IT World Round Up

IT Leaders struggle with HCI security; but confident it can transform ‘Flexibility’

- Sanjay

New research from WinMagic, the data security company, surveying over 1,000 IT Decision Makers (ITDM) about Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) has revealed flexibility (65%) performance (58%) and availability (46%) as the highest ranked benefits of the technology. However, the survey also highlighted ITDM concerns around expanding their use of HCI, with complexity leading at 45% and security a close second (43%).

Currently, only 15% of respondents’ report having any HCI technology in their infrastructure. Yet the HCI market is expected to expand, with Gartner stating that “By 2021, HCIS will represent 54% of total converged infrastructure shipments by revenue, with HCIS reaching $10.8 billion.” 

ITDMs are clearly seeing the benefits of HCI technology, so what is holding them back from using it more? Simplicity can make some things harder. Deployed with the correct controls HCI can be one of the best ways to simplify data center infrastructure. However, its dynamic nature and reliance on virtual machines, creates challenges such as how to unify security and control data sprawl as IT departments struggle to maintain control as workloads expand.