Dynamic Infrastructure Business Partner

Quo vadis information infrastructure?

We live in a time of information. Information moves the world. Correct information at the right time is the most valuable. These are only a few examples of how important information is to us. The word has roots in the Latin “Informatio”, which originally meant impression of a form or shape, shaping. However, the word metaphorically meant to “shape the mind”, i.e. teaching and education. And it was only a step from there to the meaning of information or message. And what does information mean to us at a time in which we are overloaded with a continuously increasing volume of data, when everything around us is being digitalised and interconnected? From the aspect of running an enterprise, when with regard to the existing economic situation the pressure on optimisation of all costs is growing, creation of more effective, secure, flexible and intelligent information infrastructures, which would be able to manage this onslaught of information without any problem, seems to be an ideal solution. Because today there is practically not a single company that can afford to function without a stable, highly available network infrastructure, enabling standard data and information exchange, which must take place rapidly, securely and, above all, in real time.

The volume of data and information is growing currently by 15 petabytes per day, which corresponds to eight times the information that is contained in all American libraries. And this tendency will continue. By 2011 the internet will be used by more than one third of the world’s population and more than 4 billion people will communicate using the mobile network. The volume of data generated due to digital sensors or RFID technology will also rise steeply. And this is why infrastructures that will be able to “intelligently” respond to the rising digitalisation and “shrinking” world are essential. In short, we need intelligent systems and a dynamic IT infrastructure, which will adapt to the company’s requirements and not the other way round.

Another dynamic infrastructure is IBM’s strategic vision, concerning an increase in the speed of IT implementation and secure and resilient IT resources on any level. At present the GC System, a.s. company is the only certified IBM company partner, which has fulfilled the strict criteria for implementation of a dynamic infrastructure. It is consequently the first certified partner in the CEMEA region.

Dynamic infrastructures provide companies with new opportunities: they enable them to significantly increase the availability and quality of offered services or optimise client relations using innovations. Apart from this, they may also significantly reduce the complexity of the existing infrastructure, which will be noticeably projected into savings in costs. The organisation’s productivity is also increased by virtualisation and flexible migration of processes and technologies so that they are energetically most efficient. The overall potential of a dynamic infrastructure for savings in costs, and optimisation of business activities and innovations, may be indicated by the increase in intelligent technologies, which are available due to the ubiquitous networks.

Implementation of such an information infrastructure should naturally be preceded by an audit of company processes and their modification so that they are most effective for the company. The information infrastructure will then simply assist better management and monitoring of the optimised processes. Furthermore, in the event of changes it is capable of adapting easily, which can be a great benefit, particularly in these turbulent times. However, it is always important to consider future growth right from the start, so that the company is not forced to establish a wholly new infrastructure in the future “simply” because the existing one is insufficient. Because only those companies that are capable of rapidly adapting their IT infrastructures to the given conditions, and will professionalise IT using asset administration, management of licences, configuration administration or incident administration, will succeed in the future. Only these companies will be able to direct future development towards a dynamic infrastructure correctly and in a controlled manner.

A dynamic infrastructure is capable of saving considerable funds, frequently in addition to an investment rate of return of less than one year. Do you know of any better reason for its implementation?

Petr Havlík