THE DEATH OF
TRADITIONAL
DATA CENTERS
THE MOVE TOWARDS SOFTWARE-DEFINED DATA CENTERS THAT
FACILITATE CLOUD OPTIMIZATION
By Chris Howard, Vice President, U.S. Federal, Nutanix
LEGACY IT infrastructure is taking an increasingly smaller
role in government as software-driven platforms, cloud
computing, and subscription-based and managed services
pave the way for modern mission execution. The recent
award of the JEDI contract by the Department of Defense is
proof-positive that U.S. Federal and Defense organizations
are evolving their role in owning and operating IT.
There is no easy button to modernize IT operations, reduce
costs, increase security, and enhance mission effectiveness.
Most Federal organizations we have seen take an all-in
approach to one model or another are shifting to a more
heterogeneous approach, owning and operating some IT assets
and functions, and renting or outsourcing some things to
public cloud and/or managed services providers. Maintaining a
diverse ecosystem of IT and trusted providers ensures that each
element plays the role for which it is best suited. The added
benefit of empowering buyers and keeping vendors competitive
further establishes the case for a more hybrid approach.
According to the GAO 1 , the U.S. Federal governments spend
about $90 billion a year on IT as agencies continue efforts to
modernize their IT infrastructure. The promise of 60% lower
cost of operations, 39% reduced IT infrastructure costs, and
93% fewer outages is compelling for all levels of Federal IT
organizations. Without these investments, government agencies
can’t lean into technologies that are changing the world, and
that will change the way they fulfill their missions forever.
36 • CESGovernment.com
AI, IOT, EDGE COMPUTING
Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, and edge
computing are making repeatable tasks a thing of the past
for Federal IT professionals. Although we hear intentions
voiced from time to time about “getting out of the IT
business,” the demand for IT skills remains incredibly high,
as does competition with private sector employers for talent.
Automating mundane, repeatable IT tasks, and enabling Federal
IT professionals to focus on the exciting and rewarding work
of government—the mission work—will give a little of the
edge back to agencies in the competitive market for IT skills.
CLOUD OPTIMIZATION
Few, if any, Federal or Defense agencies are running a
single cloud. The vast majority of our customers have
multiple cloud instances, which is the result of many
factors: different programs, different budgets, different
requirements. There is never a one-size-fits-all solution, but
having such a variety of solutions within one organization
certainly warrants attention to how each investment can be
optimized. Proven, modular solutions—like Xi Beam from
Nutanix—help organizations rationalize which resources
to use and when to optimize performance, costs, and
security. IT leaders with this sort of information can make
the best decisions on where to run different application
workloads—on premises or in the public cloud.