Your load balancer is less than 8% utilized. I recently had the pleasure of listening to Kamal Muralidharan from Paypal give a talk at the Bay Area Mesos User Group covering the efficient use of containers. The phrase 'fleet efficiency' caught my attention. Buzzwords like devops, software-defined and others are often generic and translate into different interpretations. But fleet efficiency is straightforward and speaks to a tangible benefit. Quite simply, it means maximizing the utilizaton of your infrastructure, or fleet of servers, to reduce cost. This can mean physical servers or virtual servers running in a public cloud.

This post was originally published on Cisco Cloud Blogs, and was co-authored by Gunnar Anderson (Product Manager, Cisco Cloud Services Platform) and Guru Chahal (VP, Product, Avi Networks)

This article was originally published on CRN, IT Best of Bread by Mark Haranas INTRODUCTION: Solution providers need to revamp their sales strategies and methodologies when they sell to the new, next-generation IT department that’s changing its purchasing approach due to the advancement in technologies such as software-defined networking. One long-time executive who may hold the key is Avi Networks’ new CEO, Amit Pandey. Pandey understands how IT departments are buying in today's market, having previously served as CEO of such hot startups as Zenprise, which was purchased by Citrix; and Terracotta, now part of Software AG, as well as a variety of executive positions during an eight-year stint at NetApp. Pandey says, "CIOs and other technology leaders in corporate IT organizations are rethinking the way they approach IT solutions and purchases." Here are his five tips for channel partners in meeting the purchasing needs of the “new” IT department: