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SOLUTIONS
ISSUE 08 | THE MAGAZINE FROM TRUSTMARQUE SOLUTIONS
OTHER FEATURES
INCLUDE:
INFOSEC 2009 p6
Trustmarque partner
with RandomStorm
ADOBE p9
Can collaboration
and security exist
in harmony
SMARTWAYS p14
Touchpoint online
business continuity
NEW HORIZONS p15
Improving business
productivity
hot topic
Virtualisation
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For further information contact Trustmarque Solutions on 0845 210 1500 or email info@trustmarque.com
CONTENTS
SOLUTIONS WELCOME to the April issue of Solutions, the quarterly
MARKETING publication from Trustmarque Solutions.
EDITOR: Andy Cleaver I’m delighted to have joined Trustmarque in February to take
Andy.cleaver@trustmarque.com over the reins as CEO and equally excited about the opportunity
DESIGNER: Alexandra Hawes to lead the company forward.
ADVERTISING: Zoey Woodward Given the current economic downturn, organisations are
PUBLISHER: Mark Boorman undoubtedly looking to IT to help make a difference, with the dual challenges
Solutions is published by Trustmarque of reducing operating costs and improving efficiency, and a continued business
Solutions, issued on a quarterly basis mantra of ‘doing more with less’.
and produced in-house by the marketing My view of the market is that the software and software services industry will
team. Solutions is designed to keep our
customers up-to-date with the latest news and continue to grow, but that growth will be minimal. We’re already seeing spend
information on software and IT services. on hardware reducing but at some point that will level off. It’s also clear that
Articles published do not necessarily reflect many customers are declining to refresh technology, system upgrades are being
the opinions of Trustmarque Solutions or of prevented and more organisations will be looking to achieve cost savings at the
its employees. While every effort is made to expense of innovation. These factors ensure a number of challenges across all
ensure that the contents of articles, editorial
and advertising are accurate no responsibility industry verticals, with increased competition and an ever increasing requirement
can be accepted by Trustmarque Solutions to provide tangible value and greater levels of expertise to customers.
for errors, misrepresentation or any So how is Trustmarque equipped to cope with these challenges?
resulting effects.
Well, Trustmarque has been a strong performer in the last year. Our business
Printed on paper from a sustainable source. is demonstrating year on year growth, but no company can afford to stand still
HEAD OFFICE and we recognise the need to improve and develop the depth of our customer
Trustmarque Solutions Ltd
Trustmarque House, Alpha Court,
offerings and relationships to continue and realise the growth objectives we have
Monks Cross Drive, Huntington, set ourselves.
York YO32 9WN Over the next six months, and as part of our strategy for growth, we’ll
T: 0845 2101 500 be looking to cross-skill and up-skill our people, develop new and improved
F: 0845 2101 520
E: info@trustmarque.com offerings, and bring new people into the business to manage the delivery of
W: www.trustmarque.com solutions to customers.
READING OFFICE My long-term vision for Trustmarque as a company is to assume the mantle
Trustmarque Solutions Ltd of a solutions provider for software and software services. We want to be
Regus House, 400 Thames Valley Park Drive, recognised as an organisation that innovates and can attract the very best 3
Reading RG6 1PT
T: 0118 9637 668 people in the business, from the customers we serve, to our partner community,
NORTHERN IRELAND OFFICE right down to the people we employ.
Trustmarque Solutions Ltd In this particular issue of Solutions, virtualisation is one of the hot topics that
Cathedral House, 23-31 Waring Street, is discussed and examined, as it remains a key growth area for Trustmarque, in
Belfast BT1 2DX addition to our other core specialisms of infrastructure services, security and
T: 028 9043 6625
Software Asset Management. As we venture to deliver more value to all of our
SCOTLAND OFFICE
Trustmarque Solutions Ltd customers, you will start to notice a difference in the way in which we engage with
Abbey House, 83 Princes Street, you for the remainder of 2009 as we strive toward making our company perform
Edinburgh EH2 2ER better at every level.
T: 0131 247 7552
I hope you enjoy reading this issue.
Trustmarque Solutions Limited,
Registered in Britain 2183240. Regards,
Registered Office: Trustmarque House, Alpha Court,
Monks Cross Drive, Huntington, York, YO32 9WN. Scott Haddow
CEO, Trustmarque Solutions
CONTENTS
4 TRUSTMARQUE IN THE NEWS
10 hot topic 14 SMARTWAYS
TouchPoint Online Business
Are you contemplating
6 INFOSEC 2009
Trustmarque partner with a virtual upheaval? Continuity
RandomStorm
12 VMWARE 15 NEW HORIZONS
Tangible returns in business user
Virtualisation: where
7 BUSINESS OBJECTS
The need for effective reporting good management productivity
equals good security
16 SYMANTEC
8 MCAFEE
Global recession increasing the
Protecting business-critical
applications in a virtual
risks to intellectual property environment
9 ADOBE
Can collaboration and security
18 CA
The recession, recovery
exist in harmony? management and CA
The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions 3
NEWS
Trustmarque Solutions confirms its
commitment to being a
Carbonneutral® Company
Trustmarque Solutions carbon offset and climate chain and make it easier for
is offsetting its carbon consulting businesses. its customers to do the same,
emissions through Sue Welland from The whilst setting an excellent
contributing to the CarbonNeutral Company environmental example to
Sterksei Biogas Project, comments: the rest of the industry.”
which reduces methane “It is fantastic that Trustmarque has
emissions and displaced Trustmarque is considering CarbonNeutral® company
fossil fuels used to heat the climate change impact status. It has been working
local buildings. The of its business and has taken with The CarbonNeutral
project is run by The steps to tackle its emissions. Company (formerly Future
CarbonNeutral Company, In doing so, Trustmarque is Forests), leaders in the field
one of the world’s leading helping to ‘green’ the supply of carbon management and
climate change solutions, for
the past four years. In this
“It is fantastic that Trustmarque is time it has contributed to a
considering the climate change impact number of projects and has
recently started to contribute
of its business and has taken steps to to the Sterksei Biogas Project
tackle its emissions” to aid with the construction
of biogas facilities at five
SUE WELLAND, CARBON NEUTRAL COMPANY farms in the Netherlands.
