In today’s competitive business environment, many companies are looking for ways to maximize value and streamline their operations. One area that often comes under scrutiny is their IT operations and infrastructure. The business value of information technology is well understood by most organizations. While they may be hesitant to entrust a third party with their data network, in many cases, outsourcing IT is a cost-effective decision with substantial ancillary benefits.
Lift and shift strategies offer some organizations an ideal solution for transitioning their IT infrastructure to a public cloud environment. The process involves removing workloads and tasks, usually application based, from one location and placing them in another location. Ideally, this transition can be done with minimal re-architecting, making it a fast and easy solution for companies looking to migrate operations away from outdated hardware and capitalize on the benefits of cloud computing.
Use this checklist to help protect your investment, mitigate potential risk and minimize downtime during your data center migration.
When cloud computing began to take over the IT industry a decade ago, many organizations jumped in with both feet, migrating their operations entirely into the cloud or starting up new companies based around cloud services. While public cloud architecture has delivered many benefits, experience has demonstrated that it isn’t always the right solution for every business. As the range of options for cloud deployments continues to grow, some companies are beginning to question whether or not a public cloud makes sense.
Service Level Agreement (SLA) & Uptime
Data centers are a crucial component of modern IT infrastructures. Whether companies maintain their own facilities, colocate with a third-party data center, or use a public cloud provider for their data needs, virtually every business relies upon data centers to provide the foundation of today’s increasingly interconnected global economy. And with more and more data being generated and consumed each year, data centers aren’t going anywhere soon.
Cloud computing has radically altered the landscape of today’s network environments. Whereas organizations once confined their data and computing operations to private data centers, virtualization and the spread of multiple service platforms have made it possible for assets and activities to be located in public clouds that can be accessed from anywhere at any time.
Data Center | Service Level Agreement (SLA) & Uptime
Entrusting a data center with its valuable IT infrastructure is a major step for any organization. Whether transitioning from a private data center solution or scaling a business to reach new customers, companies have a lot to think about when they begin comparing data centers.
Data centers stand at the forefront of IT infrastructure strategies and innovation. Far from a mere warehouse filled with servers, the modern data center is a technological marvel, powered by cutting-edge equipment and micromanaged down to the last detail by powerful software applications.
Edge Computing | Internet of Things (IoT)
Edge computing is quickly finding its way into a variety of industries as internet of things (IoT) devices become more commonplace. One of the most promising edge computing use cases is in the industrial manufacturing sector, where new technologies could potentially lead to massive productivity gains.
In today’s fast moving, hyperconnected economy, a company’s IT solutions can either empower it to compete in increasingly crowded markets or hold it back. Developing a strategy for technology infrastructure is no longer just a concern for large-scale enterprises, but also for the smallest businesses. If an organization doesn’t have a plan in place to address its future data and computing needs, it can be caught in a situation that makes it impossible to respond to changing circumstances or take advantage of unexpected opportunities.
As more organizations make the move to cloud-based storage and applications, cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) will continue to present profitable opportunities to small companies looking to create disruption in the IT marketplace. Gartner expects IaaS revenue to grow from $45.8 billion in 2018 to a whopping $72.4 billion in just two years. With more small players entering the market, companies have a wide range of services to choose from, but those options don’t come without risks. If history is any indication, as many as 1 in 4 cloud providers can go out of business in any year as a result of acquisition or bankruptcy.
