xStream – Cloud Computing Today

On Tuesday, Virtustream announced the release of xStream 3.0, the cloud management platform that allows cloud service providers to create public clouds and enterprises to create private clouds. Based on Virtustream’s proprietary µVM™ technology, the xStream platform empowers customers to create secure, IaaS environments for mission-critical applications that can tolerate little or no system downtime. Virtustream’s xStream technology is engineered to minimize costs associated with migrating applications to the cloud and streamline the day to day management of the subsequent cloud deployment. Available as both software and an appliance, the xStream platform has evolved in its latest release to target government, cloud service provider and enterprise customers with stringent demands for availability and compliance. xStream 3.0 features enhanced enterprise risk management (ERM) functionality that allows customers to implement ERM solutions not only for an organization’s IT infrastructure, but also for the organization as a whole. In addition, xStream 3.0 delivers support for OpenStack, enhanced data protection functionality, application performance management monitoring tools and predictive analytics that optimize infrastructure management. With this release, Virtustream announces itself as a major player in the market for production-grade cloud deployments that require rich and nuanced ERM and data security functionality. As ERM implementation proliferates in verticals outside of financial services and the government sector, expect cloud technologies such as xStream to enjoy increasing adoption as a result of its suite of tools for compliance, data protection, application monitoring and infrastructure optimization. xStream’s support of both OpenStack and VMware represents yet another feather in its cap whose importance will reveal itself as OpenStack technology continues to assert its imprint on the IaaS space in conjunction with OpenStack’s maturation.

The screenshot below of the xStream management console illustrates the platform’s ability to track resource consumption, storage and costs:

The following post represents a republication of this Virtustream blog post with a few minor edits to the text in paragraphs one and two. The post was authored by the Virtustream editorial team.

In collaboration with Virtustream, Cloud Computing Today is excited to debut the first illustration in a five-part cartoon series by Tom Fishburne, “The Marketoonist.” With some techie humor and a touch of irreverence, our “Misadventures of Cloud Computing” series sheds light on the day-to-day challenges facing CIOs and IT leadership teams as they navigate the complex enterprise cloud landscape.

Cloud Computing Today will be unveiling a new Virtustream cartoon every Monday for the next five weeks that puts a comical spin on what really matters when selecting an enterprise cloud solution – security, reliability and performance. We hope you check back in regularly for a midday chuckle and we encourage you to share your perspective and experiences on each cartoon’s theme.

Server Huggers. We all know them – the folks that are hesitant to say goodbye to something they can touch and feel, physical servers, for something distant and and intangible. And while it is not actually about “where to put the coffee maker,” cloud reluctance is usually an emotional reaction. Change can be unsettling.
At first blush, it makes sense. Enterprise IT departments manage complex landscapes and moving complicated, mission-critical legacy apps to the cloud is no small feat. And the thought of experiencing any downtime during the transition is a disconcerting one. Often times the stress and complexity of the transition can be misinterpreted as an aversion to the cloud all together.

But transitioning your enterprise to the cloud, even in the most complicated instances, can be a smooth, secure ride if you have the right partners on board to lead you through the journey. And while some IT departments feel like the servers they can see and touch are more safe or dependable than ones they can’t, both security and reliability are fundamental to enterprise-grade cloud service providers who offer continuous enterprise-wide monitoring on a large scale. They have a big stake in ensuring that your data remains safe and you experience zero downtime during and after the move to the cloud.

While it may be counterintuitive at first, moving to the cloud helps enterprise IT gain control of their systems and data, not the other way around. When less time and money is spent managing hardware and day-to-day upkeep, IT can put more resources into pursuing interesting projects that could make a significant impact on the business.

For more information, check out Virtustream’s LinkedIn page.

Virtustream is the enterprise-class cloud software and service provider trusted by enterprises worldwide to migrate and run their mission-critical applications in the cloud. For enterprises, service providers and government agencies, only Virtustream’s xStream™ cloud management platform (CMP) software and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) meet the security, compliance, performance, efficiency and consumption-based billing requirements of complex production applications in the cloud – whether private, public or hybrid.