Tech Trends
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Q. What are the tech trends that my company should be considering?
A. Below are top system architecture trends that help businesses remain competitive, protect critical data, and support cross-team access of intelligence.
TREND 1
Save energy consumption by virtualizing infrastructure.
Rather than laboring to oversee, protect and pay for bloated onsite data centers and convoluted infrastructure, many companies are virtualizing their servers and desktops. Creating a virtual version of an actual object allows processes to be pooled into virtual machines (VM). These VMs can be more efficiently and effectively stored on a much smaller physical hardware environment and accessed in a more flexible way.
Virtualization can also decrease server energy consumption by as much as 82 percent and take up to 85 percent less floor space, according to Gartner*. Reducing energy consumption is a significant cost-saving measure—instead of 25 underutilized servers, a company can operate with just three servers, virtualized machines and a storage area network.
TREND 2
Leverage economies of scale by moving into the cloud.
Industry has begun to invest heavily in the cloud to avoid spending on application updates, software patches and IT infrastructure. Online backup in the cloud delivers a convenient way to ensure data is safe against damage or disaster.
Moving infrastructure management offsite to a cloud data center enables organizations to take advantage of next-gen support systems they wouldn't otherwise be able to afford, manage or maintain—such as comprehensive network security, redundant cooling and real-time backup. A cloud services provider offers its high-performance data centers, continuous monitoring and redundant, enterprise-grade network bandwidth to enable business continuity and information security strategies.
TREND 3
Quit worrying about technology and go run your business.
Staying ahead of rapidly escalating data complexity and associated costs is causing some companies to look for an IT exit strategy. They want to simplify technology to focus on their core business.
Delegating select IT tasks and processes reduces costs, improves efficiency and safeguards priceless data and information systems. IT-as-a-Service (ITaaS) can be tailored to fit the unique needs of an organization. Any, or all IT functions can be outsourced. Managed IT services mitigate operational and security challenges that cause lost profitability, customer churn and a tarnished reputation. A strategic understanding of long-term business goals is key to a successful ITaaS partnership.
*Gartner is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company.
Qualify the IT Needs of Your Company
If your company identifies with any of these areas, you need to look for additional advice from a Data Center Solutions Consultant.
1. Growing
2. Big Seasonal Fluctuations
3. Disaster Recovery
TK EXPERTS:
Kelly Lipprand, Data Center Solution Consultant, ISG Technology
Amber Oetting, Senior Account Executive, ISG Technology
