Data is the driving force behind business success

In today’s dynamic technology landscape, data serves as the lifeblood of the enterprise, flowing vital information through a network of IT veins and arteries to deliver resources exactly where they are needed. Just as how innovations in medicine and nutrition have changed the way we live, advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and increasingly complex applications are necessitating a reevaluation of where and how data is stored and processed. 

 One of the most significant effects of these new technologies is the substantial increase in the volume of data traversing the system, progressively generated at the edge. All this data is a gold mine of information about past business performance, assessment of current conditions, and projection of future trends. Yet, most organizations don’t have a clear view of their data, and hence, they’re unable to reap its advantage.

Centralization and security in the data center 

Data is ubiquitous. However, what is hindering the potential to extract maximum insights from the data? Much like blood flow limited by clogs in aging arteries, data flow, and utilization are impeded by legacy data centers and IT infrastructure that aren’t designed to handle the data volume and velocity from today’s cloud-native applications and workloads, compounded by security vulnerabilities in dated infrastructure. Secure and free-flowing data is the lynchpin on which future business success lies. 

To safeguard the continual stream of secure data, a data center architectural shift is imperative—one in which workloads are processed closer to where data is being created and to distribute intelligence to all edge locations. Many organizations are unprepared to make this shift, facing edges of siloed compute and storage connected via disjointed network architectures, with operating models that hinder centralized management, orchestration, security, and visibility. 

The data center of the future 

India has emerged as one of the most rapidly scaling data center markets in the APAC region, securing the 14^th position globally in terms of its data center inventory, as stated in the CII-Colliers report. Today, as data generation is increasing and data centers are expanding at an accelerated pace, what’s needed is a new architectural approach, one that is edge-centric, cloud-enabled, and data-driven. A simple, fast, and secure cloud experience, packaged in a flexible consumption model—whether for traditional data centers, co-location sites, or new digital edges—is the hallmark of the data center of the future. 

To reach that point, it is imperative to turn to the network, as it is a critical pathway where data is transported and secured on its way to be further processed into business insight. The network is the connective fabric for all data, apps, and workloads, which makes it the perfect conduit to deliver the advanced network and security services necessary for today’s edge-to-cloud data center. Centralized, siloed legacy systems do not take advantage of the network in this way, severely limiting performance, scale, and security, and impacting application and user experience. But how can we transition from legacy architectures and outdated operating models to the data center of tomorrow? 

A distributed services architecture delivers networking and security services through the network fabric, using automation to simplify and secure data operations at the service network layer edge where applications are running. Decentralizing network and security functions from appliances and applications allows data traffic to flow freely through the system, optimizing network bandwidth, reducing complexity, eliminating centralized chokepoints and appliance sprawl, and enabling micro-segmentation for improved security.  

That’s just half the equation. Now, these new distributed services technologies must be delivered in a fast, safe, and highly scalable way that addresses increasing data volume generated from disparate locations. The ability to consume infrastructure as-a-service is an essential requirement for new era data centers, ensuring services are extended, exactly where and when they are needed, whether at the edge, in a private data center, or at a co-location facility. Edge-to-cloud IaaS models offer additional benefits in terms of performance, data sovereignty, total cost of ownership, and sustainability. 

Data is pivotal to business success

With data volumes growing exponentially and data increasingly generated at the edge, a shift from centralized data centers to more distributed ones is underway. New architectures, delivered via a flexible consumption model, will ensure the secure flow of vital data required to make the informed, data-driven decisions upon which the future of business depends. 

Data is the cornerstone of business success, with the data center positioned at its core. It’s time to appropriately address outdated, legacy data center operating models that are clogging the system—with modern technology solutions, designed to precisely deliver that.  

By Prakash Krishnamoorthy, Director - India at HPE Aruba Networking