Entrepreneur, technology evangelist, business strategist. CEO & Co-founder of Visartech Inc.Software product development agency.
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Imagine that you are driving on the 8-lane highway, but it is located in the countryside and there are only a few people using it. This road is quite flat and convenient, but does it make sense? That’s right; there is no need to have such a big road in the rural area – it is better to be somewhere in a big bustling city.
Enterprise IT infrastructure is the same route you need to establish. By organizing and optimizing it correctly, you ensure that your cars, elements of your IT ecosystem (servers, enterprise application software solutions and data centers) are always efficiently driven. In addition, you allocate commercial budgets to meet real needs.
The more efficient, stable and secure the IT infrastructure, the better the business operations. Namely, your company’s software works perfectly; therefore, the server response time is quite fast and all user requests are handled immediately; your business data is highly protected with no loss or system downtime.
So, let’s discuss best practices powered by the DevOps approach that could help companies optimize their IT infrastructure and, therefore, their processes.
1. Embrace DevOps Agility
Living in a rapidly changing world, the ability to quickly update and optimize your IT ecosystem gives your business a competitive edge. To establish this agility and adaptability, consider following proven DevOps practices.
DevOps promotes the idea of continuous improvement and rapid software delivery. This helps companies to always keep their IT infrastructure up to date, taking into account all rising trends, necessary updates and new features.
Apart from this, DevOps practices involve the adoption of cloud technology, which in turn reduces manual work through automation. According to data from the DevOps report, 33% of respondents say that DevOps has helped them automate the most repetitive tasks.
2. Opt for a cloud-based infrastructure
The cloud is emerging as a proven standard for storing enterprise data. Thus, 94% of companies in the world regularly use cloud services. And it’s no surprise since the cloud can significantly reduce business budgets while providing enormous flexibility (no physical server needed).
For example, you have 500 employees who use your company’s software daily, but you are starting to increase the staff, which means more users. The cloud will dynamically scale the space at the precise scale you need.
Setting up the company’s IT infrastructure in the cloud also helps prevent data loss. Unlike an on-premises server, the cloud provides data backup in the event of a system crash or failure.
3. Securing the IT ecosystem
IT infrastructure is the backbone of your business. This means that its security certainly explains the excellent performance of your business operations. And that’s why over the next three years, 76% of senior executives plan to focus their efforts on infrastructure security.
When securing your infrastructure, develop and enforce a cybersecurity policy tailored to the specifics of your industry and business. Make sure to do some DevOps penetration testing which will help you get an overview of your company’s cyber resilience.
4. Overall infrastructure performance monitoring
Back to DevOps principles. One of them is to react as quickly as possible when critical incidents occur. This involves having an incident management team that will regularly monitor your IT infrastructure 24/7.
The monitoring process is automated and is ongoing. The incident management team sets up a set of monitoring tools and alert systems. Then the team spots any bugs that appear and fixes them immediately.
In addition to preventing various problems, infrastructure monitoring directly influences sales. Take Amazon, which earns an average of $14,900 per second. In the event of downtime, even 20 seconds would have cost the company a fortune.
Leading the Way in IT Infrastructure Optimization
By its nature, any system needs updates and improvements over time to keep everything in order. Infrastructure is no exception. And once you get down to IT infrastructure optimization, consider taking the next important steps.
• Carry out a complete technical audit of the entire infrastructure and define the main vulnerabilities and disadvantages of the system.
• Create an IT infrastructure optimization plan that will include the workflow and the list of improvements to be made.
• Initiate the implementation of planned infrastructure improvements and maintain ongoing support.
As a result of changes to your IT infrastructure, your business and its IT ecosystem, in general, become more flexible, highly secure and cost effective.
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