There are at least 5 reasons not to postpone the corporate IT infrastructure modernization:
- performance improvement
- cost optimization
- internal resources enhancement
- ease of implementation
- scalability (if modernization takes advantage of the Infrastructure as a Service paradigm)
1. Modern IT infrastructure = better performance
The IT infrastructure performance issue, which is raised by hardware and software equipment that is obsolete or subject to frequent downtime risks, is closely connected to the business of the company. If the markets run, but the technology that we have remains fixed, the company’s ability to be competitive depends on it. Especially in today’s ever-changing scenario, failing to modernize data centers, networking, workspaces and security prevents employees from being more productive and forces customers to choose alternatives deemed better and up to their needs. It’s not a coincidence that the software-defined infrastructure paradigm is increasingly appreciated as a particularly flexible model for the management of computing, network and storage resources.
2. Optimize the IT infrastructure costs
A path of the IT infrastructure modernization must consider the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). These costs entail the purchase of a data center with repercussions, in particular when opting for on premise solutions, as well as on the amount of hardware expenditures, in terms of energy costs and in the refrigeration of the premises. The Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model allows you to remedy this by moving all the costs related to the infrastructure management outside. Instead of CapEx-based immobilization, the company uses data centers and networking as an OpEx service. With an additional advantage on the progressive loss of value and the consequent physiological obsolescence of an on premise system. Instead, the IaaS is not subject to this.
3. Internal Resources Enhancement
The IT resources use also represents a cost item that needs to be optimized. With the traditional functions of installation, management and maintenance of software and hardware, they are called upon to perform configuration, backup and security operations. The adoption of an IT infrastructure as a service, on the other hand, raises staff from activities with little added value to make them concentrate on tactical and strategic issues, such as, for example, monitoring performance, analyzing the technological needs of the company from a business point of view, the support of employees on issues related to the correct management of data and privacy, in accordance with the GDPR.
4. IT infrastructure implementation
Until a few years ago, setting up infrastructure provisioning only took a very long time to define distribution and configuration. Today, since the path of modernization passes almost necessarily from cloud computing (public, private and hybrid), it is its flexibility that simplifies the implementation of all IT infrastructure or only a part of it, making “natively” available functions such as disaster recovery and business continuity. As well as the migration of data to the cloud turns out to be a particularly fast and mitigated impact on the daily operation of end users. If you think that an update of the system forced long waiting times in the past, you understand why more and more companies appreciate the IaaS model and the cloud that makes it possible.
5. For a scalable IT infrastructure
Among the reasons that should push not to postpone the IT infrastructure modernization, scalability alone would probably be enough. This feature, in fact, contains both the concept of flexibility, whereby computing resources or storage are used only on the basis of real needs, and that of cost modularity. So much so that the periodic rent varies according to consumption and is based on the pay per use mode. At the beginning we have mentioned how the market scenario is constantly evolving with peaks in the demand for resources that can be followed by sudden declines. If you link this to the peculiarity mentioned before, then you can understand why an IT infrastructure today can only be scalable.