Sponsor: Rackspace, Ltd.

The conversation about “Why Cloud?” has long since passed for many businesses and the question has transitioned into “How Cloud?” and “Is it safe?” The value the cloud brings to a business is measured in many ways — from speeding innovation and reducing time to market to streamlining operations and reducing capital expenditures. However, one of the largest inhibitors to cloud adoption is concern around the security of leveraging a service provider in a multi-cloud world. Much is at stake protecting your customers and your business, and naturally, you should be cautious. Although some of these concerns are beginning to subside over time as cloud technologies continue to mature, traditional controls and processes must adapt to new platforms, new development methodologies, and advanced technologies.

In study after study, security is noted as a top concern in moving to the cloud.

• 1/3 of surveyed central IT professionals still call cloud security a significant challenge.
• 52% of surveyed technology decision makers have concerns around the risk of unauthorized access, data integrity and protection in the cloud.
• 62% of surveyed IT security professionals say their top cloud concern is unauthorized access to data by outsiders.

Despite the widespread concern, security can be one of the core benefits of moving to the cloud. According to the Alert Logic Cloud Security Report, in a cloud environment you’re actually safer from incidents like Trojans, brute force attacks and other suspicious activities.

This white paper compiles industry data and expert insights to discuss the opportunity to leverage private cloud while maintaining — or exceeding — your data security requirements.

Big data is here and taking enterprises by storm. Companies across industries recognize that drawing insights from the myriad sources of data is a critical imperative to win, serve, and retain customers. Unfortunately, access to data does not immediately equal access to insights. Bridging that gap requires large-scale technology and process changes, including modernization of legacy systems and the adoption of platforms that connect data storage systems to systems of insight.

In February 2017, Rackspace and Intel commissioned Forrester Consulting to examine how organizations are working to derive business value from big data. The research supporting this paper explores the impact of cloud adoption and the modernization of legacy architectures, databases, and applications as enterprise organizations work to become more agile.

For this research, Forrester conducted a quantitative online survey across 314 senior corporate managers, IT managers, and senior data analytics leaders involved in big data decisions and strategies from the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Nordic Region. In addition, we conducted six in-depth, qualitative interviews.

Choosing a public cloud vendor within your organization can be a grueling battle between differing opinions. And if it begins to resemble a cage fight more than a heated debate, then it might be time for outside experts to weigh in.

In this session, our experts in Azure, AWS and Google square off to:

• Compare and contrast the distinguishing features of each cloud ecosystem
• Explain why there are times you need multiple platforms to stay ahead
• Share why a multi-cloud approach is the model of choice in today’s ever-changing world

Private Cloud solutions are still at the heart of enterprise IT. In particular, private cloud solutions powered by technologies like Microsoft®, VMware® and OpenStack® will continue to play a crucial role — both today and in the future. As a result, choosing the technology mix best suited for your unique use cases and business requirements is absolutely critical.

In this white paper, we compare the top three private cloud technologies — Microsoft, VMware and OpenStack — and examine:

Whether you’re starting out or stalled out, review these important considerations to get on track. The white paper covers:

• Platform-specific advantages
• Platform-specific tradeoffs
• Real-world case studies

Poor planning is the top mistake organizations make when approaching public cloud adoption. With the pressure to transform while maintaining IT operations, public cloud projects often suffer from rushed implementations, lack of expertise and inadequate organizational support. Before the first chunk of data ever moves to the cloud, there are a myriad of decisions to be made.

Our white paper, 10 Steps to Success in the Public Cloud, boils those decisions down to ten milestones to guide your strategy and planning activities.

Whether you’re starting out or stalled out, review these important considerations to get on track. The white paper covers:

• Planning frameworks and best practices
• Ways to foster education and communication
• Tips on building your business case and selecting pilot workloads
• Strategies to address security and governance
• Automation and migration methodologies

BY THE END OF 2018, 50 PERCENT OF NORTH AMERICAN SERVER RACKS WILL BE OFF-SITE.

Data centers have come a long way since they first began appearing as a fixture of corporate computing. According to Datacenter Dynamics, the total number of data centers around the world was set to peak at 8.6 million in 2017, and then begin a slow decline. But what is driving the decline?

In the era of widespread cloud adoption and cloud-enabled managed hosting, more and more enterprises are realizing that managing issues like IT sprawl and underutilized servers is a headache they can live without. The economics of running large data centers has fundamentally changed, leading to a change in long-term IT strategy.

In our Data Center Evolution: Getting in Front of the Change video, join speaker Jim Hawkins, VP, Global DC Operations & Engineering at Rackspace as he:

• Discusses the evolution of the data center and its current trajectory
• Experiences a virtual tour of Rackspace’s data centers and operations

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:

Jim Hawkins, VP, Global DC Operations & Engineering, Rackspace

Jim has been with Rackspace for over 8 years. He is responsible for leading our data center, network, change management, monitoring, and implementation teams globally across Rackspace. His specialty includes weaving Lean Six Sigma and operational discipline into the design and daily operation of Rackspace’s critical infrastructure and teams.

Learn from some of the best minds at Rackspace — including seasoned software architects to migration experts

IT Transformation isn’t easy. In fact, we know it’s complex and exceedingly difficult. But with the right guidance, you can bring sense to the chaos of people, processes and technology — transforming the way your IT engages with and serves your business.

