Driven to a new vision

Many forces are pushing IT to explore the new data center model. Among them:

To continue reading, register here and become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

Many forces are pushing IT to explore the new data center model. Among them:

• The need to support the extended enterprise. As companies link their systems and applications with those of customers and suppliers, the applications, and the underlying infrastructure, must evolve.
  
  
• The need to cut costs and maximize use of existing resources (boosting that old ROI).
  
  
• Improving application performance and scalability.
  
  
• The need to support greater mobility and ubiquitous access to information and applications.
  
  
• The move from monolithic applications to Web-enabled applications and services-oriented software, where applications are, in essence, a collection of services pulled together to support business functions.
  
  
• The need to improve manageability and reliability, as well as to ensure business continuity in the face of disasters or threats to IT assets.
  
  
• Adoption of a more comprehensive approach to securing information and resources.
  
  
• The ability to upgrade intelligently. During the past lean years, IT shops have pushed resources to their limits. As they weigh new investments, they want to ensure that new technologies mesh intelligently with a new architecture.

Read more about data center in Network World's Data Center section.