Networks Europe Jul-Aug 2018 | Page 46

46 THE DATA CENTRE OF TOMORROW Doing things differently By Angelo Apa, Technical Sales and Business Development Director, Lenovo DCG - www.lenovo.com/data-center IT infrastructure will be the key enabler of digital transformation underpinning successful IT initiatives Some businesses are born digital. Others are burdened by legacy technology and have a lot to do to get up to speed. Regardless, all strive to achieve a journey without limits. And, in the era of emerging technologies and technical capabilities, it’s clear that doing things different in digital is going to be a competitive advantage. This has created an avalanche of opportunity. Emerging technologies, like AI and AR, all promise vast potential for digital advantage, but every business in 2018 and beyond needs to find its own way to stand out from the crowd of adopters. Operating differently Innovation and opportunity are moving at light speed. This has created a vortex of challenges as businesses seek to emerge from the constraints of legacy technology. Without the flexibility of a modern data centre underpinning IT initiatives, digital transformation and the adoption of emerging technologies is doomed to stutter and fail. Those who achieve ‘ultimate agility’ in the data centre will flourish as their IT platforms attune to ever-evolving business needs. The speed at which you operate is your most strategic asset. You need to be able to seamlessly add services, applications and workloads to meet modern-day customer requirements. This is where flexibility proves crucial. One size does not fit all, and you need to consider the vast amount of technologies entering the data centre, and what’s required to realise their benefits. The best of both worlds Many businesses have reservations about moving their entire IT infrastructure to the cloud. A hybrid IT environment, offering the best of the private and public cloud worlds, is best to meet both business and IT goals. Perhaps the most significant benefit is it means innovative technologies can be integrated as and when needed – a key ability in the quickly changing landscape of emerging technologies and digital capabilities. Not only will a hybrid approach enable greater flexibility, but it will also result in a better total cost of ownership (TCO), www.networkseuropemagazine.com