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In an increasingly complex cloud environment, speed is critical to winning. But technology investments can often be fragmented and siloed, driven by the most compelling business case or the latest “cool tool” on the market that customers feel they absolutely have to have. IT budgets are pulled in all directions, and often the most thoughtful investment strategy fades into the background. Some gains are made, but they are marginal and sporadic; and IT organizations around the world are left with siloed artifacts as a result.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Investing in the right technology solutions should lead to substantial digital transformation, agility to adopt the latest technology, and a significant competitive advantage, relieving the pressure on IT teams. One way to do this is to put strategy squarely back on the table, zooming out to prioritize overarching business goals and the role technology should play in achieving them. Here are three questions decision makers should ask themselves as a starting point:
Chief Technology Officer for EMEA for VMware from Broadcom.
Am I sure I’m getting the most out of my existing infrastructure?
IT solutions and platforms often bring with them a wide variety of tools, many of which are not part of the core product, but are added through multiple iterations and updates. This often results in an increasingly complex IT infrastructure where IT teams do not even fully realize how many tools and services they can implement. In turn, organizations often find themselves duplicating some of their products by purchasing additional software to provide functionality they already have, but were not even aware of.
A recent conversation with a customer comes to mind: the CIO of a well-known media company wanted to build a sustainability dashboard for their IT operations and had an active tender running for almost a year when they came to us with the problem. What they didn’t realize was that their existing VMware dashboard could do that sustainability work for them at no extra cost. Once the customer understood how the solution all worked, they were able to get more out of it. Problem solved.
By regularly looking at your existing IT investments in a more holistic way and as one integrated system, you may be surprised at how many tools you already have and how seamlessly they can work. With that more holistic view of your toolkit, you will be better positioned to get the full value and return on investment.
Do I really need a custom product?
Building your own custom tech stack is often seen as the ultimate state of nirvana that all technologists should strive for. This results in technology investments being made piecemeal, focused on specific tools and products that are then pieced together to create something completely different – often not all of which work well together and require constant work from fairly large teams to maintain.
It’s time for radical simplification. There are solutions and platforms that can be bought off the shelf and deployed quickly. Solutions that are industrialized, reliable, and scalable – helping to create a centralized development environment that responds quickly to customer needs and meets new requirements based on what the customer demands.
Skip the headache of getting the basics right and instead focus on the places in your business where you can find innovation and deliver more value to your customers.
Am I in an ‘innovation’ mindset?
This is where you need to zoom out and consider whether you are prioritizing investments in technology that keeps the lights on or enables you to unlock innovation. Often, innovation is associated with a rush to public cloud networks and more recently, a push to buy the latest generative AI tool. But innovation can also happen on-premises or in a private cloud environment, with the same level of agility but with a greater focus on cost, data sovereignty and security.
All you need is the right solution, one with built-in resilience for non-stop operations, threat prevention, and rapid recovery from cyber threats, so you can innovate on top. Just as you don’t build your own operating systems, you shouldn’t build your own cloud platforms. You should focus on innovating on top, where the real differentiator is.
IT investment and strategy shouldn’t be determined by the newest tool on the market, or the latest product your competitor has unveiled. By answering the questions above and digging deeper into the answers you come up with, you’ll gain a better understanding of your IT infrastructure and determine what investments you should make.
It all comes down to a change in mindset. You don’t have to create a bespoke IT solution from scratch, or make sure you buy every new tool on the market. The focus should be on creating an environment that provides flexibility and choice through the use of proven solutions, enabling your organisation to deliver innovation where it matters most.
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