Trustmarque Solutions
Trustmarque Solutions wins post strong results
£1.5 million contract to supply Trustmarque Solutions closed its financial year 2008
SISyS security systems to Mod with a record profit performance. Turnover grew from
£111.8m to £116.8m. Additionally, as 2006/2007 was a
Trustmarque Solutions the company won to supply 14 month period, the 12 month adjusted turnover grew
has formed a strategic McAfee products to the MoD by 22 percent. Like for like PBT also grew by over 30
partnership with SISYS, in September. percent and reached £4.68m for the year, the highest in
the UK’s leading provider SISYS has been a supplier Trustmarque’s history.
of Integrated Security to the MoD for over 15 years, Paul Ferguson, Finance Director for Trustmarque
Management, to provide providing a range of solutions comments: “These results are extremely positive and
security access systems to including; secure door reflect the ability of Trustmarque to win business and
the Ministry of Defence (MoD) entry systems, entry access continue growing in a difficult economic climate. This
until 2010. The announcement passes and the associated puts us in a strong financial position and will allow us to
comes hot on the heels of a hardware and software, achieve further growth in the coming 12 months.”
four million pound contract maintenance agreements Trustmarque Solutions has intensified its
and the consumables, such recruitment drive over the past year, and now has
as cards. Following changes over 100 employees, increasing by over 10 percent.
to the Official Journal of Additionally the company has completed a number
the European Union (OJEU) of key deals, including; the signing of a three year
competition rules, SISYS contract to supply encrypted and non-encrypted
became aware that the MoD hardware and software to the Ministry of Defence
was looking to consolidate the (MoD), a four million pound contract to supply anti-
number of supply contracts virus software from security vendor, McAfee, winning
that it was dealing with, the NHS Connecting for Health (CFH) 700,000 seat
therefore the company took tender with vendor McAfee, as well as a contract with
the step to proactively search the University Hospital of Hartlepool that needed to
for the right partner for it to move to a virtual environment.
work with moving forward.
4 The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions
NEWS
Trustmarque names EVENTS
Scott haddow as new Ceo
z INFOSEC
EARLS COURT, LONDON
28th-30th APRIL
Trustmarque Solutions
provides information
Trustmarque Solutions security solutions and
is pleased to announce services to organisations in
the appointment of Scott public and private sectors.
Haddow as the company’s We work with carefully
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) selected partners who
effective 12th February provide the range of security
expertise required to meet
2009.
the continually changing
Scott has an outstanding IT environment and risks.
track record in sales and In order to compliment
operational excellence, our increasing focus on
gained through over 10 years information security we
experience working in the will be sponsoring the
IT services sector and is RandomStorm stand at this
therefore an ideal choice for year’s Infosec Exhibition.
the Trustmarque post. Scott Please come and visit us on
joins Trustmarque from New stand G102.
Horizons Computer Learning
Centres, the world’s largest
z GC LIVE
EARLS COURT, LONDON
IT training business, where 9th-10th JUNE
he: increased margins by As part of our ongoing
over 40 percent, completed support and commitment
a smooth running acquisition to working with public
and integration process, sector organisations,
as well as implemented
“Trustmarque helps companies to implement Trustmarque Solutions will
successful changes to best of breed solutions that are provisioned be exhibiting at GC Expo
the company’s business 2009, the leading public
in the best possible way, helping to de-risk sector IT event in the UK,
model. Scott has a firm
focus on the bottom line projects, making businesses more agile, where public servants
come to see the very latest
and has an impressive reducing costs and allowing organisations to technologies in action and to
record of boosting revenues discover the solutions to the
throughout his career, a meet their software management challenges. challenges they face within
trend he is set to continue at Effectively Trustmarque enables your government. It’s FREE to
Trustmarque. attend, so if Government IT
Prior to his role at business to do more with less, so it is a very strategy and implementation
New Horizons, Scott was relevant offering for today’s market” is your area of responsibility,
Managing Director for we hope that you will come
infrastructure services to visit us on stand 636.
SCOTT HADDOW, CEO, TRUSTMARQUE
provider, Computacenter
PLC (UK), in Scotland,
z ACPO
MANCHESTER CENTRAL
where he worked for eight 7th-9th JULY
years. Highlights during this has been awarded numerous increasing operational Trustmarque Solutions
period included: increasing performance awards and efficiency. Trustmarque places great focus on
revenues for the company by accolades throughout his helps companies to the police and security
18 percent and net margin by career, and has a wide implement best of industries with our specialist
22 percent throughout his experience of the IT sales breed solutions that are team able to advise you
time as Managing Director, and services sector, both provisioned in the best not only on the best
as well as being instrumental public and private, making possible way, helping to products available, but also
in increasing revenues by him the ideal selection to de-risk projects, making the leading issues within
businesses more agile, this sector in terms of
70 percent during his time take Trustmarque into future
compliance, security and
as Client Director Scotland, profitability. reducing costs and allowing
cost savings. With this in
and by 40 percent as a Scott Haddow, CEO for organisations to meet their mind we will be exhibiting at
Senior Account Manager. Trustmarque, comments: software management ACPO-APA 2009, the UK’s
Additionally, before starting “We know that IT challenges. Effectively largest international policing
at Computacenter he grew departments everywhere Trustmarque enables your exhibition, and we hope that
revenues at Thus PLC are being challenged with business to do more with you will come and visit us on
(formerly Scottish Telecom) reducing operating costs, less, so it is a very relevant stand C20.
from £250k pa to £3m. He while simultaneously offering for today’s market.”
