“TAM Stories” is a three-part series highlighting how VMware customers working with Technical Adoption Managers (TAMs) achieve successful outcomes for their technology environments. In this blog post, learn how Chris Horning and David Downey help customers establish robust, cohesive data center solutions to meet their evolving workloads.
Data center challenges posed by mergers, acquisitions, and fluctuating workloads include infrastructure design issues, storage considerations, efficient power and cooling, and security systems for data integrity and safety. In the case of migrations and modernization efforts, experience in prioritizing processes to ensure reliable data availability can be invaluable to maintaining uptime and flexibility in managing workloads.
Read on and view the short videos below for examples of how VMware customers addressed common issues for data center migration and modernization projects in collaboration with subject matter experts to maximize speed for completion.
Helping customers execute strategic plans to support faster migrations
Chris Horning is a seasoned IT professional who has worked with VMware solutions since 2008. With over 16 years of experience, he started his career in a helpdesk role and progressed to become a server and network administrator. Over the years, his passion for building virtual infrastructure helped Chris grow his knowledge and build relationships within VMware user communities. In 2017, he joined VMware as a TAM and especially enjoys working closely with customers. His favorite moments happen when he helps clients experience a “lightbulb moment” as they achieve their business goals and desired outcomes. Watch Chris share the highlights and results of a major data center migration.
When migrating at scale and with a major deadline looming, identifying and classifying the diverse workloads within a data center is paramount for success. This includes creating an exhaustive list of dependencies and meticulously planning migration waves. The linchpin of a successful migration is a comprehensive understanding of the entire data center and all technologies within the data center to ensure minimal disruption and the ability to meet an ambitious deadline. Working with a TAM can help organizations with expert and experienced guidance throughout the migration process to streamline efforts and reduce churn.
Successful data center modernization with private cloud
After a distinguished 10-year tenure in the US Army, David Downey has spent the last three years creating innovative solutions for VMware customers as a TAM. David joined VMware through the US Department of Defense SkillBridge Program and the VMware Corporate Fellowship Program for US military veterans. His strong foundation of leadership and adaptability in diverse and challenging environments equipped him with invaluable skills for his work with customers at VMware. David enjoys integrating software successfully for his customers and strategically impacting their technology operations. Watch David talk about a customer’s journey to a private cloud.
Seamless integrations of on-premises data centers are crucial for a successful shift to private cloud. Organizations must focus on creating software-defined policies that ensure flexibility and scalability for internal customers’ demands while maintaining data integrity and security. Implementing private clouds ensures control over data with a heightened level of agility, allowing organizations to gain a competitive edge in their market and industry. Collaborating with a TAM can help organizations ensure that VMware solutions are optimized for modernized ecosystems.
Considerations for data center migrations and modernizations
If your organization is undertaking a major data center project, planning with the following considerations can help structure efforts and activities.
- Assessment and inventory – Understand the data center’s current state, including hardware, software, compatibilities, and dependencies. Create an inventory of all applications, services, and data and identify outdated or inefficient components.
- Workload classification – Categorize workloads based on criticality, dependencies, and resource requirements. Determine workloads that benefit from modifications before or during the project.
- Risk analysis and mitigation – Identify potential risks and develop mitigation strategies. Plan for downtime and data integrity and implement strategies to minimize disruptions.
- Dependency mapping – Understand interdependencies between applications and services. Map dependencies to identify opportunities for consolidation, virtualization, or implementation of cloud-native services.
- Regulatory compliance – Ensure that your project aligns with industry and regulatory data security and privacy standards.
- Scalability and performance – Assess workload requirements to ensure scalability for current and future demands.
- Cost analysis – Estimate costs associated with new additions or removals of hardware and software and ongoing operational expenses.
- Training and skill development – Identify skills gaps on the existing team and invest in training or hiring to ensure the team is equipped to manage the new infrastructure.
- Vendor and technology selection – Choose vendors and technologies that align with your organization’s goals and reduce redundancies.
- Testing and validation – Implement thorough testing procedures to validate the new environment’s functionality, security, and performance before full-scale deployment.
- Documentation – Maintain detailed documentation throughout the process to facilitate troubleshooting, future upgrades, and knowledge transfer.
- Monitoring and management – Establish robust monitoring and management practices to ensure ongoing visibility into the performance and health of the environment.
Learn more about working with TAMs
If you’d like to learn more about how TAMs can help your organization achieve its technology goals efficiently and accelerate technology adoption, visit the TAM page. Get a glimpse of the possible impact of TAM services – including a return on investment of 531% over three years – by reviewing the highlights of the Forrester Research publication, “The Total Economic Impact Study of VMware Technical Account Management Services.”
