Virtualization is here to stay, and for good reason. Today's IT organizations face a multitude of challenges that virtualization addresses. From controlling server sprawl to increasing operational efficiency and easing disaster recovery, virtualization clearly delivers bottom-line results.

A growing number of companies are coming to the realization that they are entering a data center energy crisis. With data centers nearing full capacity, business growth becomes inhibited as organizations struggle to make necessary capital investments - in either heating and cooling equipment, or in added storage.

Regulatory compliance requirements and the threat of having to publicly disclose security breaches have a growing number of IT executives taking a serious look at their storage security strategies. After all, data loss is big news and it can quickly undermine customer confidence, jeopardize company brand and reputation, and result in significant financial losses.

Based on analysis of real-world examples, this article will show IT departments the critical role of pre-defined management processes and strong employee skills for staying resilient and avoiding IT failure.

There is no single technical approach that delivers both aggressive recovery and meets low cost objectives. Any comprehensive solution must be a combination of a number of strategies - each addressing part of the total data protection problem. When budgeting for a data protection strategy, administrators should note that the cost of the solution should include the people, the technology, as well as the costs imposed by the technology on the underlying IT infrastructure, such as e.g., servers, storage, and networks. IT organizations should consider the future of data protection and how they will adapt their current strategy to meet today's data protection demands and tomorrow's requirements. Ignoring data protection problems can have severe consequences for any organization and a comprehensive approach including a combination of people, process, and technology will help any organization prepare for anything from a small incident to a major disaster.

Managing storage resources has never been more challenging or critical. After all, according to many analysts, storage is growing at an estimated 50-60 percent, or more, annually for the average company, even as storage utilization rates remain at an alarmingly low 30 to 40 percent. At the same time, storage resources are often spread across multiple geographic sites as well as virtual environments, making end-to-end visibility difficult.

As IT more closely aligns with the business, technology begins to deliver greater value to the entire company. Every year, IT organizations invest in new or upgraded software, hardware and infrastructure in an effort to meet increasingly challenging business objectives and manage the risks associated with IT organizations. But technology alone is not enough. In order to ensure an IT organization is managing IT risk and maximizing IT performance to prevent IT failures, people and process have to be addressed as well.

According to some experts, data deduplication can reduce total backup storage usage by factors of 10:1 or more (depending on the nature of the data) when compared to traditional backup methods to tape. The bandwidth reductions delivered by client-side data deduplication technology are even more significant. When deployed as part of the overall backup strategy and used alongside other backup methods and media, there is no doubt that deduplication can bring both operational and economic benefits to companies.

The IT market is undergoing a noticeable shift in its business model as traditional hardware and software tech players become more services-focused. After all, customers demand it-but not simply because of the rapidly changing, increasingly complex IT environments in which they operate. The move toward IT services is also driven by the challenges of simply doing business in today's highly competitive, fast-paced digital marketplace. Already faced with tight budgets and overtaxed resources, organizations are looking for ways to improve efficiency while managing risk and optimizing service delivery.

Summary Americans will do more than 30 percent of their holiday shopping online this year**. If you and/or your children will be among them, here are a few tips to help you make your online shopping experience safe and secure.