Four Reasons to Modernize Your Organization’s IT Infrastructure

Chris Grundemann

VP, Client Success

Many organizations today rely on outdated and inefficient technology to run their business which is not only complex and costly to maintain, but also lacks flexibility. Consequently, whenever customer needs change and organizations try to develop different business models and strategies to support them, they frequently find their existing technology is no longer able to keep up.

If your organization is in this situation, below are four reasons you may want to consider modernizing your IT infrastructure sooner rather than later:

1) Respond to Digital Disruption

Over the past decade as new technologies such as the internet, mobile devices, cloud technologies, etc., have emerged and customer buying processes have changed, most organizations have switched to storing their applications and data in the cloud. In fact, a 2018 survey by IDG, a technology media organization, found that more than 73 percent of organizations now have applications or infrastructure in the cloud. (1) It’s important to remember that “cloud” is not a place, but rather a consumption model. What these organizations are striving for is an agile, IT as a Service (ITaaS) approach.

Therefore, the only way to successfully compete in this new environment, stay ahead of or quickly respond to this digital disruption, and ensure your organization will be able to take advantage of up-and-coming technologies such as artificial intelligence, the internet of things (IoT), and others in the future is by modernizing your organization’s IT infrastructure.

2) Significantly Improve Your Organization’s Security and Compliance

It doesn’t take long to browse through most mainstream newspapers and magazines these days to find multiple reports of major security incidents and data breaches. That’s because the number of security threats continues to increase.

The challenge is:

  • Most organizations now have applications and data spread out across multiple locations, such as in the cloud, in on-premises data centers, in software as a service applications, on user owned devices, etc.
  • Most of the time, these applications and data are hosted on third-party infrastructure that’s completely outside of the organization’s control.
  • As mobile workforces grow, organizations have a lot more endpoints to protect.
  • Employees are now using a variety of mobile devices they purchased themselves to connect to third-party applications over the internet, often bypassing corporate networks altogether in the process.
  • Many organizations struggle with defending outdated legacy systems against modern day cyber security threats.

On top of this, organizations must also comply with data protection and data privacy regulations such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ISO-27001, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act [SOX], the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA], and others.

Regardless of where your organization’s applications and data are, your organization is still responsible for securing them. Some of the best ways to accomplish this are by completely re-thinking your organization’s approach to security and taking steps to secure your organization’s technology infrastructure as a whole.

3) Improve Your Organization’s Performance

Whether your organization wants to improve your overall performance, increase efficiency, or simply make your IT infrastructure a lot more flexible and scalable, there are several new technology solutions available to help you do that. For instance:

  • Cloud-integrated network – This solution can provide your organization with a platform for connectivity everywhere you operate by combining the principles of software-defined networking (SDN), Intent Based Networking (IBN) and the capabilities of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) into a single network.
  • Multi-cloud infrastructure – This strategy and solution lets your organization use two or more public or private clouds from different cloud providers to optimize your operations and take advantage of ideal workload placements.
  • Secure mobile workforce – This solution enables your employees to securely work anytime, anywhere. This is especially important if your organization has a lot of employees working outside the office who are using applications and data over the internet, or if most of your organization’s applications and data are hosted on third-party infrastructure.

4) Increase Your Organization’s Visibility and Control

Often times if your organization’s applications and data reside on third-party infrastructure (such as with cloud providers or software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers), you may no longer have any visibility into or control over what applications or data can be accessed and used and by whom, or even a way to stop or prevent unauthorized access or use.

One way your organization can overcome this challenge is by adding a comprehensive solution to your infrastructure that offers identity and access management, security protection, and automation, orchestration, and analytics capabilities. This will allow your organization to gain the visibility and control you need across your entire IT infrastructure—no matter where your applications and data are.

In closing, there are many reasons to modernize your organization’s IT infrastructure. When you do, be sure to partner with an organization that understands what you’re trying to accomplish and why, and has enough knowledge about the current technology landscape and the proven experience you need to achieve your goals. That way, you’ll be better prepared to adapt and respond to continually changing customer needs in a digital age.

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