With traditional IT infrastructure, components like servers and storage arrays are purchased in isolation from each other. Each item has a different replacement cycle, meaning that servers may be swapped out for new ones in one year with data centers the next year. This gives companies a lot of freedom but gives IT teams a lot of headaches around compatibility. The solution for many businesses is converged or hyper-converged infrastructure.

Converged and hyper-converged infrastructure vs. traditional infrastructure

When your business relies on traditional IT infrastructure, your technology staffers need to manage and install discrete components within your IT system on an ongoing basis. Integration with vendor-specific hardware interfaces is challenging and can introduce subtle failure points into the infrastructure. In contrast, converged and hyper-converged infrastructure start off with a vision of the IT system your company actually needs. 

These methods involve installing and managing compatible, vendor-specified hardware and software. These so-called “hypervisor” platforms recognize, configure, pool and manage all the resources within a company’s IT infrastructure automatically. This provides a unified view of all the available resources and makes their management vastly more simplified and reliable than before. The first key decision to make is whether a converged or hyper-converged infrastructure is better for your organization.

Converged infrastructure explained

Converged infrastructure systems, which are hardware-based, start from a single building block that comprises computing functions, networking, storage and server virtualization. The major benefit of this style is that your IT system rack is fully optimized and your hardware and software work well together with minimal interoperability issues. That’s because all products are normally pretested and preconfigured prior to deployment. 

Each of the components in the building block is a discrete component. This means that a component can be used for its intended purpose: The server can be separated and used as a server, just as the storage can be separated and used as functional storage. But they are also set up to be compatible with the rest of your company’s hardware and software.

There are two standard approaches to building converged infrastructure:

• Building-block approach: Fully configured systems – including servers, storage, networking and virtualization software – are installed in a large chassis as a single building block. The infrastructure is expanded by adding additional building blocks.
• Reference-architecture approach: This version allows companies to use their existing hardware, like routers, storage arrays and servers to achieve the same result.

“The simplicity of simply adding a fully configured and tested infrastructure block makes it easier to expand and maintain the network without needing to spend a lot of time reconfiguring the various components,” said Bharat Badrinath, head of product marketing for BI/QuickSight at Amazon Web Services (AWS). “The blocks effectively snap together similar to the colorful Lego-brand building blocks found in a child’s toy box.”

FYI: Server virtualization is a way of making a physical server act as multiple virtual servers, like how you can create VLANs from a LAN connection. The benefit of virtual servers is that they can run independently of each other, in effect making one very powerful server appear as multiple servers, with each one having configurable processors, memory and network resources. This reduces costs and the amount of energy needed to run the system.

Converged infrastructure pros

Like all technology solutions, converged infrastructure has its pros and cons. Consider these advantages:

• One control panel: It’s easy to check the current overall performance of your entire network.
• Agility: It’s also easy to load new apps and programs onto converged infrastructure and then grant access to specific users.
• Faster network and cloud connections: Thanks to the ability to dynamically manage available network resources, your digital operations will be speedier.
• Scalability: Integration of new hardware is close to plug and play as long as it’s compatible with the hypervisor technology you’re using.
• Lower support and maintenance costs: Software on the platform recognizes, manages and tunes the components, alerting you to faults before they occur. They’re also able to compensate for any individual component failure by substituting other virtualized hardware in its place.
• Lower upfront costs than traditional IT: Less software and hardware are needed, which reduces initial capital expenditure. Fewer items of equipment also deliver lower electricity usage charges.
• Reliability: Hypervisor software manufacturers publish lists of compatible hardware, meaning that certified hardware has been thoroughly tested for long-term reliability. This gives you the confidence that you have a “battle-tested” component that will integrate seamlessly with your IT system.

