The road towardS tranSformIng It InfraStrUCtUre

Virtualization and converged infrastructure has paved the way for the next wave in IT infrastructure transformation — software defined data centers and software defined networks. We dwell on how they play a crucial role for the next-gen IT infrastructure

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There can be no doubt that the backbone for any organization is its infrastructure. For a long time, the IT infrastructure of an organization was just expected to function and keep things running in the backend. However, in the past decade, IT is increasingly being viewed as a business enabler and a key imperative to realize the innumerable cost and business benefits. We, therefore, find that more attention is being paid to IT infrastructure, in terms of architecture as well as implementation. In a traditional IT infrastructure environment, the reliance on resources is very high, as are the associated costs (monetary, time, effort, labor) of upgrading hardware and software. It is thus no surprise that over the last five years, optimization of an organization’s IT infrastructure has emerged as a key focus area.

Virtualization and converged infrastructure has paved way for the next wave in IT infrastructure transformation — software defined data centers (SDDC) and software defined networks (SDN). This means that networking; storage and security are taken off premises, virtualized and delivered as a service. The end to end operations and the deployment, configuration and provisioning of your IT infrastructure becomes automated through software. Both SDN and SDCC are the results of the consumerization of IT, changing traffic patterns, high dependence on vendors, increased cloud adoption and the overall inability of existing systems to ramp up.

What are the main elements of an SDDC or SDN?

It’s all about virtualization – network, storage and server virtualization, to be exact. And, the benefits that one can reap from having these elements off site are numerous. From business growth and getting future ready, to increased agility, flexibility, scalability and efficiency, and an overall reduction in costs and freeing of resources to concentrate on more business imperative operations, the benefits encompass the entire enterprise. You will have a much agiler and flexible infrastructure with an SDDC. SDN is dynamic and adaptable, making it highly suitable to address the myriad needs of today’s applications, and assist IT infrastructure departments in meeting these needs.

Why is an SDDC so Important?

SDDCs build on the existing virtualized environment to offer additional functionalities — a combined pool of virtual and physical resources, quick provision of services to address business needs, and the requisite flexibility and scalability to adapt to workload changes.

However, the shift is not without some issues, and every organization needs to assess its existing application architecture and identify applications that can be moved to the SDDC. Successful transition will also depend on putting in place an effective change management strategy that ensures the key people involved in the implementation are in sync with the objectives. But still, there can be no doubt that virtualization and remote data centers, with SDDC and SDN as their backbones, are the way forward for IT infrastructure, given the benefits of increased business agility, reduced costs (both CAPEX and OPEX), and streamlined data center management. With its ability to transform the future of IT infrastructure, both in terms of architecture as well as implementation, SDDC will continue to attract significant investments from major players