Why SDDC is Powerless without Automated DDI Provisioning ?

Gartner has predicted that 75% of Global 2000 enterprises will require Software Defined Data Centers (SDDC) by 2020. This move towards reliance on software-based infrastructure components is expected to bring agility to any service deployment workflow, and potentially also lower cost by using standardized hardware. However, realizing these benefits relies on infrastructure components being deployed and managed properly. This can only be achieved via automated provisioning of IP resources. As IP Address Management (IPAM) is at the core of this provisioning process, it quickly becomes obvious that DDI (DNS-DHCP-IPAM) is a prerequisite to any successful SDDC implementation.

Inconsistent data and slow time-to-market will lose you money

The idea behind SDDC is to push further current efforts to automate and simplify IT deployments. It’s a concept that brings together several different flavors of virtualization of the entire IT infrastructure. While compute and storage procedures are nearly always handled in a timely manner for cloud deployments, efficient provisioning and deprovisioning of IP resources (IP Addresses, DNS and DHCP services) tends to be be given lower priority, so often lags behind. Failing to link these tasks with the orchestration process leads to time wastage, configuration errors, and an inability to enforce company policies. The consequences inevitably include long delays in rolling out new services, which in turn may lead to severe impact on company revenues.

The problem becomes compounded when multi-tenancy environments are being considered, or when an organization wishes to move to hybrid cloud or multi-cloud deployments. Orchestrating IT services therefore makes little sense without inclusion of the IP Address Management component.

IPAM pulls the strings for SDDC

Most of the infrastructure’s components rely on the network to behave correctly- so on the IP addressing plan- for proper deployment. The IP network is the glue that keeps the whole thing together. It ensures secured connectivity between every component of the SDDC/Cloud infrastructure, allowing users to reach the deployed services. Therefore, the IPAM process has to be considered as critical within the lifecycle of most of these components, and should occur at the earliest stage of any orchestrated workflow.

Automation of the DDI function adds further value. Strong, automated processes ensure proper configuration of the infrastructure, policies enforcement and the correct synchronization of various repositories.

Orchestrating IT services in multi-tenant environments is also made easier with DDI. It allows provisioning of IP resources on demand, in the appropriate tenant environment, optimizing the fragmentation of the address space while ensuring connectivity between the components and the accessibility of the applications.

Integrating DDI to leading orchestrators for SDDC deployments helps attain new levels of infrastructure utilization and staff productivity, dramatically reducing capital expenditure and operating costs. Configuration inconsistencies are prevented, and resource usage is maximized. Unified management and global visibility of IP resources brings business-aware IT control, helping ensure business continuity by driving availability, security and compliance for every application. New applications can be rolled out in minutes thanks to automated provisioning that dynamically matches resources to constantly changing workloads and business demands.

The full potential of SDDC can only be realized with the help of DDI

The promise of cloud is to deliver scalable instant-start services at reduced cost. The first step to achieving that is by ensuring secured connectivity to applications, which is only made possible by automating IP resource allocation at the top level of the orchestration process.

This policy-driven automation enables provisioning and ongoing management of logical compute, storage and network services. The result is unprecedented IT agility and efficiency, with flexibility to support the hardware and applications of today and in the future. Without this, SDDCs are left powerless.

Learn more about the importance of DDI within the SDDC ecosystem here.