Although the vast majority of IT organizations have implemented a broad variety of systems and tools to modernize, simplify and streamline data center operations, many are still burdened by inefficiencies, security risks and performance gaps in their IT infrastructure as well as the excessive time it takes to manage legacy infrastructure, according to the State of IT Transformation, a report from Datrium.
The report indicates inefficiencies, performance gaps, security holes and management time of legacy infrastructure jeopardize companies' transformation initiatives.
"In today's always-on business climate, digital transformation is key to creating competitive advantage. However, to achieve complete digital transformation, IT must be transformed as well. Unfortunately, for many organizations, the time, energy and resources that should be dedicated to the execution of strategic digital transformation initiatives are instead being wasted on running antiquated legacy infrastructure that's overly complex and time-intensive to manage," said Tim Page, CEO at Datrium.
Liberated by Automation, IT Would Transform Faster to Support the Always-on Business
With the exponential growth of data that organizations are producing, storing and analyzing, IT organizations are becoming increasingly overburdened by the need to manage infrastructure that is ill-equipped for the ever-more complex data center.
More than 87 percent of respondents stated they would spend more time on strategic initiatives if they were able to simplify and automate routine tasks. However, inadequate infrastructure frequently keeps this goal out of reach.
■ As 41 percent of respondents identified, the time required to manage legacy infrastructure is one of the most significant barriers preventing their companies from reaching their IT transformation goals.
■ For many respondents, the most critical challenge caused by the growth in the volume, variety and velocity of data is the excessive amount of time spent managing infrastructure.
■ After cost savings, time savings was identified as the second most common consideration IT organizations take into account when assessing if their infrastructure is meeting expectations.
More Than Half of IT Pros Cite Performance Deficiency Due to Volume, Variety and Velocity of Data
Among the various challenges caused by the exponential growth of data, application performance deficiencies were the biggest concern for organizations, with more than 50 percent of respondents identifying this as an issue.
■ 40 percent of IT professionals surveyed believe their data center infrastructure is either not adequately equipped, or only somewhat equipped, to manage all of their organization's demanding workloads.
■ Nearly one-third (28 percent) of IT professionals find it challenging to provide adequate data security in the face of exponential data growth.
■ The top concern among those claiming their infrastructure cannot properly manage their demanding workloads is that the hyperconverged systems do not scale to meet their needs.
Despite Budget Constraints, Majority Plan to Increase Spend on IT Transformation
Cost is a major consideration for organizations when implementing IT transformation initiatives. According to survey results, cost savings was selected by 52 percent of respondents as the primary measurement of whether IT infrastructure is meeting the goals that have been set for it.
When asked about barriers to achieving their IT transformation objectives, nearly half of survey respondents (49 percent) named budget constraints as a reason.
■ Although transforming IT can be a costly upfront endeavour, many organizations also view it as an investment that will help provide longer-term cost savings.
■ At 86 percent, the vast majority of respondents anticipate that their company will increase its investment in IT transformation over the next five years.
Asked whether they would find value in having their primary and backup storage on a single platform that doesn't require paying extra for backup –– thereby reducing IT spend –– 70 percent of respondents agree that it would be valuable.
The Modern Data Center is Becoming Increasingly Multicloud
The survey showed that the most common steps companies have taken to modernize and transform IT are related to the implementation of cloud in the data center. The top three steps respondents identified were the use of private cloud infrastructure (43 percent), public cloud infrastructure (42 percent) and hybrid cloud (35 percent).
In fact, many organizations are using multiple public cloud providers to manage their data and transform IT –– 42 percent of respondents operate a multicloud data center, with 32 percent using a combination of on-premises infrastructure and multiple public clouds, while 10 percent are only using multiple public clouds.
After cloud initiatives, the IT transformation technologies that respondents reported having already implemented most were: virtualization, data management automation and hyperconverged infrastructure.
■ Regarding the use of hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI), 56 percent of respondents noted that their organizations already have HCI deployed in their data centers, while an additional 18 percent are currently evaluating the technology.
■ However, 34 percent of IT respondents say the HCI systems they are aware of don't scale to meet their needs.
Methodology: The findings in the report were based on the results of a survey of more than 540 IT professionals.
