Data center investments and upgrades are a bright spot in this challenging economy because they cannot be postponed like PC upgrades since data centers are central to business operations and revenue generation. To address this market HP ProCurve now part of HP's Technology Solutions Group (TSG) is introducing the HP ProCurve Open Network Ecosystem called ProCurve ONE and unveiling a new set of data center networking solutions. Five new Gig and 10Gig data center switches and the ProCurve Data Center Connection Manager make up this introduction. HP is differentiating from other IT companies by offering a complete data center solution including servers, storage, applications and networking. The ProCurve ONE Ecosystem includes marquee partners such as Microsoft, Avaya, Riverbed, F5, McAfee and many others. Matt Zanner, Core & Data Center Category Business Manager of HP ProCurve Networking discusses the significance of this announcement in further detail. If you are investing in data center infrastructure then you need to listen to this podcast

IT suppliers are delivering products that consume less energy while offering new IT delivery approaches such as data center virtualization to reduce cooling and power demands. Cisco Systems has taken a broader approach to energy management by delivering a power command and control architecture called Cisco EnergyWise which seeks to provide business and IT leaders with the tools to measure, manage and control the power consumption of all devices connected to the corporate network. Further, EnergyWise seeks to connect facility heating, air conditioning, lighting and other non-IT systems—systems that consume the largest proportion of corporate energy—in an effort to provide IT leaders with the tools and means to manage their overall energy consumption. Berna Devrim, Sr. Manager, Access Switching Marketing at Cisco Systems is my guest as we discuss Cisco’s EnergyWise initiative and what it means to business and IT leaders who seek to control energy consumption.

Marie Hattar Vice President of Network Systems and Security Solution Marketing at Cisco Systems is my guest as we discuss the sustainable effect afforded by networks and communications. Networking has always contributed to Green initiatives by provided teleworking, collaboration, telepresence and other ways of organizing people and workflow independent of geographic location. But networking is now taking the role of power management and control for IT and non-IT systems offering one of the most powerful sustainability tools available. Find out how by listening to this podcast.

Zeus Kerravala of The Yankee Group and I make our annual IT predictions. This year we make ten predictions ranging from data center/cloud/virtualization, green IT, the fate of UC, the new IT organization design to which firms will be gone by the end of the year. Enjoy, Nick