To deliver transformative business value, IT teams need to modernize their approach to infrastructure, storage and data. The goal, as discussed throughout this special section, is to evolve to a model where data is delivered as a service—wherever, whenever and however it is needed. If you can maximize the value of data from the data center to the edge to any cloud, you can create long-term business value and leverage intelligence and analytics across the entire enterprise.
From a technology standpoint, specific features and functions are foundational to this new model. They are:
- A common data architecture that enables consistent management of data whether it is in the data center, in the cloud or at the edge. This eliminates silos, simplifies management for IT and enables the business to maximize the value of its data regardless of where it physically resides.
- A hybrid/multicloud model that supports seamless integration with all of the major public cloud services, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. We are in a hybrid, multicloud world where 92% of enterprises have multiple clouds and 82% have a hybrid cloud strategy, per the Flexera 2021 State of the Cloud Report.1
- Software-defined infrastructure that leverages a unified data services management platform with the ability to move data seamlessly between the data center, public cloud and edge. This hybrid cloud model should enable nondisruptive operations and infrastructure upgrades, while simplifying backup and recovery.
- Flexible deployment and consumption models that enable data-as-a-service delivery, on-demand self-service where the business needs it, elastic scalability and flexibility to meet the performance requirements of any workload.
- Support for modern cloud-native development techniques and orchestration tools such as microservices and Kubernetes, plus persistent data for containerized applications, infrastructure as code, autoscaling, cloud optimization services and more.
With a modern hybrid/multicloud platform and architecture in place, the business can focus on the organizational and operational steps it can take to achieve transformative business value. These include:
- As a first step, align technologies, architecture and infrastructure solutions to the applications and services the business needs. This requires the ability to easily and seamlessly deliver data services on premises, at the edge or in the public cloud.
- As a second step, use the new platform and architecture to augment and improve business processes the organization has already implemented by unlocking the power of its data.
- As a third step, embed any newly developed thinking, catalogues or capabilities in existing functions and processes. This will unlock new business outcomes that are possible only when they are combined with existing institutional knowledge.
- As part of this overall process of transformation, focus on specific and measurable progress that can be tied to business outcomes and revenue-generating KPIs. This will not only transform the business; it will also transform the perceived and actual value delivered by the IT organization.
Taking the Next Step
In today’s environment, every organization is looking at data as the key to unlocking unique customer experiences, differentiation of products and services, as well as business transformation and innovation. The question is not just about what your data can do for you; it’s about how you can truly maximize the value of your data.
Managing storage as infrastructure is no longer the defining model. Today, it is all about delivering data and storage management as a service. NetApp is the company that has been ahead of the curve in pioneering this new model and is the company best positioned with its products, services and ecosystem to help enterprises evolve quickly and easily to the as-a-service approach.
Are you ready to deliver transformative business value to your organization? Please visit NetApp to learn more about data and storage as a service in a hybrid/multicloud environment: www.netapp.com/data-management-solutions
1 “Cloud Computing Trends: 2021 State of the Cloud Report,” Flexera, March 15, 2021
