The concept of digital transformation has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. It involves not just the implementation of new technologies, but the alteration of business processes and models to fully leverage those technologies. This enables organizations to gain unprecedented levels of productivity, enhance the customer experience, drive innovation and create competitive advantages.
It sounds greater in theory but in practice it’s extremely challenging. Most organizations still allocate upwards of 80 percent of the IT budget toward “keeping the lights on.” It’s difficult to transform your organization when you’re struggling to manage and maintain legacy IT architectures.Business Coach Singapore
For many organizations, the challenges begin with the data center infrastructure. Aging facilities lack the capacity and scalability to support rapidly changing technology demands. Power and cooling costs continue to increase, further straining IT budgets. Digital transformation must start with transformation to ensure the right foundation is in place.
According to IDC, the average U.S. data center is 12 years old. These facilities simply weren’t designed for today’s high-density environments, with large numbers of servers and other devices and ever-increasing space, power and cooling requirements. The research firm notes that many organizations need to update the design and operation of their environment before they can begin implementing new systems and technologies.
Data center modernization projects should address these issues:
a. High cost and environmental impacts of legacy infrastructure
b. Complexity of environments that have evolved over time and grown through mergers and acquisitions
c. Greater power densities and the associated heat loads
d. Operational inefficiencies that increase costs and the risk of downtime
e. Rampant growth of data volumes, connected devices, applications and users
f. Increasing security and regulatory compliance requirements
Data center transformation can deliver real business benefits, including reduced costs and greater IT agility. That’s not to suggest that it’s easy, however. Data center modernization requires skill sets that few organizations have in-house, as well as substantial IT resources. With limited budgets and staff, many organizations are simply unable to take on a data modernization project.