Data Center


Looking at the magic elixir of infrastructure types is really a function of not just technical solutions but rather the "business of IT." Any one or combination of on-premises, cloud, colocation, etc. could technically work, but it’s the business elements that potentially have the greater impact:

  • Business requirements: do your due diligence in understanding the short and potentially extended use of the applications or software or service. This analysis should include areas such as business cycles, compliance, and appetite for risk.
  • Security: while traditional risk tolerance may result in one type of configuration, growing cyberattack concerns present a formidable architectural challenge, regardless of platform or location.
  • Sustainability: is support for the solution going to be in-house or outsourced? If the former, take into account extra costs for things like education and tools, and whether or not you have the right resources for service success.
  • Recoverability: determine the flexibility necessary for recovery objectives, including business tolerance for service interruptions.
  • Strategic direction: does the solution being considered align with the strategic direction of the organization?
  • Interoperability: relationships that need to exist between systems or locations to allow for the transportability and integration of information or services.
  • Value: certainly there is a need to provide value, but configuration can play a large role in competitive advantage – think data.
  • Cost and service pricing: accounting 101 concepts are in play here -- cost versus benefit, ROI, Cap/Ex posture, etc. This is the culmination of all the analytics and decisions of the previous categories!