've embraced SDDC while maintaining, or even exceeding, their previous levels of security, more disparities appear, HyTrust says.

Among C-suite executives, business consulting and management gets the top spot with 39.2%, while emergency services comes second with 36% (a consensus opinion). Among the VPs, meanwhile, business consulting and management ranks much higher with 48.8%.

On balance, despite the surprise laggards, this research initiative clearly reveals a dynamic discipline making great strides, HyTrust says. While not every concern has been eliminated, the migration to the software-defined data center is clearly picking up steam, and the tangible benefits are increasingly visible to every key constituency, the researchers say.