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Technology has brought about new ways of transmitting and
sharing information. In today's ever-changing world, you don't always need
computers to transit information. It can be sent and received through mobile
phones, PDAs, wrist-watches and even automobiles. In fact, technology has thrown
open challenges for organizations across the world. The IT infrastructure of
organizations today needs to be versatile. Organizations require an
infrastructure that should be simple to use, can be continually updated, allows
access to information anywhere in the world, requires minimal maintenance and,
above all, is reliable.
Most CIOs work under cost constraints. Given the cost pressures
and the fast-pace of technological changes, how does an organization plan for
its IT infrastructure? The answer is quite simple. Planning for an organization's
IT infrastructure is no different from making a blueprint before constructing a
house. You need to make provisions for the future.
Make an IT Master Plan
The advantages of having an IT master plan are multiple. First, it
identifies all business-driven initiatives that need to be undertaken in order
to make a transition to the new IT infrastructure. Second, it provides necessary
information to support the long-term financial business case (for switching to
the new IT infrastructure). Third, a strong master plan enables managers to
resist pressure from individual departments or business units to include ad hoc
components to meet their special IT requirements. In this way, organizations can
avoid building infrastructure that doesn't align itself with its long-term
goals. And finally, a master plan can ensure that the organization's security
policies are enacted through controls embedded in the IT infrastructure. A
master plan can also help organizations better understand how and when to invest
in new technologies.
Once the master plan has been chalked out, organizations need to
standardize and consolidate their operations. Standardization prohibits
organizations from investing in systems and resources that don't comply with
the new IT infrastructure. Consolidation and standardization bring about
savings.
Streamline Operations
An organization's IT infrastructure also provides a foundation on which an
organization can build innovative applications by making modest investments.
Organizations also need to streamline their operations in order
to reduce costs and become more efficient. Offshoring and outsourcing functions
is one way of streamlining operations.
In future, organizations will be able to procure IT services in
much the same manner as they buy electricity or other utilities. They will be
able to tap into the particular infrastructure components and resources they
need in order to manage the crests and troughs of business demand. They will buy
what they need, when and where they need it, choosing from a variety of sources
and pay only for what they actually use. This concept is known as 'utility
computing'.
Predictive operations (the ability to address problems, such as
capacity overloads, before they happen) and virtualization of the data center
(the ability to monitor, control, load-balance and fix remote infrastructure
components) are two early elements of utility computing that are available
today. Accenture estimates that it will be another three to five years before
organizations will be able to fully leverage the opportunity for dynamic
provisioning both inside and outside the firewall.
Dr Bhaskar Ghosh,
senior executive, Accenture
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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