You could bring a crystal ball to your next corporate planning session, maybe even bring in a psychic, to help you discern what lies ahead for your data centers and how you can prepare for that future. But wouldn’t it make more sense to call on a data center outsourcing consultant?
A sustainable and profitable future requires more than vague predictions. You need help from someone who has their fingers on the pulse of the IT marketplace -- the latest technology, trends and best practices. A data center outsourcing consultant is in the best position to help you, because the future of IT is the future of your company.
That future is fuzzier than ever.
Preparing for the future used to be fairly straight-forward. Even as your enterprise grew and the marketplace changed, you could count on a certain level of predictability on which to base your planning. Not any more. Now, the global landscape changes seemingly every day. With predictability out the window, your future now depends on flexibility and scalability.
Up till now, you’ve achieved success by getting input and guidance from specialized professionals at every key juncture. Outside experts supplement your internal knowledge and analysis, giving you greater insight to grow your company strategically. That’s where your data center outsourcing consultant comes in.
It’s impossible for your people to keep up with industry changes.
But a data center outsourcing consultant is entirely focused on scouring the IT marketplace for the latest and greatest solution options, service providers and pricing models. It’s a full time job, but they’re on it. They’re your best resource when it comes to preparing for the future.
You can reap significant rewards from outsourcing, but have to know what you’re doing. A data center outsourcing consultant can point you in the right direction, helping you make choices that will streamline workflows and reduce costs while boosting productivity and profitability.
The right data center outsourcing consultant understands your reality.
They’ve been in your shoes – gaining high-level IT and general business management experience in companies not unlike yours. They understand the day-to-day reality of data center challenges and the potentially widespread ramifications of change. They know that solutions have to be practical and cost-effective as well as cutting-edge in order to give you the kind of return you need on your investment.
It’s a do-more-with-less future. Therefore it’s critical to reduce IT operations and capital expenses every way you can. But most enterprises are seeing rapidly growing data volumes. You have to accommodate employees and customers who want to have things their way when it comes to information access. Meanwhile, your legacy systems – and your most experienced IT personnel – are ready for retirement.
You can’t survive unless you can harness the latest technology innovations and streamline workflows to create a lean and leveraged working environment. So if you aren’t already outsourcing at least a few selected services, there’s a good chance you’ll turn to outsourcing at some point in the future. Ultimately you may choose wholesale transformation to virtualization or cloud-based solutions to conduct your business more efficiently.
The right consultant uses a step-by-step approach.
Getting to the future is an incremental process, and so is planning the path you want to take. You need a plan that’s efficient, cost-effective and – most importantly – all about you. What works for some other company doesn’t matter.
A data center outsourcing consultant can guide you systematically through each decision-making step, starting with a thorough evaluation of your current capabilities and total cost of ownership. They’ll help you assess your data to determine if the timing is right for transition, and if so, how to approach the next steps.
How you manage information within your enterprise can enable or stifle corporate growth and agility. A data center outsourcing consultant can help you make strategic choices so you’re well-prepared for the future. Whatever it brings.
Photo Credit: Client Solution
