The following is a sponsored blog post, paid for by the vendor.

Tech Data recently sat down with Cheryl Neal, Vice President of Data and Networking Solutions, to glean her insights on the world of converged infrastructure (CI). Cheryl discussed her career trajectory, the opportunity in CI and the importance of collaborative relationships.

By Michael O’Dwyer - Tech Data Guest Blogger

An Irishman based in Hong Kong, Michael O’Dwyer is a business & technology journalist, independent consultant and writer who specializes in writing for enterprise, small business and IT audiences. With 20+ years of experience in everything from IT and electronic component-level failure analysis to process  improvement and supply chains, Michael is a sought-after writer whose quality sources,

Utilizing a supply chain acceleration program can help you keep pace with your customers’ demands for faster and effortless data center procurement. According to the Cisco Global Cloud Index, data center storage installed capacity will grow to 2.6 zettabytes (ZB) by 2021, up from 663 exabytes (EB) in 2016, a nearly four-fold increase.

Given the current rate of technological change, it seems like every other week, there’s a new “hot” technology being introduced that will revolutionize the industry. While some of these gain traction, others depart as fast as they came, barely noticed and quickly forgotten.Currently, one of the hottest and most promising technologies driving digital transformation (DX) is hyper-converged infrastructures (HCI).

In the not-so-distant past, the concept of hyper-converged infrastructures (HCI) did not exist. Fast forward to 2018 and hyper-convergence is now the market’s fastest growing element among all data center technologies. HCI has arrived and it is here to stay.

With next-generation software and hardware advancements, HCI technology is exceeding consumer expectations. We are in an age of hyper-educated buyers where the line-of-business conversations are evolving from discussions of technology needs to the needs of the business.

Ever see the Joy of Painting? If not, look it up and watch an episode or two. Bob Ross was a great painter and a calming force, which is impressive given his history as a U.S. Air Force drill sergeant. A recurring component of Ross’ shows and paintings is ‘happy little trees.’ Happy trees has become somewhat of a cottage concept; with memes, tee shirts and more, celebrating the phrase.

Businesses are embracing digital transformation as they look to the cloud for next-generation data storage. Open industry hardware and software enabling these new virtualized environments have become commoditized, allowing for the displacement of premium-priced proprietary solutions by low-cost, whitebox storage solutions. International Data Corporation

As your customers’ businesses continue to grow and accrue new data, they must also address the need for long-term storage that’s secure and efficient. Many organizations will look to backup certain files, but it’s important to note that backups are ideally used to address short-term (less than 90 day) needs.

As a kid, some of my friends would hide their report cards from their parents when they received a bad grade. Eventually, the parents would realize they hadn’t seen the quarter’s progress report and looked into why. When they found out, they’d be doubly upset. Not only was there a bad grade, but their kid had try to hide the result.

When creating a data protection, backup and recovery strategy, healthcare organizations have an additional layer of complexity to consider – critical system availability. During emergencies, critical system availability prioritizes system availability in order of importance; articulating which ones need to be re-established first, second, etc. to ensure the least downtime for patient safety and uninterrupted quality of care.