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In the first of an ongoing user discussion series, four IT executives shared their thoughts on hot new data center technologies. They all agree that the flexible new infrastructures they’re building have a major upfront benefit — lower total cost of ownership — and each suggests a favorite young technology. Participating in the discussion, moderated by Signature Series Executive Editor Julie Bort, are: Tony Adams, IT analyst, J.R. Simplot, Boise, Idaho; Matthew Dattilo, vice president and CIO, PerkinElmer, Wellesley, Mass.; Carmine Iannace, manager, IT architecture, Welch's, Concord, Mass.; and Rael Paster, head of collaboration services IT, Serono, Geneva, Switzerland.

When thinking about your infrastructure over the next few years, which emerging technologies are most important to your plans and why?

Adams: Virtualization of servers and storage are our two most significant infrastructure initiatives. Both have been underway for more than a year and have proven successful enough to warrant more aggressive adoption. We have to reduce our accumulated server sprawl and prevent [more] sprawl. We have to be more flexible, and virtualization is the ultimate protection against initial sizing errors or unplanned growth. Our Intel server virtualization strategy is 100% VMware ESX with a storage-area network (SAN ). These two technologies complement each other so well that we consider their adoption to be co-requisites. We also must have a seamless disaster-recovery capability. ESX with a SAN-to-SAN remote mirror is a great disaster-recovery strategy for us.

Iannace: At Welch’s, the extended enterprise already is incorporated into our business model and, to a degree, in our IT systems. We currently use a combination of Plumtree Enterprise Portal, Oracle and a number of business intelligence tools [such as Noetix ] to collaborate with our partners and produce unique, up-to-the-minute views of sales and marketing data. In the next 18 months, we plan to allow our strategic partners not only to view but also to participate actively in live business transactions in an interactive manner.