Converged infrastructure cons

Weigh these disadvantages when exploring converged infrastructure:

• Predefined configuration: Convergence hardware and software systems have predefined templates and concepts on what constitutes a network, a virtual compute unit or a storage network. You can’t deviate from these standards, so if you have a need that falls outside these requirements, then that’s tough luck. 
• Restricted hardware choice: There may be an item of hardware that you really want to add to your system, but you might not be able to if your vendor doesn’t offer it.
• Patch support: You update software patches on the vendor’s timetable rather than yours. Patches must be updated in preconfigured systems in order to maintain support.

Hyper-converged infrastructure explained

Hyper-converged infrastructure is, in comparison, software-based. These setups are often used on private clouds, where all computing, network and storage components are virtualized. The hypervisor creates flexible virtualizations (for example, remote desktops for users) with which you (and the hypervisor itself) can manage computing, networking and storage functions more efficiently. 

Because storage is now purely a software service, there is no need for expensive storage area network (SAN) or network-attached storage (NAS) hardware in the hyper-converged infrastructure. You can use less expensive hardware because the hypervisor convergence software takes over their management.

Did you know? A data center is a company’s shared IT and equipment used for storing and processing data and other assets.

Hyper-converged infrastructure pros

Hyper-converged infrastructure has its own set of upsides that you should take into consideration:

• Cheaper hardware: Systems use commodity hardware and user licenses for virtual machines start at a few dollars a month, depending on volume.
• Easy deployment: Your vendor will install and configure the storage and management software as well as integrate the whole system for you.
• Full integration: Each item of hardware and software and the system itself have been designed to work together and can be configured from the same control panel.
• Flexibility: You can provision and customize private clouds within minutes as all components within the system are virtualized. You don’t need to worry about the installation of servers, patching SANs or servers into the network, or individual configuration of components. 
• Fewer staff: When a company deploys hyper-converged infrastructure at all business locations, the need for remote or branch office IT staff diminishes.

Hyper-converged infrastructure cons

The downsides to hyper-converged infrastructure include the following:

• Stuck with one vendor: You’re locked into your provider’s specifications on your infrastructure capabilities even if you wish to use another vendor whose capabilities may be more suitable.  
• Difficult to scale incrementally with low cost: It’s easy to scale up, but you’ll be purchasing additional network resources, memory and computer processing power by the node. What if you just need extra memory?
• Lack of control over operating expenses: If your new infrastructure relies heavily on the public cloud on top of any private cloud, you’ll be spending money you shouldn’t be spending on hardware for cloud storage and processing. Some of the software on your system may also be very resource-hungry, further increasing cloud costs. [See Cloud Computing Can Increase Productivity and Profits.]

How to choose between converged and hyper-converged infrastructure solutions

Converged infrastructures are more popular among companies that might need to scale their systems quickly and want to spend less per unit of growth. But many enterprises tend to prefer hyper-converged infrastructure for life cycle and cloud apps, big data analytics, and app development environments. 

Smaller businesses that want to move away from traditional IT systems choose hyper-converged infrastructures more than converged ones. Over time, many organizations recognize the additional benefits of hyper-converged setups in terms of scalability and management, especially if they’re planning to grow and extend their IT infrastructure.

The solution that’s right for your company will depend on a number of factors – namely, the extent of your current IT needs, your budget and your expectations for the future as the business grows. Whenever shopping for technology, it’s wise to explore different vendors and compare packages. (For example, see our comparison of the best cloud hosting services and our overview of highly rated cloud storage services.) Then you can make an informed decision on the best option for your business based on your company’s preferences and what the top providers are offering.

Source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

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Fictionary co-founder and CEO Kristina Stanley has worked in a wide variety of different jobs, from manager of broadband planning at Nortel to the director of employee, safety, and guest services for an Eastern British Columbia ski resort, to author of mystery novels.

But one of Stanley’s most difficult jobs was figuring out how to edit her own manuscripts while writing The Stone Mountain Mystery Series. As she told BetaKit in an interview, “it’s really, really difficult to edit a book from a story level. You’ve got thousands and thousands of elements that you have to keep track of and make them work together.”

