Changes in IT Ecosystem

The IT environment is going through a period of heavy transition. The transition period that we are in now is somewhat similar to the transition period from Mainframes to PCs. The only difference is the transition that we are facing now will happen much faster than the Mainframe-to-PC era. So where are these changes happening. Similar to Mainframe-to-PC era, the changes are happening at every layer in the IT stack: Infrastructure, Information, and Application. Let’s explore a bit on what is happening in each of these layers.

Infrastructure Layer:
One of the major changes happening at the infrastructure layer is the move from on-premise architectures to cloud-based architecture. The cloud-based infrastructure is one that offers servers, networks, storage as service to the customers. There are lot of firms such as Amazon, Rackspace, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle offers such infrastructure as a service. So, why this cloud-based architecture is important for any firm and what are the challenges organizations have moving from on-premise servers to cloud-based infrastructure. The cloud-based architecture could provide better financial control over IT investments. I have purposely used the word could as it depends on a case by case basis. The asset base of IT organizations and its sourcing models are vastly different even within peer-group companies. It requires a bit of financial analysis to check whether a move to cloud will have a short-term financial impact. In the long term though, moving to cloud will definitely have a positive impact on the financials, provided the transition to cloud is done properly.

For large organizations, the key challenge in moving to cloud is the “complex architecture” developed over years. Before moving to cloud, it is extremely important to decouple these complexities such that business routine is not disturbed. It will be worthwhile for a firm to engage in a 3 months to 1 year planning activity which clearly provides a framework for infrastructure, platform, and end-user architecture.

Information Layer:
For this discussion, I will consider data and information layer as one and the same. The change that we see now in this layer is how the metadata is collected and being used. In the past, metadata will have standard WHO columns, some information about file, file type etc. In the new world, the metadata will provide a very rich set of information. When user interacts with systems, the situational information can be captured along with other direct transactional data. For e.g. situational information such as time, location, reaction can be captured. This metadata will provide more contexts on “user” or “customer” behaviour. Moreover, we will have different collaborations with the growth of IOT as well. There will be collaboration between person-and-device (PAD), Device-and-Device(DAD), Person-and-Person(PAP). All these transactional and situational information can be used for improving productivity, preventing fraud, predicting behaviours etc.

Application Layer:
In the new world, the applications will be mostly built on platforms. What it means is that a service provider or a product vendor will offer you with a platform for building your application.  The customer can easily create an application for their organization by customizing the system. From a CIO perspective, this is an interesting proposition. We don’t need to re-create functionalities for every product. We create one service/functionality, and this can be used by ‘N’ number of applications on the platform.

‘So What’
The final question as usual – so what? The next action for CIOs is to review their IT portfolio and develop a strategy for the transition. It is definitely not an easy task as it requires significant investment – both financial and physical. The CIO will need to go through this wave otherwise they will end up managing a white elephant at home.

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