Cloud Insiders

Tech Focus - Through 2020 and 2021 businesses have had to adapt at pace which has left some gaps in performance, usability and security. However VMware are at hand to make sure businesses can close up these gaps quickly and easily.VMware Anywhere Workspace is a combination of three powerful, pre-existing VMware tools: VMware Workspace ONE, Carbon Black and VMware SASE - together they create the most secure and unified experience to the end user, freeing up IT teams and simplifying processes.We caught up with Xtravirt Lead Consultant and VMware vExpert EUC Curtis Brown to find out all about this latest offering and how it can help from the user and businesses perspectives.

As an enabler of remote working, the digital workspace was the saviour of business in 2020 allowing businesses to keep operating and employees working. As the dust settles and organisations look forward to a world of flexible working, how can the digital workspace help them achieve their goals and succeed in the ‘new’ modern workplace?In this podcast we catch up with Xtravirt Lead Consultant and Digital Workspace expert Curtis Brown to discuss how organisations can address the quick fixes implemented in 2020, what they need to do to embrace the digital workspace in 2021 and how leading VMware solutions such as Horizon and Workspace ONE are enabling the future-ready workforce.

Secure to the Core with Menlo Security - Menlo Securitys Tom McVey explains what he believes to be the greatest security risks to organisations right now, how best to resolve them and how Xtravirt and Menlo’s partnership together can deliver best in class business outcomes. 2020 has been a challenging year for businesses and the global Covid crisis has highlighted for many the importance of a having a cloud first IT strategy. In this podcast, Menlo Security speak to Xtravirt about how the accelerated adoption of cloud solutions through the crisis, has exposed new security vulnerabilities that are putting businesses and their staff at risk. With the average cost of a data breach estimated to cost a business $4m to clean up, it’s widely expected that shoring up web and email security will take priority in 2021. 

Actionable Insights for VMware and AWS - Every day software patches are released, new security risks are identified and vendor recommendations are updated with the expectation that business and IT stay on top of all these changes. But how do you ensure that you are identifying, managing and remediating to effectively control the risks in your on-premises and cloud environments?We've put this question and more to our guests Kev Johnson, Systems Engineer at Runecast and Robin Gardner, Strategic Services Director at Xtravirt in our latest podcast.

Lifecycle management is an area that all businesses need to think about and plan for, and knowing what you manage and who manages it, structuring your plans to assign responsibility and achieving continuous development and improvement is extremely important. But is it any different in the cloud era?  For this podcast we are once again joined by Xtravirt Strategic Services Director Robin Gardner to discuss this wide reaching topic. 

In this very topical and timely podcast we are joined by Xtravirt Strategic Services Director, Robin Gardner. As an experienced CTO in change management and instrumental in a number of large scale infrastructure and virtualisation programmes, Robin was the obvious choice when it came to discussing the impact of the global pandemic on IT and organisational culture.We discuss the changes and challenges businesses have had to face over the past few months, how IT have had to respond and Robin provides us with his views on what these mean for how organisations operate and their employees.Listen the podcast to understand more about:The main challenges businesses have had to overcome to enable remote working and keep businesses runningCan the changes organisations have had to make be sustained in the longer term and the impact on compliance issues?What will be different in how organisations were working, are now working and where they need to get to?How do we support the changing profile of the workspace, the workforce and office culture?Is now the time to be thinking about IT planning, migrations and transformations and what tools and products can organisations utilise for this journey?Has the current situation brought to light more sustainable options for organisations?What should organisations be considering and doing now to support themselves over the next few months?For more information on Xtravirt's services go to xtravirt.com, to get in touch go to xtravirt.com/contact-us.

For this episode of Cloud Insiders we are returning to the rich world of VMware Cloud on AWS but this time we are looking at this cloud solution from an Amazon Web Services (AWS) point of view. We are joined by Chris Porter, a Specialist Solutions Architect at AWS specialising in VMware technologies and Andy Hine, Technical Pre-Sales Consultant at Xtravirt.We look at how easy it is to get started with VMware Cloud on AWS, who is using it and how, and take a look at how you can use AWS’ catalogue of over 175 services to supercharge the already powerful VMware Cloud on AWS.Enter a pairing of endless possibilities and find out how utilising AWS’ services to boost VMware Cloud on AWS can enhance how you work today and improve productivity and processes in the future.2:29 – Amazon Web Services in a nutshell and how to get started3:52 – A quick run down of VMware Cloud on AWS and the AWS services that it uses5:57 – What are the real world applications of VMware Cloud on AWS?9:50 – The native AWS services Xtravirt have used to boost VMware Cloud on AWS10:26 – Which industries are using VMware Cloud on AWS and who were the first to adopt?11:36 – During a time of hugely increased remote working are businesses turning to VMware Cloud on AWS for business continuity and disaster recovery?14:29 – As companies are moving to remote working to combat the current global situation will remote working continue to grow in popularity once everything is back to normal?15:50 - What are the best ways to boost your organisations capabilities by harnessing native AWS services?18:55 – Can you use Amazon Serverless technologies such as Lambda with VMware Cloud on AWS and what are the applications of that?21:21 – What are the biggest questions that you hear customers/users asking?24:42 – How do businesses get started with VMware Cloud on AWS?Interested in using VMware Horizon on VMware Cloud on AWS? Find out more in Andy Hines blog – Horizon with VMware Cloud on AWS – solve remote working challenges & future-proof your businessDiscover more about VMware Cloud on AWS or find out more about Xtarvirt’s cloud consulting services and special offer here, or by sending an email to info@xtravirt.com

Driving Innovative Employee Experiences - In this podcast from Cloud Insiders, VMware’s Workspace ONE is put under the spotlight. Digital workspace and EUC expert Curtis Brown provides answers to questions such as:What is VMware Workspace ONE?Why are applications so important to employee experience?What are some of the key considerations and planning steps to take if you’re about to embark on a journey to the digital workspace?What are the key business challenges that can be solved by a move to the digital workspace?What is VMware Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub and how is it supporting all use cases including bring your own device (BYOD) and corporate owned device?How is VMware addressing security needs in the digital workspace?

We are living in an age of increasing pressures on the environment and numerous social and economic challenges. Everyone is talking about sustainability, reducing emissions, recycling, re-using and becoming carbon neutral. But what does all this mean in the world of IT and the tech sector?We caught up with Joe Baguley, VMware CTO and Andy Gomarsall MBE, Director at N2S (and former England rugby international) to discuss the environmental impact and sustainability in IT.Listen to the podcast to find out more about:What sustainability means in the world of IT and from the point of view of software and hardwareThe impact of cloud computing and virtualisation on the environmentThe savings and environmental impact of re-using, recycling and re-purposing hardware and componentsHow to find efficiencies in data centresThe issues around re-use versus recycling for hardwareVMware’s commitment and sustainability initiativesWhy we should be celebrating sustainability and key tips for getting started on this journey