To help you understand this process, we’ve laid out a meaningful discussion about the challenges of IT transformation. In this ebook, “The CIO’s Survival Guide to IT Transformation,” you’ll discover:

• Actionable steps for moving your IT from one state to another
• Common risks, challenges and roadblocks that can derail your transformation project
• How to measure IT Transformation success
• What IT Transformation looked like for AstraZeneca, General Motors, Capital One, General Electric and Novelis
• Two keys to a successful IT Transformation journey

Enterprises are increasingly choosing private clouds to run their most sensitive applications. As they do, challenges like maintaining security and controlling costs can stand in the way of realizing the full potential of private cloud.

To help you get the most out of private cloud, we’ve compiled research that gathers survey data from IT leaders across industries.

Our white paper provides data and insight to address private cloud challenges with real-world solutions and best practices, including:

• How to determine cloud-friendly vs. data center-friendly workloads
• Ways to improve private cloud TCO and lessen management burdens
• Best practices to improve cloud security
• How real-world businesses use hosted private cloud

Fill out the form to download our white paper, “Moving Workloads From a Data Center to a Private Cloud: Challenges and Opportunities.”

Big data is here and taking enterprises by storm. Companies across industries recognize that drawing insights from the myriad sources of data is a critical imperative to win, serve, and retain customers. Unfortunately, access to data does not immediately equal access to insights. Bridging that gap requires large-scale technology and process changes, including modernization of legacy systems and the adoption of platforms that connect data storage systems to systems of insight.

In February 2017, Rackspace and Intel commissioned Forrester Consulting to examine how organizations are working to derive business value from big data. The research supporting this paper explores the impact of cloud adoption and the modernization of legacy architectures, databases, and applications as enterprise organizations work to become more agile.

For this research, Forrester conducted a quantitative online survey across 314 senior corporate managers, IT managers, and senior data analytics leaders involved in big data decisions and strategies from the US, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Nordic Region. In addition, we conducted six in-depth, qualitative interviews.

Choosing a public cloud vendor within your organization can be a grueling battle between differing opinions. And if it begins to resemble a cage fight more than a heated debate, then it might be time for outside experts to weigh in.

In this session, our experts in Azure, AWS and Google square off to:

• Compare and contrast the distinguishing features of each cloud ecosystem
• Explain why there are times you need multiple platforms to stay ahead
• Share why a multi-cloud approach is the model of choice in today’s ever-changing world

Private Cloud solutions are still at the heart of enterprise IT. In particular, private cloud solutions powered by technologies like Microsoft®, VMware® and OpenStack® will continue to play a crucial role — both today and in the future. As a result, choosing the technology mix best suited for your unique use cases and business requirements is absolutely critical.

In this white paper, we compare the top three private cloud technologies — Microsoft, VMware and OpenStack — and examine:

Whether you’re starting out or stalled out, review these important considerations to get on track. The white paper covers:

• Platform-specific advantages
• Platform-specific tradeoffs
• Real-world case studies

Poor planning is the top mistake organizations make when approaching public cloud adoption. With the pressure to transform while maintaining IT operations, public cloud projects often suffer from rushed implementations, lack of expertise and inadequate organizational support. Before the first chunk of data ever moves to the cloud, there are a myriad of decisions to be made.

Our white paper, 10 Steps to Success in the Public Cloud, boils those decisions down to ten milestones to guide your strategy and planning activities.

Whether you’re starting out or stalled out, review these important considerations to get on track. The white paper covers:

• Planning frameworks and best practices
• Ways to foster education and communication
• Tips on building your business case and selecting pilot workloads
• Strategies to address security and governance
• Automation and migration methodologies

BY THE END OF 2018, 50 PERCENT OF NORTH AMERICAN SERVER RACKS WILL BE OFF-SITE.

Data centers have come a long way since they first began appearing as a fixture of corporate computing. According to Datacenter Dynamics, the total number of data centers around the world was set to peak at 8.6 million in 2017, and then begin a slow decline. But what is driving the decline?

In the era of widespread cloud adoption and cloud-enabled managed hosting, more and more enterprises are realizing that managing issues like IT sprawl and underutilized servers is a headache they can live without. The economics of running large data centers has fundamentally changed, leading to a change in long-term IT strategy.

In our Data Center Evolution: Getting in Front of the Change video, join speaker Jim Hawkins, VP, Global DC Operations & Engineering at Rackspace as he:

• Discusses the evolution of the data center and its current trajectory
• Experiences a virtual tour of Rackspace’s data centers and operations

ABOUT THE PRESENTER:

Jim Hawkins, VP, Global DC Operations & Engineering, Rackspace

Jim has been with Rackspace for over 8 years. He is responsible for leading our data center, network, change management, monitoring, and implementation teams globally across Rackspace. His specialty includes weaving Lean Six Sigma and operational discipline into the design and daily operation of Rackspace’s critical infrastructure and teams.

Learn from some of the best minds at Rackspace — including seasoned software architects to migration experts

IT Transformation isn’t easy. In fact, we know it’s complex and exceedingly difficult. But with the right guidance, you can bring sense to the chaos of people, processes and technology — transforming the way your IT engages with and serves your business.

To help you understand this process, we’ve laid out a meaningful discussion about the challenges of IT transformation. In this ebook, “The CIO’s Survival Guide to IT Transformation,” you’ll discover:

• Actionable steps for moving your IT from one state to another
• Common risks, challenges and roadblocks that can derail your transformation project
• How to measure IT Transformation success
• What IT Transformation looked like for AstraZeneca, General Motors, Capital One, General Electric and Novelis
• Two keys to a successful IT Transformation journey