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Next Generation ICT Delivery Models
By
Clive Ryan, Director, Advisory Services
The
last few decades have seen seismic changes in the way ICT
is delivered to the enterprise. Since the 1950s, business
computing has transformed from the original central mainframes,
to ‘mini’ computers, through the PC enabled, GUI
interfaced client/server distributed computing boom of the
1990s. Entering the 21st century ICT departments had to manage
a vast array of applications across a sprawling hardware infrastructure.
This sparked a transition to today's principal trends in ICT
delivery:
- a
re-centralisation of ICT, powered by vast server farms;
- server
virtualisation, where IT is still centralised but essential
hardware is consolidated;
- desktop
virtualisation;
- the
introduction of quality processes and management techniques
in ICT governance, service management and assurance (e.g.
ITIL, COBIT).
These
trends are accelerating. However we are now seeing our
clients give serious consideration to an ‘off-premises’
ICT delivery model - where their ICT capability might
be hosted, managed and provided by a third party service
organisation. But what are the benefits to your enterprise
of adopting a new model? What elements make sense for
your unique needs?
What's your model?
The majority of enterprises will find themselves somewhere
on the road between legacy client/server architectures
and re-centralisation, with the most forward-thinking
enterprises investigating the benefits of virtualisation.
Re-centralisation of
IT offers significant benefits which by now are familiar
to most IT directors, including the elimination of server
sprawl. But maximising the efficiency of IT delivery
doesn't begin and end with centralisation. The real
winning combination is centralisation twinned with managed
services. A growing number of organisations are recognising
the benefits of using a best-in-class managed services
partner for systems hosting and management, including
economies of scale, skills on tap, and ongoing access to the emerging systems and techniques that can make a competitive difference, from Software as a Service (SaaS) to virtualisation.
Get
centralised, get organised
At eircom Advisory Services, we advise our customers
on how to develop an integrated strategy for efficient
IT delivery to the enterprise, typically using the managed
services model. Elements of the strategy may include
the following:
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Datacentres: Most world-class organisations now appreciate that using
a best-of-breed, world-class datacentre is more efficient
than hosting their centralised infrastructure in-house.
But don't forget to look at all the qualities of your
provider when making the choice. Can your hosting partner
deliver true managed services, or are they simply ‘minding
boxes’? Do they have room to grow with you? Are
they using state-of-the-art or yesterday's datacentre
management systems? Does your datacentre strive to minimise
its impact on the environment?
Virtualisation:
If you are thinking green, hardware virtualisation
can make an important contribution. Servers, in particular,
are a frequent green offender, as companies have traditionally
chosen to have one server for one application to ease
maintenance and upgrades. But developments in operating
system technology now allow "virtual" servers
to be run on one physical machine - maintenance on one
application won't affect its neighbours. It all adds
up to real savings in power and hardware consumption.
And if storage and desktops are also virtualised - techniques
which again use software to reduce the number of physical
boxes needed - a company's green profile can be dramatically
improved.
Software as a Service: With SaaS, software
is hosted and maintained via the network, not on local
machines. Significant time and money savings are possible,
as well as efficiency improvements thanks to the universal
availability of the latest program versions. But do
check your network provider's track record for reliability,
as business reliance on the network increases significantly
with SaaS. Also emerging now is Communications as a
Service (CaaS) - hosted IP telephony delivered from
a third-party datacentre - offering opportunities to
cut the expense and maintenance of onsite communications
equipment.
IT
governance models: At eircom Advisory Services,
we help companies move from a purely operational IT
skillset to a skillset of ‘managing the managed
service providers’. We help companies develop
the ability to clearly communicate with ICT partners,
establish and monitor Service Levels, and do effective
capacity planning - a vital component in getting the
best from the managed services model.
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What
can eircom Advisory Services do for you?
Few organisations will opt to implement all of the models
outlined above, all at once. Some enterprises will also
prefer to look to a hybrid model, retaining some resources
onsite while hosting others. If you're dealing with these
strategic questions now, please don't hesitate to contact
me or my colleagues at eircom Advisory Services. Whatever
route your enterprise chooses, we're committed to providing
the information and the insights that will allow you to
make an informed choice.
Contact Clive Ryan at ryanc@eircom.ie, telephone 085 1745281 or visit www.eircom.ie/advisoryservices
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Strategy
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