To say that
change is coming to the enterprise is like saying the sun will rise in the east
tomorrow.But even while change has been a constant factor in data
infrastructure since the first mainframe was deployed, it seems that both the
pace and the scope of changes taking place today are knocking on the very
pillars of IT, threatening to remake the entire industry into something
completely unrecognizable in a few short years.
Indeed, the very notion of what is and
is not the enterprise seems very much in the air as virtualization and the
cloud spread responsibility for data infrastructure across multiple independent
organizations that could conceivably reside on opposite sides of the globe. At
the same time, new technologies like SSDs and high-speed, unified networking
are starting to tear down much of what is considered to be "the data
center" to the point that the very role of IT as an enterprise asset is
starting to come into question.
The drivers behind all of this are the
increasingly sophisticated demands of the user. Where workers were once content
to engage in data environments for simple communications and number crunching,
the norm these days is a highly collaborative, always-on experience in which
the entire relationship between individual and work environment is defined by
the level of access to IT resources. And that means if you don't have the means
to accommodate user needs, they will simply go out on their own and get them.
"Cloud computing and social
networking are two key drivers of change in the current IT landscape,"
said Michael Keen, vice president of presales at management and automation
system developer ASG Software. "These drivers are forcing the
hands of many IT executives to come up with a strategy, and a way to execute
against that strategy, to drive agility and flexibility in their infrastructure
so they can provide a quick and efficient way for IT to adapt to these changes.
Traditional enterprise IT models have always emphasized an opposite view - that
change is not the norm, but the exception. However, in today's current IT
landscape, rapid change is the norm and IT must evolve their enterprise models,
people, processes and technology to acknowledge this shift." The
challenge, however, is to adapt to these changing environments quickly enough
to keep pace with user expectations, but not too quickly so that the new
systems and architectures are left obsolete before their full value can be
realized.
"Being able to adapt to change is
critical to any organization's success, so it is imperative that (IT) develop a
standards-based framework that leverages best-of-breed technologies and
components to create a new level of integration between business processes and
IT," Keen said. "In addition, IT needs to build their new organization
with four fundamental ideals in mind; simplification, standardization,
modularity and integration. By applying these ideals they can lay the
groundwork for an infrastructure that will meet the demands of their customers,
business partners, external customers, etc."
BY : PITALOKA
(125150200111091)
