Infrastructure orchestration is the process of automating and coordinating the deployment and management of complex IT infrastructure services. It enables faster, more reliable, and more efficient delivery of applications and data to end users.
However, many organizations are still struggling to adopt and leverage orchestration tools, due to various challenges and barriers. In this blog post, we will explore how MetalSoft can help you overcome these challenges and achieve infrastructure orchestration excellence.
The Challenges of Orchestration Adoption
According to a recent survey by Gartner, about 65% of very mature enterprises and only 1/4 of the rest of I&O organizations have adopted orchestration capabilities, while the remaining companies are still relying on partial or fully manual tools.
Some of the main challenges that hinder orchestration adoption are:
Complexity: Orchestration tools often require a high level of technical expertise and knowledge to design, implement, and maintain. They also involve multiple components, integrations, and dependencies that increase the complexity and risk of errors and failures.
Loss of control: Orchestration tools can sometimes create a sense of loss of control and visibility over the infrastructure, as they abstract away the underlying details and processes. This can lead to security, compliance, and governance issues, as well as reduced accountability and ownership.
Skills requirements: Orchestration tools demand a new set of skills and competencies from I&O teams, such as scripting, coding, workflow design, and DevOps practices. However, many I&O teams lack the necessary skills and resources to adopt and use orchestration tools effectively.
Tool sprawl and overspend: The infrastructure automation market is crowded and fragmented, with many vendors offering overlapping and competing features and solutions. This can create confusion and duplication among I&O teams, who may end up using multiple tools for similar purposes or buying tools that they do not need or use. This can result in tool sprawl, increased costs, and reduced efficiency and value.
The Benefits of MetalSoft
MetalSoft is a software platform that provides end-to-end bare metal automation and orchestration capabilities. It handles not only servers, but also switches, and storage, fulfilling the promise of hyper-converged hardware composability while remaining vendor neutral and scalable.
Our platform offers significant advantages for I&O teams and service providers, such as:
Simplicity: MetalSoft simplifies the configuration and management of infrastructure resources, using our intuitive drag-and-drop interface, APIs, Terraform, and other unique capabilities. It also is easily extensible to existing tools and systems, reducing the need for complex and costly customizations and migrations.
Control: MetalSoft gives you full control and visibility over your infrastructure, using granular and centralized policies and standards for governance and security. It also provides monitoring and reporting of infrastructure performance and value, enabling you to optimize and update your infrastructure as needed.
Skill barrier removal: MetalSoft removes or reduces the need for your developers or end-users to have infrastructure skills and competencies, by using an intent-based approach to assist them in designing, deploying, and operating infrastructure. It also provides support to help your infra admin teams to learn and adopt best practices and methodologies for orchestration and automation.
Tool rationalization and cost reduction: MetalSoft rationalizes and consolidates your tool portfolio, providing a comprehensive and unified solution for infrastructure automation and orchestration. It also reduces your operational costs and complexity, optimizing the utilization and allocation of infrastructure resources, and eliminating the waste and redundancy of many infrastructure processes and tasks.
The Best Practices for MetalSoft Adoption
To realize the full potential and value of MetalSoft, I&O leaders need to adopt certain strategies, such as:
Select a deployment model that matches your needs: MetalSoft offers different deployment models, to suit your specific needs and goals. You can also choose between different service levels, depending on your desired level of support.
Address cultural and organizational change: We can promote and facilitate a cultural and organizational shift among your teams and stakeholders, from a traditional and siloed approach to infrastructure management, to a modern and agile approach that embraces orchestration and automation. You should communicate and demonstrate the benefits and value of MetalSoft to your teams and stakeholders, and encourage their adoption and usage.
Leverage the MetalSoft resources: We provide rich and diverse resources for you to learn from. You can access the our documentation, other blog posts, and white papers to gain insights and best practices for MetalSoft adoption and usage. You can also subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on social media, to interact with our experts, and get feedback and support.
Conclusion
MetalSoft is a powerful and valuable platform that can transform and elevate the role and impact of I&O teams and organizations. It addresses the challenges and overcomes the barriers to orchestration adoption and delivers the benefits of orchestration excellence. By following the best practices and strategies outlined in this blog post, I&O leaders can unlock the full potential and value of MetalSoft, and achieve greater infrastructure agility, reliability, and efficiency.