The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions 5
vulNEraBiliTy MaNagEMENT
Trustmarque partner with
RandomStorm at Infosec 2009
Trustmarque Solutions will be
joining forces with vulnerability
management specialists,
RandomStorm, at this year’s
Infosecurity Europe Conference
and Expo, which runs from
28th to 30th April 2009.
R
andomStorm is the “We are keen to start exploring new areas reputation in the public
leading Software sector and we were very
as a Service (SaaS)
and expanding our services, particularly in impressed by the strength,
provider of proactive security the security arena. This new partnership is depth and breadth of their
management solutions and customer relationships.
strategic for us in this sense” Our products help
Trustmarque will be bundling
RandomStorm’s vulnerability SCOTT HADDOW, CEO, TRUSTMARQUE organisations to meet
management products into regulatory requirements.
its overall security package For example, we address
to customers. the key requirements of the
The new partnership of tools helps companies further into the public sector, Government Connect – Code
delivers a win/win for both to maintain a high level an area in which Trustmarque of Connection Compliance
companies, as Scott Haddow, of security, in line with has extensive experience and programme. Working with
CEO for Trustmarque corporate risk and policy a long standing track record. a knowledgeable team who
Solutions, explains: “We are compliance, without the RandomStorm will seek to really understands the
keen to start exploring new need for major infrastructure leverage these relationships security market, regulations
areas and expanding our investment or specialist skills, to expand its customer and the public sector – like
services, particularly in the and fits in extremely well base in the UK, as Robin Trustmarque does – is crucial
security arena. This new with the suite of products Hill, Business Development to us getting our message
partnership is strategic for us and services we provide.” Director for RandomStorm, heard and understood and
in this sense. RandomStorm’s comments: we expect to see some big
“RandomStorm has a vulnerability management “Trustmarque has an wins coming out of the
very interesting and relevant product enables any business undeniably distinguished relationship very soon.”z
offering. Now more than ever, to regularly schedule
with increased regulation and on-demand scans of their
risk of hackers and employee networks to see if they have
Trustmarque will be exhibiting with RandomStorm
malfeasance due to the developed any vulnerabilities
on Stand G102 at the upcoming Infosecurity Europe
recession, it is vital that and whether security has
Conference and Expo in Earls Court from 28th to 30th
organisations understand been compromised. As
April 2009. To find out more, please call us on
what is happening on their RandomStorm’s offering can
0845 2101 500 or email info@trustmarque.com
networks and how vulnerable help organisations ensure
they are to attacks. regulatory compliance it is
RandomStorm’s range particularly keen to expand
6 The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions
BuSiNESS iNTElligENCE
The need E
nterprise reporting The ability to satisfy the vast
is the process of majority of end users through
accessing data and a highly customisable yet
formatting and delivering common solution reduces the
for effective
it as information, whether report proliferation that can
internally to business decision often drain an organisation’s
makers, or externally to productivity and cause
reporting
customers, suppliers or other data conflicts.
key stakeholders. Reporting
requirements – and how uBIQuITy ReAlly IS
these are addressed – are The key
a fundamental part of any The more people on board
Business Intelligence (BI) with a reporting solution,
strategy. The most valuable the greater the benefits
reports tend to be those that that can be achieved,
combine data from multiple including reduced training
sources into a single view. costs, increased IT
One of the biggest efficiencies and a clear
obstacles to achieving and unified picture of how
business goals is the failure your business is doing
to empower employees with – what we call “a single
the information and tools they version of the truth”.
need to make decisions.
Reporting used to be dedICATed RePoRTIng
almost the sole preserve of Dedicated reporting
IT: typically, an analyst would platforms, such as Crystal
create reports and then deliver Reports 2008, enable end
them to end users, allowing users with relatively few
them only limited interaction. technical skills to design,
End users would have to log explore and deliver reports
a request for a customised that provide a trusted
report, often causing an foundation on which to
information bottleneck while base decisions.
waiting for a highly specific However, a report can
request to be met. offer so much more than
just a snapshot of your
new BReed business performance.
Nowadays, there is an Visualisation software,
increasing trend away from such as Xcelsius 2008,
Organisations of every size this centralised model. A enables end users to create
new breed of enterprise insightful dashboards
and industry depend on formal reporting tools is supporting – compelling graphical
and informal reporting to the devolution of control
over reporting to end users,
displays based on a live
data source – that illustrate
distribute information and fostering greater self-
sufficiency.
the potential outcome of
adjusting variables without
share knowledge. However, it It may seem obvious, but
an enterprise reporting tool
having to re-query the
database or request a new
can be almost impossible to that is intuitive to master and
flexible in the way it delivers
report. This enables users
to perform intuitive point-
determine the quality of the information will be more widely
adopted by business users
and-click business analysis
– invaluable for modelling
raw data on which such casual than one that is complex or “what if...?” scenarios – and
only fulfils a limited number execute decisions directly
reporting is based. of reporting requirements. from within a report. z
For further information on SAP Business Objects products
please contact Trustmarque Solutions on 0845 2101 500,
alternatively email info@trustmarque.com
The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions 7
CYBERCRIME
research
shows global recession
increasing risks to
intellectual property
Together with McAfee, an international team of data
protection and intellectual property experts undertook
extensive research and surveyed more than 1,000 senior IT
decision makers in the US, UK, Japan, China, India, Brazil and
the Middle East regarding how they currently protect their
companies digital data assets and intellectual property.
in information security
and updating regulations
to address the growing
concern of protecting
data assets, and those
countries less concerned
with the issue.
