The marketing noise that currently surrounds the Software-Defined Datacenter (SDDC) is becoming increasingly deafening in the world and mindsets are beginning to evolve. But an awareness does not necessarily rhyme with acceptance.

The Software-Defined defines an environment in which basic IT functions, such as computation, storage or network, are virtualized. This environment is able to adjust according to the requirements and constraints of other programs.

Virtualizing all the elements of an IT infrastructure (network, storage, CPU and security) is a big change. In the Software-Defined Datacenter (SDDC), configuration, provisioning, deployment, and operational maintenance are disassociated from the hardware and implemented programmatically.

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All of this is generating some excitement: users are expected to gain increased agility, performance and operational efficiency. Companies that have opted for SDDC can also reduce their management costs and improve the security of their systems.

With SDDC, IT teams are theoretically able to control each application and workload, and to know the optimal configuration for each process (how much memory, storage, computing or network resources). The idea is that these functions adjust themselves to each configuration.

This virtual datacenter concept also includes the fact that each application, each of their components as well as the underlying layers (network and storage) can operate differently from one workload to another, at different times of the day - even adjusted at different geographical locations. You can also provision additional instances of these features to meet rising demand, or "power down" them when demand drops.

These features can also be moved, automatically or manually, from one system to another, from one data center to another, to improve performance, avoid bottlenecks, and network-level malfunctions. or storage. This also includes migration to or from an internal datacenter or operated by a cloud service provider.

Does the SDDC really work?

Technology providers all ensure that their respective solutions operate in an SDDC environment. If a company chooses a single vendor and operates in that environment alone, this concept works and can deliver on its promise.

Obviously, this entails certain difficulties and obstacles to achieving a phenomenon of adoption and mass deployment.

For example, there is a flaw: the lack of international standards that define how each SDDC technology works. The suppliers have for the moment their own approach and this can relate only to a very specific need of the application. Others are focused solely on the network, others on storage. Another group of providers focuses on virtual environments. Containers are today at the heart of some people's issues. 

The other problem is the complexity of these environments, and needs so fluctuating. Companies must therefore recruit many specialists. If the SDDC relies on several suppliers, it gets complicated.

In many companies, these silos of expertise are already in place - which is already a problem in itself. Opting for a multi-supplier approach within the framework of a SDDC only reinforces this dimension. Is it better to continue this way and to have pools of experts specialized in a technology (databases, application frameworks, OS, VM, containers, networks or storage)? Or to set up groups with multiple skills in each department? 

Demonstrate ability to deploy an SDDC

En prenant une orientation centrée sur le Software-Defined, l’entreprise décide de considérer son IT comme un pool de ressources et que ce pool soit exploité par toutes ou certaines workloads. En surface, cela peut apparaître comme une démarche de simplification. Toutefois, et comme dans de nombreux cas, cela dépend aussi de l’organisation de l’entreprise. Par exemple, mettre en place une unique équipe en charge de tous les achats et des opérations IT convient aux PME, mais pas aux entreprises plus grandes.

It is clear today that technology providers are pushing companies towards Software-Defined, whether they want it or not. The best thing to do is to integrate it. Review the different technologies and examine the architectures that support both your current requirements, but also those of tomorrow. Then develop a progressive plan to migrate to the SDDC.

This approach is far better than migrating IT islands to an incompatible, non-global, programmable infrastructure.