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A Route to Standardized Operating Environments

Pedro Gómez, April 2007

Abstract

Here is an approach to simplifying data center infrastructure through the creation of standardized operating environments (SOEs).

Introduction

Regardless of the complexity and variety existing in biological beings, all living organisms are built from basic building blocks or fundamental units of life: cells. These small units execute functions using a set of standardized structures that work together toward the proper functioning of the biological being to which they belong.

Similarly, an enterprise IT architecture uses building blocks or operating environments to create, process, and transform information that supports the operations of the business organization. In this context, standardized operating environments represent a key concept in the simplification and normalization stages of data center optimization.

For more details, see the list of contents below.

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Contents

• What Are Standardized Operating Environments?
• Standardized Operating Environments Within the Enterprise IT Architecture
• Templates for Standardized Operating Environments
• Creating Instances of Standardized Operating Environments
• Constraints and External Considerations Influencing SOE Selection
• The Impact of Systemic Qualities on SOE Components
• Transitioning From Legacy Operating Environments to SOEs
• Provisioning Standardized Operating Environments
• COBIT and the Governance of Stacks
• Summary
• References

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