◆ Gain valuable insight from
industry experts in data
protection and intellectual
property, including best
practices for protecting
the vital information of
your organisation.
◆ Learn more about the
issues of cybercrime and
unsecured economies
putting the world’s
information assets at
risk, how the trends could
impact your organisation,
and steps you can take to
A
distributed network of this ever-evolving global ◆ Learn how organised crime, build a stronger defence
unsecured economies business climate. employee turnover, reverse against threats. ❚
has emerged with engineering, phishing
◆ Understand the potential
the globalisation of many attacks and money mules REGISTER NOW TO
implications of doing
organisations, leaving are putting your company DOWNLOAD THE REPORT.
business in specific
informational assets data assets at risk. http://resources.
countries as it pertains to
even more at risk to theft ◆ Discover which mcafee.com/content/
securing your company’s
and misuse. This report countries are investing UnsecuredEconomiesReport
informational assets.
investigates the cybercrime
risks in various global ◆ Learn how culture may
For further information on McAfee products please
economies, and the need have an impact on attitudes
contact Trustmarque Solutions on 0845 2101 500,
for organisations to take a towards intellectual
alternatively email info@trustmarque.com
more holistic approach to property and what types of
vulnerability management information are considered
and risk mitigation in sensitive and not.
8 The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions
SECuriTy
unhappy bedfellows:
Can collaboration and security exist in harmony?
As the size of the public sector workforce has grown, the depends on the behaviour
of every individual.
need to collaborate effectively has become vital. Sharing Government organisations
and departments need
information, documents and plans across wide networks to collaborate and it is
of colleagues, departments and governmental bodies is an individual workers at all
levels that make this happen.
essential part of day-to-day business in the public But, every individual should
be aware not only of the
sector. However, increased collaboration means potential security risks
that employees share more sensitive and they can pose, but also of
the simple yet effective
confidential information now than ever before. steps they can take
to control these
risks. Public sector
organisations must
A
re knowledge workers popular methods amongst that they pose a security educate their employees,
too complacent about European knowledge workers risk. 71 per cent of workers in improve existing email-based
the safety of sensitive for sharing documents are both the public and private collaborative behaviour,
information which they via email and attachments. sectors implicitly believe that and implement procedures
send? And does the pressure The Forrester Research the information they share that, without constraining
to collaborate more quickly found that to secure such – regardless of the method this ability to collaborate,
and efficiently actually put shared information, less than of sharing used – is safe improve information security
organisations at critical risk? 40 per cent use passwords and protected. As workers at a document level. Most
The sharing of sensitive to protect confidential expand the number of tools organisations already have
information is commonplace. documents. More than and processes they use to the tools to do this – they
Adobe commissioned one third still share paper collaborate the problem will just need to ensure everyone
Forrester Research to copies and more than half become further compounded. uses them every time. When
survey European knowledge acknowledge scanning paper Unfortunately, there is this is the case, then there
workers in the private and documents to share with no simple fix or solution; need be no conflict between
public sector and found that others once a month. These security ultimately collaboration and security. z
over 50 per cent of them lax steps to ensure security
share documents containing of sensitive information put
For further information on Adobe products please
intellectual property or the entire organisation or
contact Trustmarque Solutions on 0845 2101 500,
confidential information public authority at risk.
alternatively email info@trustmarque.com
more than once a month. Part of the problem lies
It perhaps comes as with the fact that workers
little surprise that the most don’t necessarily acknowledge
The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions 9
virTualiSaTiON
hot topic
Are you
contemplating
a virtual
upheaval?
Virtualisation
I
n 2009, the IT agenda of the barriers of cost and
has shifted from effective complexity. The upsurge in
topped business growth to
effective belt-tightening and
data, increasing demand
for fast deployment and
Gartner’s the definition of effectiveness,
which previously meant
resilience, compliance,
security, growing
list of CIO’s technologies to help the
organisation gain market
infrastructure complexity,
continued globalisation and
priorities share and competitive
edge, now translates into
the need to lower costs,
are all key drivers behind
for 2009 technologies and services that
take costs out of the business,
virtualisation. In fact,
the faster organisations
reduce expenditure on IT, and virtualise the millions
provide clearer visibility into of servers that remain
business performance. unvirtualised today, the
In challenging times, sooner they can start
organisations are crying adding significant value
out for solutions that will on top, transforming static
deliver cost efficiencies and data centres into dynamic
virtualisation is arguably delivery centres where every
the IT department’s most application, desktop and
powerful cost reduction server workload is delivered
tool. According to leading as an on-demand service.
monthly IT title, Information And it’s not just server
Age’s 2009 Effective IT virtualisation. Enterprises
Survey, virtualisation is an are also familiar with storage
indispensible part of any virtualisation and they can of computer resources, a
modern IT infrastructure. The even now reduce data centre technique for hiding the
survey demonstrated that operating costs and simplify physical characteristics of
adoption of virtualisation had management by virtualising computing resources from
gained pace over the past 12 all the I/O resources used to the way in which other
months. But virtualisation connect servers and storage systems, applications, or
projects can be fraught with platforms to the networks. end users interact with
problems and are therefore these resources, providing
daunting for any IT director to So how doeS organisations with the
undertake. VIRTuAlISATIon ability to ‘pool’ their
That said, the imple- ACTuAlly woRk? hardware resources, so
mentation of virtualisation It is a broad term that that they appear as one
is accelerating regardless refers to the abstraction single unit.
