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HPE GreenLake has set a new standard in how to deploy and manage on-premises infrastructure through pay-per-use IT solutions.  It is opening new possibilities to create a cloud-like experiences that simplify IT, create greater levels of control and keep budgets in check.  All of this is only achievable because of the unique way that HPE is able to monitor and more importantly meter the resource usage of all of the IT assets in a GreenLake infrastructure.

With so much interest in GreenLake currently, we take a closer look at the role of the metering technology behind the solution.

Mobile devices have made a tremendously positive impact on the way we work and how we can remain productive whether in the office or on the go. Today, the majority of people will have a mobile device, most likely a smartphone or tablet, and combined with exciting cloud-based applications and cloud-based data storage, we now enjoy new levels of freedom to work and access information on the move like never before.

While this is great for improving productivity, allowing your users to work how they want, where they want, presents an overarching security risk for your business that frequently goes un-noticed. Today mobile devices provide not only a window through which your users can view and manipulate corporate data, but also a platfom on which to hold that data, and carry it with them wherever they go, sometimes without even realising.

As businesses look to break away from traditional methods for purchasing, installing and managing their own infrastructure in house, attractive cloud-based alternatives present a dream scenario that promises all that your existing infrastructure delivers and more, whilst escaping the resource-sapping commitments associated with managing an on-premises environment.

For the most part this is very much the case. Platforms such as Microsoft’s Office 365 and Azure, as well as Amazon Web Services allow businesses to easily move their key applications, email and data storage to the cloud with cost-effective consumption-based models, shifting expense from CAPEX to OPEX and removing the dependency on maintaining physical infrastructure.

Transitioning your data into the Cloud is not where an IT Manager’s responsibilities end however, and we frequently encounter customers who overlook the importance of back-up and business continuity in a cloud-first world.  Failing to consider what was a once a key part of the IT strategy inadvertently exposes your business to serious risk in the event of a major outage.

There’s lots to love about the public cloud – elastic demand, pay-per-use consumption and the joy of unburdening the ownership and management of infrastructure hardware.  However, the cloud isn’t suitable for every business or even every workload – for all kinds of reasons from security to portability it doesn’t always measure up.  It means lots of businesses are getting left behind, unable to capitalise on the economic and operational potential public cloud services can offer.

It’s not always picture perfect in the cloud though – many customers have suffered spiralling costs that they simply hadn’t foreseen as their demands increased.  And ironically, some early adopters are now unpicking their public cloud services to reimplement on-premises.

Whether your experience of the public cloud has been good or bad, or you simply haven’t tried it at all, it’s hard not to recognise the as-a-service merits of what it promises.  Most of us would love to enjoy all the best parts of the cloud, only delivered from the comfort and security of our own data centre.  Well, thanks to HPE GreenLake Flex Capacity, that’s now possible.

Operation and maintenance of the data centre is changing; the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) playing a vital role in this development. The advancements in AI are delivering incredible results, with an increasing number of real-life applications coming to light as the technology progresses.

The ability to absorb information to enhance understanding, inform decisions, and formulate insightful predictions makes AI beneficial to a wide range of use cases. Capitalising on this fast-developing discipline could revolutionise how you operate much of your IT including your data centre.