Enabling Digital Transformation

Digital transformation integrates technology into all areas of an organization’s business or mission. Its fundamental purpose is to create and deliver innovative and industry-changing products and services to a global customer base.

This outcome requires the seamless two-way flow of data and information between internal business processes and external processes that interact with customers, business partners and the relevant industry ecosystem.

Hybrid cloud computing supports that outcome by enabling ubiquitous, convenient and on-demand network access to shared and configurable computing resources that can be used by anyone to access digital products and services from anywhere, at any time and on any device.

Hybrid cloud has proven to be a viable solution for delivering quantum improvements in operational capability, market relevance and business profit. The transition to hybrid cloud, however, is hard work. It demands time and attention from the most skilled members of your team. And that alone seems a challenge. A recent report from Frost & Sullivan sheds light on what companies are experiencing first-hand.

Hybrid cloud strategy

According to the report, 80% of IT leaders say that a hybrid cloud strategy is essential to remaining competitive in their industry, and 75% say that cloud computing is the most critical part of their entire digital transformation strategy.

Frost & Sullivan report: Data center challenges may slow digital transformation

The report also suggests that “the path toward a modern, efficient, cloud-enabled data center is engaging the right IT support partner.†Frost & Sullivan points out that 34% of IT leaders worldwide say they have engaged with a partner for data center services, and another 44% say they plan to do so in the next two years.

The challenges these leaders cite include:

• Difficulty with managing a complex and difficult environment, highlighting integrating data center and cloud environments as the top concern
• The need to have technical staff focused on routine management and maintenance tasks, leaving too few resources devoted to strategic initiatives
• The administrative struggle to manage many vendors and providers in their hybrid cloud or data center environment
• Poor or inconsistent application performance across a hybrid environment
• The imperative to deploy open source projects in their hybrid environments as a way of increasing speed and agility in software development
• Lack of enough in-house cloud expertise and the challenge associated with hiring and retaining qualified staff

Vendor agnostic

Frost & Sullivan says an effective IT support partner should be vendor agnostic and able to manage a hybrid IT environment (traditional data center and cloud) in a consistent manner. The consultancy suggests a prospective partner should be able to prove expertise across a broad range of hardware, software and IT services, as well as readiness to address future technology needs.

Bottom line: If you want to maintain leadership in your industry through digital transformation and hybrid cloud, experts recommend teaming up with a trusted partner.