10 The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions
virTualiSaTiON
hot topic
“At Trustmarque, we’re experts in software
licensing and Software Asset Management,
and we understand virtualisation – both the
opportunities and the pitfalls”
Hospital of Hartlepool in terms of software licensing
successfully implemented a and is putting increased
hardware virtualisation project pressure on organisations as
and effectively reduced its they try to ensure that they
servers by 30 percent. Other are tracking the software
savings included space, power, that is out there in the
heat and the IT RoI has been business and that its use –
phenomenal. In the past and their compliance – falls
it would take a technician within contractual terms.
24 hours to build a server. And the problem is likely to
Now in the new virtualised snowball. As the number
environment, servers can be of applications, operating
rebuilt in a matter of minutes systems and platforms that
thanks to the work undertaken can be virtualised increases,
by Trustmarque’s virtualisation so too do the number of
specialists. choices an organisation must
However, while the make in planning its virtual
virtualisation benefits may environment. But worse still,
seem clear, implementing a poorly managed virtualisation
successful project is not always not only obscures software
quite so straight-forward licensing obligations, it may
and requires experience and also leave the organisation
knowledge and a trusted exposed to unexpected costs,
advisor to help guide rather than delivering those
organisations through the much anticipated cost savings.
implementation. At Trustmarque, we’re
Additionally, there is a experts in software
sense of unease among IT licensing and Software
professionals when it comes Asset Management, and we
to the management of understand virtualisation –
software licences in a virtual both the opportunities and
world – a sense that existing the pitfalls – so we can help
licensing models and the move organisations to a new
ability to police licences has virtual environment with many
fallen out of step with virtual examples of the cost savings to
software deployment. Through be gained in the process. Our
virtualisation, developers are virtualisation team will ensure
able to bring services online that your project is successful
and have a whole application and delivers the returns you
environment up and running were expecting. Upfront we
in a matter of minutes. This will examine your current
scenario is almost certain environment, investigate the
to put companies adopting potential costs and savings,
virtualisation in breach of and help you plan a virtual
A successful virtualisation u Enhanced security and the many different software infrastructure implementation.
project can deliver a host of virus protection licence agreements they have In 2009 there will be
benefits such as: u Administration for operating systems and increased cost cutting and
improvements to the user application software, because ‘do more with less’ pressures
u Savings on hardware, the simple fact is that these on IT. New projects will be
power and environmental experience
software agreements were cancelled unless resources
costs, management and u Tasks such as system never intended to deal with this (hardware, software and
administration of the migration, backup and new complexity. people) can be freed up
server infrastructure recovery become easier elsewhere. Fortunately,
and more manageable deAlIng wITh The virtualisation really can help
u Provisioning efficiency and
more rapid deployment u Savings on licensing costs ChAllengeS deliver these resources and
Virtualisation therefore savings – assuming you get it
u Easier software migration For example, the University represents a serious challenge right, of course! z
The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions 11
virTualiSaTiON MaNagEMENT
Virtualisation: where go
management equals go
Sales of virtualisation
Y
et in the gold rush A TRAdITIonAl
to virtualise, are SeCuRITy Model
technology are buoyant in these businesses paying
enough attention to securing
Physical IT environment
security practices are well
recessionary times. Perhaps their virtual machines? What
are the risks? And what
established. At the network
perimeter are firewalls and
it’s not surprising given the lessons can we take from
the physical world into the
intrusion protection and
detection systems looking for
promise of virtualisation to virtual? suspicious network traffic or
The divorce between the content, and unusual volume
reduce hardware and operating physical and virtual worlds and anomalies.
poses some unique challenges Going in from the perimeter,
costs by up to 50 percent; slash for those struggling to secure content analysis systems
it. For example, the hypervisor, protect against data loss and
energy bills; reduce property which sits on top of a host information leakage through
server’s operating system, email and web filtering,
space and administration costs; introduces a new layer of whilst anti-virus and anti-
privileged software that can malware provide an overlay
and roll out new systems and be attacked. Once one virtual of protection. A security
applications easily and rapidly. machine is infected, it can
spread rapidly to other virtual
management system completes
the picture: setting security
machines, as each virtual policies; auditing network
machine on the host is likely access; and consolidating
to share common attributes. and correlating security
12 The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions
products specifically for and software meeting
ood
virtualised environments. prescribed specifications and
VMware helped this process essentially bubble-wrapped
by opening some of the against viruses, spyware and
secrets of its hypervisor with other malware. Only when all
an API called Vsafe. This the proper authorisations,
ood security
program allows developers checks and IT hoops are
to develop security software jumped through should a new
that talks to the hypervisor server, application or user be
– scanning the memory of a authorised.
host virtualisation server to In contrast, a few mouse
look for viruses or unusual clicks is what is needed to
signatures, or checking establish a virtual machine. An
sent and received packets attacker need not even know
for anomalies. Because the where the real-world host
API abstracts functionality server is located. All they need
from the kernel it cannot is administrator privileges and
be accessed directly and they can run amok. They can
therefore hacked. create virtual machines from
a template, call it anything
2. Take physical world and place it anywhere on
concepts into the the network. An attacker
Virtual World uploading malware can, with
The second is to take physical a few mouse clicks, erase
world concepts and integrate their virus-infected virtual
them into the virtual world. machine after the damage is
This was done successfully done. It’s that easy.
with application delivery The potential cost of such
devices that plug into standard a breach may be enormous.
and proprietary ports on But this simply underlines
virtual machines. the requirement for well
defined security management.
3. Port physical world Exception management for
products into the example, will dictate what
Virtual World a virtual machine can be
The third is to take physical plugged into or not. Without
world products and port them such control, who is to stop
into a virtual world. This is far someone provisioning the
from optimal as performance memory on a host server to
is often impacted. run a SETI-type program?
