Every IT environment today is a hybrid IT environment. There’s a complex technical mix of operating systems, databases, clouds, and endpoints. There are real benefits from this blend, but there are also real challenges that need to be addressed:
1. Securing data that can be anywhere or everywhere.
Given the multiple environments and data that needs to be used in more than one place, keeping data secure both at rest and in transit is one of the biggest challenges for IT managers. Deciding to keep some data internal can alleviate some of those concerns, but for a lot of data, isolation isn’t a solution.
2. Keeping an eye on multiple systems.
With applications and data in more places, there’s more to be monitored. Multiple systems often mean multiple screens to look at, making it easier to miss a critical situation. The number of systems means that teams are less likely to be expert in all the technologies, making it harder to understand the information on all those screens and more difficult to react appropriately and effectively.
3. Allocating workloads to the right environment.
How do you decide which environment is the right one for any given workload? Making smart decisions about where to position workloads is key to getting the most benefit from your technology, but requires a deep understanding of the application’s needs. Many organizations are used to overprovisioning systems to try to meet demand, but this results in significant wasted capacity and expense, especially in the cloud. Cloud can grow to meet demand as needed. Cloudbursting lets you use cloud to handle spikes in demand but introduces complexity in managing applications and sharing data.
4. Managing multiple vendors.
Complex environments with multiple vendors’ products mean interfacing with multiple vendors to complete projects and resolve problems. Determining the underlying, root cause of an issue and making sure vendors live up to service level agreements is a major challenge.
5. Managing costs.
Even though every product in a hybrid IT environment offers benefits, every product also comes with costs: the cost of licenses, the cost of support, the cost of usage. With so many products, it becomes difficult to track costs and to understand which costs are reasonable, which are excessive, and how to get them under control.
Get the knowledge and insight needed to effectively manage a hybrid IT environment with professional services from dcVAST. Our team’s experience with a wide range of cloud and on-premises technologies allow us to effectively assess your infrastructure to identify the challenges and develop realistic strategies for gaining control. We’ll provide the insight you need to simplify the management of your complex environment; with our managed services, we provide the hands-on support to ensure your environment runs optimally. Contact us to learn more about how dcVAST can help you tackle the challenges of hybrid IT.
