Cohesity: Runbook Workflow Automation Design Canvas Makes for Enterprises to Systematically Move Applications to Cloud

_{Cohesity, Inc. announced an application called Runbook.}

_{It provides organizations with an automation design canvas that makes it simple and formulaic for enterprises to move workloads systematically between on-premises data centers and the public cloud – a need as more and more organizations rely on the cloud for everything from dev/test to security to DR.}

_{The Runbook application, available through the Cohesity Marketplace, automates the process of moving workloads from on-premises servers to the cloud. The application provides administrators with a graphical design canvas that they can use to drag, drop, and design automation workflows so that the right sequences happen in the right order as workloads are moved from one location to another. Runbook also provides APIs to allow administrators to integrate with their preferred infrastructure-as-code automation tools so they can continue to use familiar tools while taking advantage of the benefits of the application.}

_{This is a leap forward from the time-consuming and complex process that some administrators face trying to move workloads to the cloud.}

_{For example, if administrators decide to move data to the cloud for DR, they often have to deal with incompatible VM formats and a host of manual processes, scripts, dependencies, and boot sequences within a constrained time frame.}

_{Even worse, if one step is performed incorrectly, the workloads will likely not launch properly.}

_{The Runbook application can spin up new environments and eliminate the risk of problems caused by manual setup errors.}

_{Runbook builds on the company’s data management capabilities. Organizations already utilize the firm’s DataProtect to backup their data. Now, the company is giving enterprises an easy way to move that data to the cloud, in an automated and orchestrated fashion. Customers can manage both their on-premises and cloud infrastructure through the company’s DataPlatform. Runbook gives customers another way to make their backup data productive.}

_{Technology unveiled as cloud-based storage is set to increase rapidly

The need for easy and reliable processes to move workloads between locations has grown as enterprises increasingly rely on cloud infrastructure. A recent survey (registration required) commissioned by the company found that 98% of respondents expect that their organization’s public cloud-based storage to increase by 93% on average between 2018 and the end of 2019. Additionally, 45% of respondents say their IT teams are already spending 30 to 70% of their day managing all of their organization’s secondary data and apps infrastructure across all public cloud environments.}

_{“The complexity and manual tasks associated with moving workloads to the cloud is a critical challenge for enterprises that want to take a modern approach to their infrastructure, and without the right automated tools, the problem is just going to get worse,” said Raj Rajamani, VP, products, Cohesity. “The Cohesity Runbook application gives IT administrators the ability to create their own precise, step-by-step blueprint that makes it easy for their organizations to take advantage of the cloud for application migration and failover.“}

_{Propelling DR with modern data management

Many organizations realize they must prepare for an outage, whether that is a single server failure or complete site disaster. Instead of maintaining a costly alternate data center, the cloud can be the ideal place to failover during these unexpected incidents. However, failover and failback can be quite challenging, especially in hybrid cloud environments. Now, with Runbook, DR becomes as the application solves cloud incompatibility and manual process issues that can be very challenging to manage, and businesses can stay up and running for the duration of the outage.}

_{“Workload migration will become an easier and more reliable process with the Cohesity Runbook application,” said Don Murawski, manager, servers and storage, Wendy’s. “The application will cut down our recovery times and will save us from troubleshooting new environments. We’re also excited about Cohesity developing a Runbook automation template for future use cases.“}

_{Runbook currently supports DR and cloud workload migrations for VMs to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Other public clouds will be supported in the coming quarters. The company will also evaluate other, cases beyond DR for automation through Runbook.}

_{“Infrastructure automation and the intelligent management of data will become much more a reality with Cohesity Runbook,” said Christophe Bertrand, senior analyst, ESG Research. “Not only does it automate manual steps and solve complex challenges associated with DR and moving workloads to the cloud, but it also provides a foundation to create automation templates whether you need a separate environment for developers or a sandbox environment to quarantine and tst for security threats.“}

_{Runbook includes several features:}

_{True hybrid cloud support: Most solutions only support orchestration that moves workloads between two on-premises locations, but the firm provides direct orchestration and failover of workloads from on-premises to public cloud infrastructure.}
_{Design canvas: The company provides a graphical design canvas that makes orchestration and workflow design clear and easy. The visual interface shows how and when servers are turned on to address applications and services dependencies and server boot timings.}
_{Fast and reliable: Powered by the firm’s SpanFS file system and its capability for instant mass restores, Runbook delivers fast and reliable migrations, spin-ups, and failovers to other locations. This empowers organizations to utilize the public cloud more effectively while also avoiding business impacts associated with outages.}