The consequent impact on
alerts – essentially helping firewall. While they perform a
SeCuRITy PlAyIng web servers may be the
the administrator to prioritise valuable function, segregating
CATCh-uP same as a hostile Denial of
alerts – sorting the “wheat virtual servers, they are
In reality, most security Service attack.
from the chaff” in terms of nevertheless part of the virtual
vendors are playing catch-up. For now, we are still
what needs prompt attention. infrastructure, so any latent
But as vendors scramble to in the early days of the
The good news is that flaw in that infrastructure
fill the void, IT administrators virtualisation gold rush, and
this trusted model applies could potentially compromise
should not forget that it is those selling the picks and
to virtualised environments the rest of the network. So
“good management” that shovels – the security tools
as well. The bad news is that why not import physical world
leads to good security. and consultancy services –
you cannot simply port it security solutions into virtual
Just because the stand to do well. Provided
straight into a virtualised environments? Well, they do
environment is virtual does none of us forget that what
environment. Sadly, the not always work and when
not mean the security rule we learned in the real world
development of virtualised they do, there often is a trade-
book is tossed out the window. applies just as much in
solutions has outpaced the off in terms of memory and
For example, no server the virtual world, then the
development of virtual world performance.
should be connected to the promise of virtualisation will
security solutions.
network without hardware hold true. z
ThRee APPRoACheS
BuT SoMe ThIngS There are three approaches to
don’T ChAnge developing security products
For further information on VMware products please
In the virtual world a physical for virtualised environments.
contact Trustmarque Solutions on 0845 2101 500,
firewall still affords the highest
alternatively email info@trustmarque.com
form of protection. Few 1. Security products tailor-
administrators would invest made for Virtualisation
complete faith in a virtual The first is to make security
The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions 13
virTualiSaTiON TECHNOlOgiES
IT disaster
recovery
TouchPoint Online Business Continuity (OBC) uses virtualisation
technologies to provide a secure, online business continuity
service for use in IT Disaster Recovery situations, irrespective
of whether the originating systems are physical or virtual.
T
he TouchPoint service backup strategy to be fully to allow users a familiar the Recovery Point Objective
enables replacement effective, the backup data login to the systems. These a number of services are
systems to become should also be held offsite, methods range from Citrix or available, these include
fully operational within be secure, easy to validate, Microsoft Terminal Services Continuous Data Protection
hours not days and without easy to access and able to be to VPN or HTTPS. As a (CDP) and Message Level
the capital expenditure recovered rapidly whenever Microsoft Service Provider, Restore (MLR). CDP triggers
of additional redundant necessary. monthly licensing terms are a backup when data changes
hardware and software as This is all provided available under SPLA, to occur or at closely scheduled
found in workplace recovery within Touchpoint, a fully address short-term Disaster intervals, MLR captures every
or replication solutions. automated & secure online Recovery scenarios. mailbox change allowing
Data Backup and Business backup service from recovery to brick level. Each
Continuity Management are Smartways. TouchPoint OBC, SeCuRe service can be enabled on a
two issues organisations extends online backup into The VMDK file of each server per user, or per application
have to address on a daily Business Continuity with the is securely held offsite in basis at no additional
basis and virtualisation is recovery of VMware VMDK a backup vault, daily delta licensing cost.
able to ease the pain of files into hosted ESX servers block level changes are Under a client driven
these challenges. Having a provisioned at our centrally de-duplicated, compressed, Service Level Agreement,
complete working backup located Northampton data encrypted and transmitted, and to a pre-agreed
of vital information forms centre. Once live, a wide allowing the VMDK files to schedule of application,
a major part of a Business range of secure remote be fully maintained and kept server recovery and user
Continuity plan. For a access methods are available up-to-date with the minimum provisioning, the systems
demand on external are made live, allowing user
bandwidth. access to the recovered
TouchPoint OBC is invoked systems from alternate
For further information on Smartways products please
by restoring virtual systems offices, home, or even
contact Trustmarque Solutions on 0845 2101 500,
into an operational VMware workplace recovery facilities
alternatively email info@trustmarque.com
ESX environment using the at a fraction of the cost of
most current VMDK’s held in traditional replication and
the backup set. To minimise failover solutions. z
14 The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions
TraiNiNg
Improving business
user productivity
With Office 2007 and MS Vista
migrations continuing to increase,
how do you ensure that your
investment delivers tangible returns
in business user productivity?
M
inimising the on the perceived value of the This approach however Customers can call the office
business impact new environment by the user. does not address the hour’s helpdesk number and
on users during The challenge to IT increased calls to an be confident that a certified
technology upgrades Managers remains – how do organisations internal Microsoft Office Professional
continues to challenge end- I provide a learning solution helpdesk which spike will field their enquiry and
user computing managers to my user community that during end user technology provide a resolution first time.
regardless of economic shows them only what they migrations. End users are The helpdesk agent can
conditions or market sector. need to know about their often left frustrated in dealing also advise on how to access
While providing a common new environment in a cost with 1st line support for these and gain the best from the
operating environment will effective manner, without types of calls and rarely gain eLearning content provided
reduce support costs and sending them to multiple the specific resolution at first as part of the solution and, if
enable tighter service levels external events which involve contact and thus need to wait necessary arrange for the user
to be agreed with internal or time away from the office for a return call. to receive desk-side support at
external service providers, how and cover much of what they The New Horizons a convenient time for them.
do you ensure that the user already know? approach to supporting end In listening to clients with
is able to effectively utilise similar challenges New
the improved functionality of Horizons has developed
these systems? “The training we received was very beneficial in this range of services to
Traditionally a user has helping with our roll out of the system. It made maximise the exploitation of
often arrived at their desk to office productivity software
find a new laptop or desktop
the whole process a lot smoother and problem by end users and enhance
complete with upgraded free. Staff grasped the new system a lot their learning experience.
office software. In most quicker than we expected due to the training By attending a bite-size
instances 1st line support is instructor led class, (typically
provided via the IT helpdesk they received. Having a trainer on site during 2-4 hours) having access to
and the user is left to the day of the roll out really helped tackle any high quality on-line reference
navigate their way around a teething problems immediately.” material, a live helpdesk and
new image that looks familiar the opportunity to schedule
but has some enhancements VICKI MARSH, HR AND TRAINING MANAGER, 1:1 help where required, the
that would improve their PENROSE FINANCIAL user is supported at four
productivity if only they knew different points in the process
how to access them. with each point reinforcing
This approach often leads An increasing number of user migrations builds on this the other allowing complete
to high cost individuals organisations are looking to blended learning approach flexibility to the individual,
never being in a position answer these questions by still further by adding and a cost effective method
to exploit the new features implementing blended learning helpdesk and floor walking of knowledge transfer to
and functions contained solutions which leverage services to the solution. the business. z
through a lack of knowledge. tried and tested instructor led
IT departments have tended classes with proven eLearning
to assume that with desktop modules. These allow the user
For further information on New Horizons’ training
technology being more to study in their own time
solutions please contact Trustmarque Solutions on
pervasive in our home lives and target only the specific
0845 2101 500, alternatively email info@trustmarque.com
we are, to a degree, self- areas that they need to
educating. improve their productivity and
This has a direct impact knowledge base.
The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions 15
SErvEr virTualiSaTiON
Protecting business-critical app
Server virtualisation is becoming increasingly
W
ith these benefits
come new
challenges. Before
common in the modern data centre. server virtualisation, a
physical server failure
Implementing server virtualisation enables would likely result in a
single application outage.
businesses to consolidate the application However, in a consolidated
virtual server environment,
workload of multiple servers onto a smaller a physical server outage
now has the potential
number of physical hosts, resulting in to affect tens of virtual
servers, bringing down
improved hardware utilisation, fewer physical many applications. This
places a renewed emphasis
on high availability and
servers, and considerable cost savings. disaster recovery (HA/DR)
16 The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions
plications in a virtual environment
in the data centre. Where server architecture shouldn’t
in the past service-level require compromises
agreements (SLAs) for a in terms of HA and DR.
single application running Symantec introduces
on a single physical box VERITAS Cluster Server
may not have warranted for VMware ESX Server, a
consideration for HA/DR, new release of the market-
when consolidating many leading, cross-platform
applications onto a single clustering software.
physical host, high availability VERITAS Cluster Server
for that host suddenly has been tailored specifically
becomes paramount. for VMware Infrastructure 3.
To address the HA/DR Using VERITAS Cluster
needs of their virtual server Server for VMware ESX
environment, companies Server, organisations can
must choose between continue to benefit from
adapting existing HA/DR adopting a single standard
solutions (solutions that were for all their HA and DR needs,
designed for physical server across both physical and
architectures), or adopting virtual server environments. such as VMware are including “While virtualisation
new HA/DR solutions that VERITAS Cluster Server HA/DR solutions with their
are designed specifically for for VMware is a server virtual server products.
vendors may
virtual server environments. clustering solution that While virtualisation provide introductory
A production-class HA/DR runs on ESX Server and is vendors may provide
solution for business-critical designed to protect against introductory availability
availability and
applications should provide: outages that affect the and disaster recovery disaster recovery
u Monitoring of the availability of applications solutions, for business-critical solutions, for
application and application running inside VMware virtual applications, companies need
resources, including the machines. Where VMware to turn to more robust, proven business-critical
virtual machine, network HA protection is limited to solutions. With VERITAS applications,
components, storage protecting against physical Cluster Server for VMware
ESX Server failures, VERITAS ESX Server, companies will companies need to
components, and the
physical server Cluster Server for VMware benefit from protection not turn to more robust,
adds additional protection for only from physical server
u Notification during a individual virtual machines, failures, but also from outages proven solutions”
failure of any of those applications running inside that affect individual virtual
resources the virtual machines, and machines and the applications With VERITAS Cluster
u Automated failover within the underlying storage and running inside them. Server for VMware,
the same data centre or to network components. In addition to providing companies can continue
remote data centres In addition to providing local high availability, to benefit from adopting
local availability, VERITAS VERITAS Cluster Server for VERITAS Cluster Server as
Ideally, this HA/DR Cluster Server for VMware VMware provides DR support their company-standard
solution should provide also provides automated by allowing geographically HA/DR solution. The same
the same functionality disaster recovery for VMware dispersed clusters to be industry-leading solution
across physical and virtual virtual server environments. linked together. When companies have relied on
environments and single combined with replication for years to protect their
management across all of To SuMMARISe... technologies, VERITAS physical server environments
a data centre’s IT platforms As companies implement Cluster Server for VMware can now be used to protect
to increase operating server virtualisation in their can provide automated wide their VMware virtual server
efficiencies and reduce data centres and transition area failover. environments. z
operating costs. from a one-application /
one-server architecture
InTRoduCIng to a highly consolidated
For further information on Symantec products please
VeRITAS CluSTeR virtual server environment,
contact Trustmarque Solutions on 0845 2101 500,
SeRVeR FoR VMwARe the importance of HA/
alternatively email info@trustmarque.com
Moving from a physical DR increases. With this
server architecture to a renewed emphasis on HA/
highly consolidated virtual DR virtualisation, vendors
The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions 17
rECOvEry MaNagEMENT
The recession,
recovery
management & CA
In the current economic climate, exactly what is the cost to
IT of a recession and what risks are there that the recession
will decline into the first depression since the 1930’s?
