INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Datacentres
make it more efficient. And identifying
the gaps that threaten the meeting of
future demands becomes a far more
complex task. Trends driving the need for
change are cloud technology, growth of
data, evolving mobile working practices.
To stay competitive, businesses need to
take a holistic view of their infrastructure
and their needs and embrace flexible,
digital solutions.
Any datacentre transformation must
take into account current and emerging
technologies, as well as the role the
datacentre plays in the operational
efficiency of the business. The starting
point is not the technology but the
business needs and objectives. It is a
fundamental enabler to the success
of business units meeting their goals.
Through a full understanding of these
goals, business will arrive at an optimal
datacentre model, be this on-premises,
cloud-based, or a hybrid model.
A transformation is not an isolated
IT project. It is a change programme
to deliver efficiency through people,
processes, and software working together
and adapting to change. The voice of
the end user needs to be heard loudly
throughout programme delivery to ensure
their current and future needs are met,
in terms of performance, accessibility,
virtualisation and ease of use.
The datacentre strategy must be a holistic
strategy for the overarching business,
rather than tactical for application and
departmental needs. A transformation
is the ideal time to make operational
improvements and equip the business for
agile working and ongoing evolution. It
provides a significant opportunity to think
about how business information is currently
utilised, and if this can be improved. Central
to this is how the solution will be managed
in-life. The skills of in-house data professionals
may be better utilised by extracting value
from business data through analytics, rather
than managing infrastructure.
A digital transformation also offers the
opportunity to drive greater levels of
automation. This can have a long-term
impact on workload reduction, duplication,
and consistency. Through the automated
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Datacentre
strategy must be
a holistic strategy
for overarching
business, rather
than tactical for
application and
departmental
needs
application of rules and policies
relating to application and storage
use, security can be optimised and
business practices can be auditable
and traceable.
A datacentre transformation
should not be the swap-out of one
hard-wired, fixed infrastructure for
another. Rather, it should achieve
an outcome that is flexible and
that can continue to adapt as
the business grows and evolves.
Ultimately, a successful digital
transformation will integrate
the technology platform, the
organisational model, and the
operational processes of the
business and align these three
elements to its unique business
strategy and market position.
Post-project, an analysis of how the
planning and execution went not
only provides an assessment of the
project’s success but also a rapid
upfront view of the performance
of the new solution for senior
management and stakeholders.
With a clear understanding of
the performance of the previous
infrastructure and the objectives
and targets that were set for the
new, this comparison can be largely
automated with the right solution.
Excerpted from Datacentre
transformation and the adoption
of converged infrastructures by
Dimension Data.
6
STAGES OF
DATACENTRE
TRANSFORMATION
Transformation with the right business
outcomes can be achieved through an
effective six-stage process model.
Engage
The datacentre programme should not
be viewed as an isolated IT project, but
rather as a transformation programme
at the heart of business improvement.
It needs senior support and
collaborative execution. To avoid scope
creep, all stakeholders must contribute
in this early phase and remain engaged
throughout.
Initiate
Here current infrastructure and
operations are reviewed. An audit of
the environment will establish what
exists and how it is performing. This
audit needs to be automated, not
fixed in time, as the environment
is constantly changing during
the assessment, planning and
implementation process.
Discover
This involves an assessment of the
current state identified in stage two
and an assessment of future needs. It
is essential to define and understand
business requirements, not only for
what needs to be achieved to meet
current expectations around cost,
reliability, flexibility, and efficiency but
also to meet future demands.
Construct
Measurable objectives for the
transformation should be set so
that prospective solutions can be
benchmarked against their capability
to deliver.
Recommend
Recommendations and the roadmap
are presented. By simulating
change before implementation, all
considerations are taken into account
and any issues or obstacles are
unearthed.
Execute
The recommendations are put into
effect. There should be no surprises
with the actual data migration,
provided the planning stages have
been comprehensively covered.
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