Infrastructure Roadmap
Yes there is a great visual roadmap for Dynamics but did you also know that you have a roadmap for the infrastructure side of the house as well. It is less visual but it is known as our Infrastructure Optimization Journey. The Infrastructure Optimization Journey takes you on the roadmap of getting your infrastructure to a place where it is a strategic asset to your company and it helps your company maintain that competitive edge in the industry.
The Infrastructure Optimization Model helps you realize dramatic cost savings for your IT infrastructure by moving from an unmanaged environment towards a dynamic environment. Security improves from highly vulnerable in a Basic infrastructure to dynamically proactive in a more mature infrastructure. IT infrastructure management changes from highly manual and reactive to highly automated and proactive.
The four stages in the Infrastructure Optimization Model are the following:
Basic: "We fight fires" – IT is considered a cost center. This infrastructure is characterized by manual, localized processes. Customers with this infrastructure find their environments extremely hard to control and manage.
Standardized: "We're Gaining Control" – More Efficient Cost Center. Introduces controls through the use of standards and policies to manage desktops and servers. This infrastructure has realized the basic standards and some policies, yet you are still quite reactive.
Rationalized: "We Enable Business" – Business Enabler. Where cost involved in managing desktops and servers are at their lowest and processes and policies are playing a large role in supporting and expanding the business. Security is extremely proactive with strict policies and control from the desktop to server to firewall to extranet.
Dynamic: "We're a Strategic Asset" – Dynamic infrastructure customers are fully aware of the strategic value their infrastructure provides in helping them run their business efficiently and staying ahead of competitors. Processes are fully automated enabling IT to be aligned and managed according to business needs. The use of self-provisioning software and quarantine-like systems for ensuring patch management and compliance with established security policies enables this organization to automate processes.
When you are considering upgrading/migrating the maturity of your infrastructure makes a difference. IT maturity is poor for most organizations, with 55% Basic, 39% Standardized, and only 6% Rationalized or Dynamic. The cost of upgrading/migrating a basic or standardized infrastructure will be more than that of a rationalized infrastructure; so it does matter.
Take the Infrastructure Optimization Self-Assessment and determine the state of your current infrastructure. Get guidance on how to get to the next level, along with the technologies that will help you get there. Map out your journey to better optimize your infrastructure and better align your IT with the business needs.