Outsourcing can improve IT infrastructure

Independent research commissioned by Zenium Technology Partners has found that there is mounting pressure on the data center to meet changing business requirements through the adoption of new technology, ongoing evolution and optimisation of data center infrastructure. It has driven 70% of companies to allocate at least some of their overall IT budget to focus on modernisation initiatives. However, just 21% of the respondents went on to add that they could definitely scale in response to demand from the business.

Thursday, 6th November 2014 Posted 10 years ago in by Phil Alsop

It also appears that rising concerns about how best to meet fluctuating needs for storage and computing resources is driving interest in outsourcing as the solution to address these issues. Indeed 51% of respondents said that their IT infrastructure would be considerably improved if they chose to outsource data center requirements.

The research - entitled ‘Motivation to Modernise’ – found that among those with budget allocated, on average only 24% have specifically set aside funds for data center modernisation. Most companies (56%) have assigned 30% or less of the budgets to this area and worryingly 22% have only assigned 10% or less.

The modest budgets assigned purely to modernisation may explain in part why 60% of IT professionals were only prepared to go as far as saying that they could ‘possibly’ scale to support their business needs within the next 3-5 years. Unfortunately 16% were more negative, saying that their data center will probably NOT be scalable over this time frame and another 2% were definite that what they currently have in place is not appropriate for their future business needs.

Interestingly, the report also cited that confidence in the role of outsourcing as a potential solution for scalability and modernisation is high. 94% of the senior IT professionals questioned felt that outsourcing their data center requirements would improve their company’s IT infrastructure to some degree. 13% believe it would improve it radically, and another 51% said it would be considerably improved. Those with current experience of outsourcing (99%) think that outsourcing improves a company’s IT infrastructure to some degree, compared to those who do not outsource (79%). This represents a massive endorsement for outsourcing as a ‘tried and tested’ solution for a variety of short and long-term data center issues.

“It’s no surprise that outsourcing continues to be adopted as a cost-effective solution to many infrastructure issues. However increased pressure on IT professionals to deliver the agility the business requires means that those offering outsourced data centre services are going to have to step up and compete,” said Franek Sodzawiczny, CEO at Zenium Technology Partners.

Indeed, the 2014 State of Outsourcing study conducted by outsourcing analyst firm HfS Research in conjunction with KPMG indicated that customers expect service providers to help them standardise, automate or transform their processes within the next two years, or risk ejection.

“Basic service provision and a focus on the tactical is simply not adequate. Clients now want strategic advice from leaders in the field, access to new technologies and improved analytics in order to deliver the transformation required by the digital economy,” added Sodzawiczny.