IT Infrastructure Outsourcing: Competing with Technology

Technology has brought about new ways of transmitting and

sharing information. In today's ever-changing world, you don't always need

computers to transit information. It can be sent and received through mobile

phones, PDAs, wrist-watches and even automobiles. In fact, technology has thrown

open challenges for organizations across the world. The IT infrastructure of

organizations today needs to be versatile. Organizations require an

infrastructure that should be simple to use, can be continually updated, allows

access to information anywhere in the world, requires minimal maintenance and,

above all, is reliable.

Most CIOs work under cost constraints. Given the cost pressures

and the fast-pace of technological changes, how does an organization plan for

its IT infrastructure? The answer is quite simple. Planning for an organization's

IT infrastructure is no different from making a blueprint before constructing a

house. You need to make provisions for the future.

Make an IT Master Plan



The advantages of having an IT master plan are multiple. First, it
identifies all business-driven initiatives that need to be undertaken in order

to make a transition to the new IT infrastructure. Second, it provides necessary

information to support the long-term financial business case (for switching to

the new IT infrastructure). Third, a strong master plan enables managers to

resist pressure from individual departments or business units to include ad hoc

components to meet their special IT requirements. In this way, organizations can

avoid building infrastructure that doesn't align itself with its long-term

goals. And finally, a master plan can ensure that the organization's security

policies are enacted through controls embedded in the IT infrastructure. A

master plan can also help organizations better understand how and when to invest

in new technologies.

Once the master plan has been chalked out, organizations need to

standardize and consolidate their operations. Standardization prohibits

organizations from investing in systems and resources that don't comply with

the new IT infrastructure. Consolidation and standardization bring about

savings.

Streamline Operations



An organization's IT infrastructure also provides a foundation on which an
organization can build innovative applications by making modest investments.

Organizations also need to streamline their operations in order

to reduce costs and become more efficient. Offshoring and outsourcing functions

is one way of streamlining operations.

In future, organizations will be able to procure IT services in

much the same manner as they buy electricity or other utilities. They will be

able to tap into the particular infrastructure components and resources they

need in order to manage the crests and troughs of business demand. They will buy

what they need, when and where they need it, choosing from a variety of sources

and pay only for what they actually use. This concept is known as 'utility

computing'.

Predictive operations (the ability to address problems, such as

capacity overloads, before they happen) and virtualization of the data center

(the ability to monitor, control, load-balance and fix remote infrastructure

components) are two early elements of utility computing that are available

today. Accenture estimates that it will be another three to five years before

organizations will be able to fully leverage the opportunity for dynamic

provisioning both inside and outside the firewall.

Dr Bhaskar Ghosh,

senior executive, Accenture



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