Will someone please help me understand the current state of today’s IT infrastructure? Why do we spend so much time and money trying to figure what’s broken, why it is broken, or if it will break? We monitor, index, store, report, analyze, and worry that our most important infrastructure is minutes from doom.
In fact, entire business models are based on the premise that companies have already bought large framework vendor’s products that have failed to accomplish their goals. Therefore, instead of being sold another product from HP, IBM, BMC, etc., one simply buys a product from us. These vendors tout extremely low prices, little to no professional services, and massive numbers of customers spread across the globe.
What is the purpose of buying another tool? How many monitoring, enterprise management systems, server management, performance and fault management systems, storage management, and virtualization systems does it take to screw in a light bulb? I recently met an organization that literally had two of everything! If that wasn’t bad enough, they were still buying more.
IT has become so complicated that, in the name of simplification, we are moving back to the green screens of yesteryear. Oh wait, that wouldn’t sell so let’s call them virtual desktops. No wait, its software as a service, Web 2.0, Cloud Computing. No. NO. It’s Google, Google will solve everything!
Imagine starting with a clean slate of paper. You have applications, servers, storage, networking devices, security devices, cabling, power, and cooling. Will you A. buy tools to manage each of these disciplines and tie them together in the future? Will you B. buy a framework that is really just a collection of acquired tools put under a single moniker? Will you C. Start over with a new paradigm called manageability via automation.
To me, the answer is clear. Beware of the profiteers and marketers that spew the message but believe in the status quo. Change is hard to embrace, hard to accept, filled with cynics, but wrought with excitement, innovation, and ingenious ideas. It’s time to erase the mistakes of yesterday and create a new tomorrow.
PlatenReport 