Cloud computing is changing the way recruitment companies are delivering IT resources to their staff. 

A lot of the benefits have been well documented by all and sundry, but there are some key initiatives that are being lost in translation. Cloud is delivering more choice and, at last, real IT cost transparency, and these benefits are changing the way business leaders engage with technology. 

To understand what these benefits represent we need to acknowledge where enterprise IT has come from. Traditionally most businesses invested heavily in hardware, software and expertise to build, operate and maintain their technology services. The businesses had to purchase for peak usage and there had to be regular investment to keep the environment fit for purpose. This led to a bloated, inefficient IT and performance, and reliability differed between organisations. This model also meant the business was locked into the technology they invested in.  

Generally all business applications such as messaging, CV parsing and job posting tools were hosted on a single, logical data centre environment. Applications depended and competed for the same infrastructure resources (server, storage and network). If there was an upgrade or a change to an application that required more performance or capacity from your infrastructure, then further investment was required. This made it difficult to identify and calculate the real value of investing in new technology to drive efficiencies and business growth.

Low latency network, increased resilience, and server virtualisation led to a series of innovations that have been termed as Cloud. These innovations allowed businesses to procure and utilise IT services that are delivered from the vendor’s data centre. Essentially businesses are now able to buy the solution, not the underlying technology. Paying for these solutions as a utility in a number of different charging models has brought about a flexibility that hadn’t been previously available. The industry is now treating IT applications and infrastructure as a common utility, albeit a complicated one. 

So how does choice and IT cost transparency fit into the new world of IT?

Choice

One of the key benefits of the Cloud evolution is there are now multiple ways to deliver an IT service to your users. There is more choice of vendors and solutions than ever before, and consumers need to consider the wider picture before embarking on a Cloud strategy. Understanding business and technical requirements, and what solutions are on offer, is important for lowering costs and driving efficiencies. A real emphasis needs to be put on sourcing, procurement and negotiation to make sure the solutions, vendors and commercials you pursue suit your business. 

Having your IT needs delivered as a service alleviates the constraints on the dependency between applications and infrastructure. If your business wishes to change a key application and purchase a Cloud SaaS solution, the application operates from the vendor’s infrastructure, not yours. If you wish to host the application on a Cloud IaaS solution you simply request the amount of infrastructure resource you need, and expand as you need more. No more investing up front for a set quantity of infrastructure and no more technology lock in. 

This flexibility and freedom gives businesses the choice to distinguish where they spend their IT budget, without the added taxation and constraints of investing in their own infrastructure.  

Cost transparency 

Traditionally calculating the value you are receiving from your IT service is very difficult, and business leaders have little visibility over where their IT spend is going. If you think back to how IT was traditionally deployed you can see why investment was sporadic and technology was bought in set quantities up front. There was no mechanism between the business IT function and senior stakeholders to show resource utilisation and therefore justify further investment.  

Visibility into how much IT resource is being consumed is fundamental to controlling costs and making sure infrastructure is aligned to business demand. Sansom IT’s Infrastructure Metering service will show in a simple format how efficient or inefficient your IT really is. By analysing pricing schedules and historical information we can show how much your IT is costing per service, based on actual consumption metrics. 

Fully understanding how much your IT is costing you will enable reductions in IT spend, and show in real terms the value you are receiving.  We have seen one customer reduce their IaaS spend by 40% after metering. 

Sansom IT 

Sansom IT is an independent IT consultancy that focuses on the needs of the consumer. We add value by sourcing and procuring Cloud infrastructure solutions that meet the needs of the customer. We also manage contracts and vendors and meter infrastructure to give your business full IT cost transparency and make tangible savings. 

Please contact us if you wish to discuss the content of this article further. 

Phone 0333 577 0350

Email [email protected]

Website www.sansomit.com