ESG continues to research the interest in, advantages, and disadvantages of Integrated Computing Platforms (ICPs). As a quick
review, ICP is the collapsing of server, storage, and networking infrastructure into a simple-to-consume, preconfigured, turn-key
platform. We have published numerous reports on the topic including Virtual Computing Infrastructures: The Movement Toward Integrated Computing: The Foundations for Cloud and Virtualized Computing Infrastructure Preferences.
I have also been speaking about ICPs during a series of events across the country and received a fantastic question: “What
do I do if it breaks?” This question came from an IT pro that, like many, operates in a do-it-yourself (DIY) environment and
he felt that if anything broke, he knew how it was cabled, racked, designed, etc. He felt that this gave him an advantage
to troubleshoot and fix the problem should one arise.
This was a great question and let’s all agree that ICPs will, as this attendee voiced, “break.” There are two ends of the
spectrum to explore when answering this question, but before I jump into them, it’s important to understand that one of the
top drivers for ICPs is to deliver improved availability, business continuity, and application uptime. By design, the goal
of ICPs should be able to predict trouble and minimally be able to proactively alert IT operations. If the vendor you are
working with can’t validate this, keep looking and you will finds vendors that can do this very successfully.
Continued
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Yoni Heisler
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