Building an On Demand Computing Environment with IBM: How to Optimize Your Current Infrastructure for Today and Tomorrow (MaxFacts Guidebook series)

So far we have taken a look at the broad families of servers, software, storage, and printers that provide the building blocks for creating an on demand operating environment. In this chapter, we will explore how IBM has combined these building blocks and defined a set of Get Ready and Get Started Offerings aligned with three roadmaps: Integration, Automation, and Virtualization.

Get Ready Offerings

As with any significant endeavor, time spent carefully planning each step down the on demand path is time well spent. IBM offers assistance with this planning through a set of Get Ready Offerings that help a business look introspectively and then compare itself with industry benchmarks. The idea is to identify and prioritize specific projects that lead down the on demand path. Some of the Get Ready Offerings are self-assessment tools while others are delivered by IBM Business Partners or IBM Global Services personnel.

Here are a few examples of Get Ready Offerings:

• Systems IT Rationalization Study

  A 2- to 3-week study that investigates and analyzes a business's server and storage environments and develops IBM cross-platform or platform-specific solutions and business cases for consolidation and optimization of the IT infrastructure.

• IT Optimization Workshop

  Two-day to two-week study focused on identifying opportunities for increasing the business value of the IT infrastructure (cost reduction, improving efficiency, etc.)

• Storage Assessment and Research Tool (StART)

  Tool used to evaluate alternative architectural approaches for meeting disk storage needs.

• Autonomic Computing Value Assessment Tool

  Tool to help a businesses assess the maturity of their existing autonomic capabilities and help guide their autonomic computing strategy.

More information on Get Ready Offerings are is available from IBM and IBM Business Partners.