The constantly evolving business environment in which they operate, along with the ever growing demands of customers, have left companies no other choice but to keep up with advancements and trends, in order to stay afloat. And part of the efforts surrounding the challenging tasks of being up to date and staying technologically relevant, includes measures that must be taken to enhance IT infrastructure.
The latter’s optimization is not an assignment that can be completed overnight, nor is it the simplest of operations, but its benefits are well worth it. And, just to name a few, we will be mentioning cost reduction, increased performance, and flexibility, as some of the advantages that have caught the eye of businesses interested in optimizing their IT infrastructure.
So, where should companies begin their journey towards an enhanced information technology infrastructure? Well, for starters, one should be aware of the fact that there is more than one way of upgrading IT infrastructure, there are three! So, in no particular order, let’s briefly describe these methods.
The first type of IT infrastructure optimization is the one that focuses on the cloud infrastructure. More specifically, on the actions taken to improve both hardware and software components, whether it is servers or different types of software, that all make cloud computing possible. To put it in simple words, cloud infrastructure optimization involves a thorough assessment regarding the current state of the company’s IT infrastructure, and taking actions accordingly. Whether it is implementing newer cloud technologies, such as microservices, or allocating resources more efficiently, such efforts that this strategy includes, result in cost effectiveness and a boost in performance.
Next, there is the on-premise infrastructure optimization, that usually translates into reducing the number of systems such as processors and machines, that businesses believe to have become useless. This strategy is especially used for its benefits surrounding cost reduction, but at the same time, implies more risks, if not implemented with caution and careful planning.
And last but not least, the third strategy that we will be touching upon, is that involving relocating resources from on-premise to the cloud. This type of optimization offers important benefits such as flexibility, scalability, increased security, and cost efficiency, which make it quite appealing for businesses that haven’t already moved their IT infrastructure to the cloud. Moreover, considering that adopting such a strategy implies handing over responsibilities to a cloud provider, businesses also take advantage of the constant monitoring and incident management that vendors must offer.
So now that we have seen what businesses’ options are in terms of IT infrastructure optimization, let’s go through the steps that each company must take after deciding upon the type of strategy they wish to implement. And the first move is that related to the assessment of the business’ current situation; what resources it possesses, how many machines, what their capacity is, and how optimizing infrastructure will impact the company. Every possible scenario must be taken into account, and a clear imagine of the business’ current status must be created. If optimizing the IT infrastructure still seems like a good idea after such an analysis, companies can move on to the next phase, which is planning.
This second step refers to the planning of actions that will be taken in the optimization process. In this sense, such operations will be sketched out carefully, and in accordance with the conclusions that companies have come to in the previous phase. In the on-premise optimization’s case, as we have seen earlier, businesses have to decide which machines they wish to let go of, but without it negatively affecting the company’s performance. The cloud optimization on the other hand, involves planning more complex actions, which must be taken once businesses have determined the actual workload for the cloud, identified the available resources, and closely monitored cloud usage.
After conducting a thorough analysis and planning further actions so as to increase performance, reduce costs, and streamline processes, companies can take the next step, which consists of the actual implementation of the optimization strategy. This means eliminating processors, machines or decreasing capacity, in the on-premise optimization’s case, and switching cloud providers, integrating newer cloud technologies, migrating to other platforms, or making architectural changes, in the cloud optimization’s case.
Conclusion
Businesses that wish to optimize their IT infrastructure must first and foremost, look into the options that they can choose from. Whether it is on-premise optimization, cloud optimization or whether they prefer to shift from on-premise to the cloud, companies have to conduct audits, plan carefully, and only after taking these steps, move on to implementing the strategy that they have decided upon.
Choose Arnia Software for your IT outsourcing projects.
We have successfully completed several projects for clients ranging from Fortune 500 to Forbes 50, and our excellent software development capabilities, along with our innovative approach and our team of experienced software engineers, recommend us as the preferred software development company in Romania. Our services cover web and mobile applications, web design, big data solutions, database management systems, e-commerce solutions, cloud-enabled solutions, content management solutions, business intelligence and R&D.