Why It’s Time to Consider VMware vRealize Operations Cloud

vRealize Operations has long been the go-to solution for managing VMware environments, and more recently, far beyond just the VMware estate, as well. In the last year, VMware has begun offering vRealize Operations as a SaaS solution, running in the cloud. The question is, which version of vRealize Operations should you use to manage your own organization?

Comparing the Two Solutions

When it comes to features and capabilities, vRealize Operations and vRealize Operations Cloud are more or less on par with each other, although vRealize Cloud has a few SaaS-exclusive features and gives you accelerated access to new innovations. Both offer the same feature set and leverage the same administrative interface. As such, neither solution is superior. In fact, vRealize Operations and vRealize Operations Cloud are nearly identical.
Whether it’s better to run vRealize Operations or vRealize Operations Cloud ultimately comes down to an organization’s own needs. There are a number of factors to consider when deciding which is the better choice for your organization.

What Does Your Existing Infrastructure Look Like?

One of the first things to consider when deciding whether to run vRealize Operations on-premises or in the cloud is what your existing infrastructure looks like. If, for example, you’re already running VMware workloads and infrastructure components in the cloud, it probably makes sense to run vRealize Operations in the cloud, as well. vRealize Operations Cloud is designed to work with the VMware Cloud on AWS, and it also integrates with other VMware Cloud services, such as vRealize Log Insight Cloud and vRealize Automation Cloud.
Of course, the opposite is also true. If your existing VMware resources reside primarily on-premises and the hardware it runs on is relatively current, it may make more sense to run vRealize Operations on-premises, as well. If you do decide to run vRealize Operations on-premises, you always have the option of transitioning to vRealize Operations Cloud whenever the time is right. vRealize Operations Cloud has the same administrative interface as the on-premises version, which means there’s no significant learning curve associated with the transition.

How Busy Is Your IT Staff?

Your IT staffing resources are another important factor. vRealize Operations provides self-driving IT and can help to free up IT professionals for more important activities by continuously optimizing performance and balancing workloads based on operational requirements.
However, if an organization chooses to run vRealize Operations on-premises, it means that its IT staff will be responsible for all related maintenance tasks—anything from applying updates to addressing hardware issues.
There’s nothing wrong with running vRealize Operations on-premises, of course, but if your IT department is short-staffed or lacks the technical expertise required to manage and maintain an on-premises vRealize Operations deployment, you’re probably better off running vRealize Operations in the cloud. That way, your staff won’t have to focus on day-to-day maintenance issues and will have time to deal with more pressing matters.

What Does the Future Hold for Your Organization?

One more extremely important consideration is what the future looks like for your organization. If, for example, your IT department is focused on building out its hybrid cloud deployment or on general IT modernization, you’ll probably want to run vRealize Operations Cloud. After all, modern IT usually means taking a cloud-first or at least cloud-centric approach to operations. Even if your organization is focusing its efforts around a hybrid cloud environment, there’s a direct benefit to running vRealize Operations in the cloud.
Another point to think about is whether your organization anticipates undergoing any mergers or acquisitions in the foreseeable future. If any such reorganization is on the horizon, you’re almost certainly going to be better off adopting vRealize Operations Cloud than running vRealize Operations on-premises. vRealize Operations Cloud is specifically designed for operational agility and rapid scalability. These characteristics, as well as consumption-based pricing, can be extremely helpful when an organization is forced to manage or consolidate IT resources following a merger or acquisition.

Unify Monitoring Across Public and Hybrid Clouds

vRealize Operations Cloud offers the same great features found in the on-premises version of vRealize Operations, but gives customers accelerated access to new innovations. This means that the software is able to deliver self-driving IT through the prediction, prevention, and automatic remediation of issues both at the application level and at the infrastructure level. Learn more about vRealize Operations Cloud by downloading The Gorilla Guide To…® vRealize Operations 8.1 and Cloud.