“We’re trying to help the average person who doesn’t have an ‘in’ in the publishing industry get a really good book out there, get an agent, or get a publisher.”
-Kristina Stanley, Fictionary
 

Initially, Stanley tackled this problem using a combination of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and graphs. But she soon realized that other authors likely faced the exact same issue, and set out to build a better way by combining her tech and writing background.

Today, Stanley’s software startup Fictionary aims to offer an alternative. Amid a wide field of solutions that help writers and editors with specific parts of the process, like spelling, grammar, style, structure, and publishing, Fictionary hones in on perhaps the most important and challenging part: producing a good story.

Fuelled by $1.8 million CAD in seed funding, Fictionary aims to help writers and editors around the world produce quality stories more quickly and affordably. With this capital, the Inverary, Ontario startup, based just north of Kingston, plans to move into non-fiction and start selling to other publishers and agencies to expand its community of users.

The startup’s all-equity round, which closed in September, was co-led by StandUp Ventures and BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund, with support from The51 and a group of angels that includes Women’s Equity Lab general partner Sally Morris. For newly launched Thrive, Fictionary marks the fund’s third investment to date, after investing in Acerta and Private AI.

Stanley founded Fictionary in 2016 alongside her husband, Mathew (COO), who also previously worked at Nortel and has a background in tech, and her brother, Michael Conn, Fictionary’s former CTO, who has since left the company.

Initially, Fictionary focused solely on writers, before expanding to meet demand for a similar offering from editors. Today, Fictionary offers three subscription software products for writers and editors that range in price from $19 to $49 monthly, sells online courses, and provides a community for writers and editors to connect.

Fictionary’s software helps writers visualize their story arc by analyzing key story elements with artificial intelligence (AI) and gauging how their manuscript compares to fundamental storytelling components.

RELATED: With new Thrive platform, BDC commits half a billion dollars to invest in Canadian women-led startups and funds

“We’re trying to help the average person who doesn’t have an ‘in’ in the publishing industry get a really good book out there, get an agent, or get a publisher,” said Stanley.

On the editor side of the equation, the company claims its offering enables editors to provide better, deeper story edits in less time, increasing the quality and profitability of editors’ services.

The writing and editing software space features a ton of players, from Grammarly to Scrivener, Novel Factory, and Canada’s Wattpad. According to Stanley, Fictionary is unique within the sectors in terms of its focus on storytelling elements and its use of AI. “We’re it right now as far as, there’s an automated way to do this, and have software for it,” said Stanley.

“While there are other platforms endeavoring to address this gap in the market, there doesn’t appear to be a single player who is able to look at the writing and editing process in a comprehensive and meaningful way, which puts Fictionary at a sizeable advantage to lead the charge and expand into new markets and segments,” Michelle Scarborough, managing partner of BDC Capital’s Thrive Venture Fund, told BetaKit.

RELATED: StandUp Ventures reveals second fund dedicated to women-led startups with $30 million first close

Fictionary previously secured $100,000 in grant funding from Creative BC and raised $245,000 in pre-seed funding in 2019 from a group of angels that included Shopify co-founder Scott Lake, Stephanie Andrew of Women’s Equity Lab, and FirstEditing founder and CEO JoEllen Taylor.

According to Stanley, following that pre-seed round, Fictionary reached breakeven cash flow and had to decide whether to keep going on its current track or set its sights higher.

Following some discussions with StandUp Ventures, Fictionary decided to embark on a new chapter and raise more venture capital to tackle the opportunity it sees in this space amid the rise of self-publishing. “We have a great product, we’ve got product-market fit, we’ve got a market, so let’s just go for it,” said Stanley.

“The love for the product Fictionary users articulate so regularly is rare, and indicative of the power and impact the tool brings to its customers,” said StandUp Ventures senior associate Lucas Perlman, who is joining Fictionary’s board as part of the round. “The self-publishing world has exploded, and we believe Fictionary is poised to become a de-facto part of the story writing toolkit for writers and editors around the globe.”

