According to a recent IDC study, the research firm estimates that the overall spending on converged systems in the data center will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 54.7 percent, from $2.0 billion in 2011 to $17.8 billion in 2016. Converged infrastructure will account for 12.8 percent of total storage, server, networking and software spending by 2016, up from only 3.9 percent in 2012, the IDC estimates. Often referred to as “hardware that is created with virtualization in mind,” converged infrastructure is particularly important to an organization’s operations. Wikibon has earlier research that supports the IDC projections of converged infrastructure’s rapid market growth, expecting the total available market to reach $402 billion by 2017. Indeed, converged infrastructure is becoming big business.

A quick 101: Converged infrastructure refers to the tying together of server, storage, networking, and virtualization into one integrated solution. The solution is managed as a whole rather than through separate management systems. It’s a trend we’ve been following for some time, especially as it pertains to the businesses of the future.

Wikibon’s research notes that most major infrastructure providers are drumming up converged infrastructure solutions, saying “HP, IBM, Oracle, Dell, Cisco, EMC, NetApp, VMware, and VCE all have plays in this space, as do Microsoft and Intel.” Converged Infrastructure is an important development we’ve been following in the evolution of the data center, and we’ve collected some recent coverage on the market. Certain trends, like developer operations, have boosted demand for converged infrastructure, causing the major players listed above to address the needs of the new data center.

Why Converged Infrastructure Matters to DevOps

Private clouds aren’t just for conservative old enterprises any more. Many startups are opting out of the public cloud, whether that means building their own data centers or running their own hardware in colos like Geoloqi. Some startups like Zynga and Tumblr are opting for a mixed architecture. They are adopting some of the public cloud, but still relying primarily on their own data centers. (these are mixed architectures, not hybrid clouds).

Converged Infrastructure provides developers the flexibility and hybrid solutions to build in test environments at low costs. DevOps has a goal to treat infrastructure as code, and converged infrastructure supports this goal – especially for teams working with on-premise infrastructure. More network visualization and automation is on the horizon, and on-premise infrastructure is not expected to disappear entirely.

VCE Chief on the Datacenter’s Evolution : A Complex Challenge for Converged Infrastructure

VCE is a great example of the industry’s efforts to offer converged infrastructure offerings. Comprised of VMware, Cisco and EMC, this three-way partnership proves the importance and demand for converged products in order to achieve efficiency in the data center.

In theCUBE’s recent interview with VCU CEO Praveen Akkiraju, show host and Wikibon chief analyst Dave Vellante summarizes that there have been three phases to converged infrastructure. First it was the “prove it to me” phase, then the “gaining validation” phase, now converged infrastructure is in the “exploitation phase.” Most CIOs now understand the value. The conversation has changed from what is and validation to training and operating a converged infrastructure environment.  See the full segment below to hear Akkiraju’s thoughts on converged infrastructure.

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Cisco isn’t teaming up with just EMC for storage partners in its quest for converged infrastructure offerings. NetApp is another important and long-time partner, and the two recently updated their cooperative to better serve today’s demand. In this recap, we have a helpful video from Cisco that outlines the ways in which networking fits into the smarter vision of tomorrow’s data center.

Where DreamWorks Meets Converged Infrastructure : HP

Back in March Hewlett-Packard released a case study that detailed its collaboration with DreamWorks Animation on the production of an animated family film, The Croods. HP said that The Croods required over 80 million render hours to generate visual images from 3D models. HP sold DreamWorks HP Z800 and Z820 workstations that made it easier for artists to create large and complex scenes. These machines, which the company says are 50 percent faster than previous generation computers, came with HP’s Remote Graphic Software to facilitate real-time collaboration between sites.

Dreamwork’s has been a client of HP’s since 2001. HP has made significant dedication to converged infrastructure as it continues to be extremely bullish on CI. The more HP invests into converged infrastructure, the more Dreamwork’s stands to gain too. “Cutting-edge digital manufacturing requires a huge amount of compute power and orchestrated collaboration across our studios,” said Derek Chan, head, Global Technology Operations, DreamWorks Animation. “HP Converged Infrastructure ensures our filmmakers have the technical resources they require to bring their creative vision to life and deliver amazing films to our audiences.”

HP is not the only company rising to the challenge that is forcing industry players in storage, networking and virtualization to partner-up like a slow dance at prom. Cisco and NetApp have teamed up for a big converged infrastructure push. Their decade-long partnership has been expanded in an effort to develop a converged stack for modern workloads, namely cloud and Big Data.

Converged Infrastructure is piling up the “wins” with the growing adoption and research reports from HP and other major vendors in the space. Below is a useful infographic from Zenoss on The Road to Converged Infrastructure.