T
“There has been a he majority of Even if everything goes proposals and justifications.
us are familiar according to plan, the Possibly IT projects are being
prolonged period if not somewhat Institute for Fiscal Studies put on hold – indefinitely,
of denial about uncomfortable with the (IFS) points out that it will be there are reductions in staff,
prospect of managing our “the early 2030’s before debt and assets are being sold to
this recession,
way through a recession, returns below the ceiling of cover the day-to-day running
both corporate and but how many businesses 40% of national income” of the business. When a
individual denial” are positioned to ride and that Gordon Brown set as one business shrinks, so does its
survive the fall-out to IT from of his key fiscal rules in 1997. IT department and resources.
JAMES WHITE, a possible depression? The IFS also points out that Maslow’s Hierarchy of
CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS independent forecasters are Needs dictates that in times
ARCHITECT FROM CA The BAd newS on average more pessimistic of crisis, the bare motivation
The UK economy has shrunk than the Treasury about is survival.
for the second successive the length and depth of the
quarter meaning that the recession. So how do we SuRVIVe?
country is now technically Comparisons with the – The good newS
in recession. 1930’s have tended to focus James White, Customer
This recession is on the numbers – a lack of Solutions Architect from CA
predicted to cost the growth and waning consumer comments:
chancellor £50bn a confidence, an increase in “There has been a
year (3.5% of GDP) business failures and job prolonged period of denial
in lost tax receipts losses, collapsing stock about this recession, both
and higher social markets and currencies and corporate and individual
security spending, panicky runs on banks. denial.
with the government The biggest question of “This is an understandable
projecting a budget course is how bad is it going reaction but it is far better
deficit exceeding to get? if we move quickly into
£100bn in the acceptance and seize
coming year. The IT PeRSPeCTIVe – the opportunity to take
In its pre-Budget whAT IS hAPPenIng? advantage of the latest
report in November, There is limited, if any budget operational management
the government has available for IT “Nice to tools with their high degree
already stated that have” projects. Discretionary of automation and which
it will implement spend is being withdrawn provide proven and rapid
spending cuts and and in order to bolster IT ROI and de-risking: both
tax increases adding environments with “Need fundamental criteria to
up to £38bn by to have” requirements, respond to recessionary
2015-16. there needs to be business pressure.“
18 The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions
Acknowledging that the “The recession will end and we should aim to its ability to contribute to
current economic climate the overall survival of your
is grim, and preparing
ensure the actions we take in the interim company. Apply the above
for survival both on a have the potential to ensure increased agility strategy and investigate
personal and business where savings can be made
level is the first step to
for the post recessionary recovery”
to provide a more streamlined
recovery. By identifying the JAMES WHITE, CUSTOMER SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT FROM CA more cost effective IT
requirements to survive and department. Align your
placing emphasis on these business with IT resellers and
exposure and risk from both who understand the
requirements, any business vendors who have already
a cost and data integrity impact on your business
will be in a far stronger implemented their own
perspective. u IT License Consolidations
position to overcome the survival plan and have the
downturn. The good news is An Enforced Survival – consider consolidating experience and flexibility to
that IT genuinely is Business Plan should: your software contribute to yours.
Critical – the most important u Reduce costs maintenance renewals to James White continues:
asset any company has is its improve budget control “The recession will end and
data – the protection of this u Protect and Secure
u Modular deployment – we should aim to ensure the
data is therefore critical to a u Include Changed strategic deploy IT as and when you actions we take in the interim
business’s ability to survive. priorities (shorter time need it and align yourself have the potential to ensure
More than ever before line) closely to a vendor who is increased agility for the post
IT departments need to be u Redirect reduced spend flexible enough to assist recessionary recovery.”
run as a business. The key and support this The Chinese symbol for
strategies for any business u Accelerate cost saving
crisis encompasses both
and therefore any IT and risk containment
whAT neXT? danger and opportunity –
department are: programs
The economic downturn is a view the economic downturn
u Consolidation ConSIdeRATIonS FoR reality and is already causing as an opportunity to create a
A SuRVIVAl PlAn: a major IT buying dislocation. more efficient and strategic
u Simplification
u SaaS (Software as a Assess your IT department IT business for today and
u Standardisation as a business, and judge the future. z
Service) – dramatically
reduces & de-risks the
The outcome of implementing initial IT investment For further information on how CA can assist you
this strategy should result in
u Virtualisation – increased with the above strategy, including savings of up to
a company making significant
utilisation, reduced 70% off Recovery Management Software and
savings but reaching the
P&T and a greener flexible licensing options please contact Trustmarque
same goal, and reducing the
environment Solutions on 0845 2101 500, alternatively
time to value of any IT spend
email info@trustmarque.com
from less than six months to u Vendor consolidation –
immediate, thus decreasing align yourself to vendors
The Magazine from Trustmarque Solutions 19
With Trustmarque you’ll experience
A remarkable difference
Established in 1987, Trustmarque is as partnering with many other major
one of the largest software licensing vendors in the IT market, such as:
companies in the UK specialising in Adobe, Business Objects, CA, Citrix,
all facets of software management McAfee, Nuance, Sophos, Symantec,
– from licensing to Software Asset Trend, VMware and Websense to name
Management, from compliance to but a few.
security and information assurance,
Trustmarque Solutions has worked
from policies to procedures and best
with The CarbonNeutral Company
practice. Trustmarque works with its
(formerly Future Forests) leaders in
customers to help them make the
the field of carbon management and
ultimate software choices for their
climate change solutions to become a
business in the most cost efficient
CarbonNeutral® company.
way possible. Through its know-how
and experience, Trustmarque can
help customers avoid unnecessary IT
costs, deploy best practice IT as well as For more information on
mitigate the risk of IT non-compliance. Trustmarque please call
0845 2101 500 or
Trustmarque is a Microsoft Large email info@trustmarque.com
Account Reseller (LAR) with Microsoft www.trustmarque.com
Gold Certified Partner status, as well