RELATED: Wattpad’s new leader is focused on creator value

For her part, Scarborough said the Thrive Venture Fund sees “a sizeable opportunity [for Fictionary] in the fast-growing creator economy space—a market with many dimensions—within writing and editing, screenwriting, non-fiction, and beyond.”

To date, Fictionary has focused entirely on fiction but Stanley said the startup’s roadmap includes moving into non-fiction, where the CEO sees plenty of potential to apply its tech to helping people tell their own life stories. Fictionary also sees an opportunity to help agencies and publishers clear the slush pile of submitted manuscripts.

As it looks to build out its own community of writers and editors, Fictionary follows in the footsteps of Wattpad, which parlayed its vibrant self-publishing community of writers and readers—and the content produced by them—into a $754 million CAD acquisition last year.

After discussions with StandUp, Fictionary decided to embark on a new chapter.

“Wattpad is very inspirational for us,” said Stanley. “They are different in the sense that people write their stories in the community, where we help writers take those stories and turn them into powerful stories readers love. Their community is a great lead-in to Fictionary for writers needing to edit their stories.”

As the startup charts its growth strategy amid an uncertain economic environment, Stanley is confident that Fictionary is well-positioned to grow during this period, noting that people tend to write more when they are stressed. Back when COVID-19 first hit and everyone was cooped up, the CEO said people begin writing more, and demand for Fictionary rose. Heading into what could be a deep downturn, Stanley believes Fictionary is in a good spot given that it offers a tool to help people do their passion without spending a lot of money.

What Perlman finds most exciting is the appreciation Fictionary’s customers have for the startup’s product, noting that writers “pour countless hours into their stories and writing books is an emotional and very personal thing to take on.”

“Fictionary has removed a major hurdle that stopped these creators from bringing their stories into the world,” Perlman told BetaKit. “The impact of that really comes through when you speak to their customers and see feedback from their community.”

Feature image courtesy Fictionary.

Nearly 45% of respondents allocated 20-40% of their total media ad spend to converged TV, and 31% devoted 40-50%. Innovid found that with the increase in converged TV ad spend, video mixes were diversifying and that by no longer dedicating the majority of spend to one platform, respondents illustrated a wide range of impression allocation across linear, CTV and digital video.

When asked to rank the top pain points around converged TV advertising, viewer fragmentation was the top challenge (40%), followed by creative personalisation (37%) and inconsistent measurement (32%). When asked what’s needed for brands and agencies to Boost the performance of converged TV campaigns, 66% stated consolidated technology while 63% responded unified measurement to streamline and automate delivery and measurement.
Improved ad relevance was cited by 62% of respondents as a top benefit of having a unified view of converged TV, driving deeper engagement by strengthening cross-platform personalisation and creative performance. A close second, at 59%, was increased data ownership, and having a wider range of data access to measure relevant metrics.

“The TV experience is being reimagined…To truly thrive in this ‘converged TV’ market – which encompasses linear, CTV and digital video – marketers need a unified view of advertising and audiences,” said Innovid chief marketing officer Stephanie Geno commenting on the Great Unification of Converged TV report. “Not only to understand how cross-platform campaigns are really working, but also to uncover actionable insights to reach and engage with the right consumers where they are. The time is now for advertisers to seek a unified view into reach and performance through a consolidated tech platform that can surface the actionable insights necessary to consistently inform strategies and drive business impact.”

The MarketWatch News Department was not involved in the creation of this content.

Nov 09, 2022 (The Expresswire) -- Global "Converged Infrastructure Management Market” (2023-2028) research report gives most upcoming industry information on the real market situation and future outlook. This report provides you analysis of Converged Infrastructure Management market size, share, future growth, and cost structure, statistical and comprehensive data of the global market. The report is beneficial for strategists and industry players to plan their future business strategies. This is an in-depth market report, provides all you need to know about the Converged Infrastructure Management Market. It includes the market volumes for Converged Infrastructure Management present and latest news and updates about the market current situation, historic data, present market trends, and this factor which is valuable and supportive to the business.

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