By Gerry Nolan
Worldwide Senior Director for HPE Pointnext Support Services
It’s always fascinating to get a glimpse into the minds of IT leaders, so I was interested to read about what these folks see as their top challenges in a new study from 451 Research. Nobody will be surprised to see infosec at the top of the list in the chart below. But what is a bit startling is the number of other concerns that the report describes as “critical to smooth operations but not value-adding” – for example, “managing legacy infrastructure and applications” and “maintaining performance/availability of IT systems.”
Interestingly, the report discusses these operational challenges within the framework of a major IT megatrend: the move to hybrid cloud. It notes that “enterprises will be running hybrid (on- and off-premises) environments for the foreseeable future; doing a ‘rip and replace’ of existing IT investments is not operationally or fiscally viable.” No argument from me there.
The report adds that while these mixed environments are more adaptable than legacy deployments, “they require proactive monitoring to ensure on-demand availability of applications and data. Keeping systems at peak performance requires cross-platform coordination and a centralized support team with a 360-degree view of on-premises and cloud-native workloads.”
It's an important point, and one that’s often overlooked in discussions of data center modernization. Indeed, the transformation journey is looking less like a sprint to the cloud, and more like a distance running event – a marathon, even, for some organizations. And there’s nothing wrong with that. A well-paced distance run can bring all sorts of benefits that a sprint can’t. I speak from experience here, as someone with a fair bit of (sometimes painful!) experience in running marathons, as well as (always rewarding) experience of IT transformations.
In fact, it strikes me that there’s a lot of commonality between the two. HPE Datacenter Care, our agile, cloud-like model for data center support, helps you go the full distance to hybrid cloud at your own pace. We help you to:
Understand your starting point and your goals. In any endurance run, you’ll meet people with different aims. Some are fierce competitors working to shave a few minutes off their finish. Others are simply looking to improve their overall health. Companies differ in how they approach hybrid cloud. If you're a start-up in a fast-growth sector, where it's make-or-break to be on the bleeding edge, public cloud may be a big part of your mix. If you’re an established manufacturing company with a complex IT infrastructure and a focus on efficiency, you’ll likely want to put more emphasis on the on-prem component. You’ll want to weigh carefully the public cloud’s migration costs and operational costs, as well as the potential for lock-in with the cloud providers.
Every company is different, but no matter what industry you’re in or what business model you employ, HPE Datacenter Care enables you take that first crucial step of understanding your current state and what you want to achieve. As the 451 Research report sensibly suggests, it’s worth taking the time to “assess your environment across public/private cloud, legacy systems and various vendors; discover and address pain points unique to your organization and the business units within it.”
Focus your energy. Distance running calls for a certain concentration of effort. You can’t afford wasteful detours or distractions. HPE Datacenter Care helps you focus on what’s important to your business by removing many of the repetitive, time-guzzling tasks involved in managing your complex IT environment. The recommendation from 451 Research: “Consider offloading day-to-day chores that don’t differentiate or add value.”
Tap into expert advice. When I first started doing marathons I hit a performance wall pretty quickly. I knew I could do better, but I was only making marginal improvements. I had a friend trying to qualify for Boston, and I asked him how he’d managed to knock so much time off his finishes. No rocket science – he got a coach and followed a plan. So I took all the tips I could get from my friend: “You need to do hills, you need to do short runs, you need to do strength training …” I worked at it, and sure enough in my next race I was able to take over 30 minutes off my prior times, without feeling like I was going to end up in ER!
With HPE Datacenter Care, you can leverage the knowledge of your assigned team of HPE Pointnext experts, backed by HPE’s global experience and expertise in digital transformation. We partner with you to develop a deep understanding of your business goals as well as your infrastructure. We deliver insights into the best practices and technologies that work best for your business.
As 451 Research puts it: “Given the constant onslaught of new technologies, companies need access to knowledge and staffing to take advantage of developments that can create material value while avoiding the ‘squirrel syndrome’ of pursuing every shiny new tool that comes along. The curation and expertise of a trusted advisor that continually takes the pulse of technology evolution can avoid waste and inefficiency within the organization.”
HPE Pointnext has the depth of experience and global reach to be that trusted advisor and coach for your IT modernization journey. With HPE Datacenter Care, you have a partner for the long haul.
Want to talk to our experts? Come visit us at HPE Discover in Las Vegas and attend our session, Wednesday, June 19, 2019 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. for T8550: Modernizing REI's IT operating environment with HPE Datacenter Care
Or join us on the show floor and check out the demo, DEMO1204: Modernize IT operations with HPE Datacenter Care. Learn about HPE Pointnext strategies to modernize IT operations with HPE Datacenter Care, by optimizing day-to-day tasks, streamlining technology management and transforming the approach to ITOps.
Here’s the link for the 451 Research study again: Modernizing IT Operations in Pursuit of Business Outcomes – at just a couple of pages, it’s a quick read, and definitely worth your time.
Related resources:
- RESEARCH: Modernizing IT Operations in Pursuit of Business Outcomes – 451 Research, Jan 2018
- INFOGRAPHIC: HPE Datacenter Care
- VIDEO: Learn more about HPE Datacenter Care
About the Author: 
Gerry brings to his position a well-established background in information technology and professional services, where he has worked for over 30 years. Prior to taking on his current role he held other positions in HPE including leadership for HPE’s Hyperscale Support Services, HPE’s Mission Critical Services business and HPE’s Customer Technical Training business.
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