INTELLIGENT CLOUD
As technology evolves and workforce
expectations change, businesses, IT
leaders and workers must adapt – instead
of digging their heels in – if they want to
succeed moving forwards. Success in this
digital world, according to Gartner, requires
“flipping from a ‘legacy-first’ to an outside-
in, ‘digital-first’ leadership mindset.”
Some businesses, intent on creating
competitive differentiation, are looking
to their IT Service Management (ITSM)
systems to accelerate service delivery and
provide solutions that empower a growing
millennial workforce. Unfortunately, legacy
ITSM systems – typically ageing, on-
premises solutions – aren’t up to the task
and are hindering IT’s ability to keep pace
and ultimately putting businesses at risk of
falling behind, for four key reasons.
1. On-premises delivery
mechanism contributes to
high IT costs
Most legacy ITSM systems are based on
an on-premises model. The application
stack is implemented in the datacentre
and is supported by on-premises servers,
As more and
more businesses
embrace the
cloud as a trusted
enterprise
infrastructure,
they’re also
expecting to
work with real
cloud solutions
that conform to
a modern cloud
environment.
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The public
cloud market is
growing faster
than projected.
operating systems, databases and other
infrastructure components. With this
model, legacy ITSM systems that are
supposed to act as a business accelerator
ironically contribute to the high cost of
merely keeping the lights on. As such,
the on-premises delivery model further
drains IT budgets and prevents teams from
pursuing innovation and progress.
2. Multiple technologies create
added complexity
Many legacy ITSM systems are based on
a cobbled set of different technologies
that have come together through mergers
and acquisitions. These pieced-together
systems make central visibility and
reporting a nightmare for IT teams as they
struggle to get systems talking to each
other and reporting out the same data.
These systems are not easily integrated,
and they’re difficult to customise and
adapt to constantly changing business
requirements. The technological reality is
that they are actually holding the business
back, making it that much harder to turn
IT into a business driver.
3. Closed frameworks
block agility
Legacy ITSM systems typically involve
closed frameworks that are set up in an
authoritative manner. These systems are
likely delivering against a predefined set
of best practices that tightly adhere to
methodologies like ITIL or ISO 20000.
While these processes are beneficial, many
businesses today want to couple IT tooling
with business innovation, and a cookie-
cutter set of best practices can only take
them so far. They want the ability to build
a unique set of processes – customised
ITSM service delivery capabilities –
aligned with the way they do business.
Legacy ITSM systems simply don’t have
the agility required to adapt and support
requests coming from the business side of
the organisation.
4. Not all clouds are created equal
There’s no denying that the cloud is
a business accelerator, meeting high
standards for performance, security, quality
of service and business continuity. The
public cloud market is growing faster than
projected and, according to a Forrester
report, predicts it will reach $191 billion
by 2020. As more and more businesses
embrace the cloud as a trusted enterprise
infrastructure, they’re also expecting to
work with real cloud solutions that conform
to a modern cloud environment. It’s not as
simple as taking the functionality of an on-
premises solution and moving it to a cloud.
When looking for the right cloud solution,
it’s important to consider how your data is
handled, multi-tenancy issues, performance
expectations, security and more. The reality
is that many vendors aren’t equipped to
deliver to the expectations of a modern
cloud environment.
Information technology looks very
different today from just a few years ago.
Virtual environments, private/public
clouds, mobility and big data are no longer
considered disruptive technologies, but
part of the natural fabric that makes up
most IT infrastructures today. These
trends are changing the way IT operates.
Similarly, ITSM solutions must change
the way employees work today; how
they request and receive services, and
ultimately perform.
IT departments that are ‘getting by’
with their legacy ITSM systems will very
soon hit a point when the challenges
and risks become prohibitive. Change is
inevitable, as forces outside the business
demonstrate. It’s up to businesses to
decide how they’re going to respond to
that change. For many, it requires a major
internal shift that allows IT to quickly and
flexibly offer the services that best equip
a modern workforce. This is the way that
organisations can move towards greater
differentiation and, of course, stay relevant
in today’s digital world.
Issue 09
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS