In 2009 IT Managers Will Do More With Less, Unisys PredictsAutomated virtualisation and On-Demand service delivery will enable better use of technology to streamline business operations and IT effectiveness
SYDNEY, 27 January, 2009 – The Australian businesses will focus on technologies that can deliver measurable return on investments and cost efficiencies via an increasingly centralised IT approach in 2009, according to Unisys.
“As the global economy tightens, Australian organisations will look to their IT departments to help adapt quickly to changing market conditions by stabilising internal processes, delivering greater efficiency and enhancing cost management,” said David Barnes, managing director, Unisys Australia-New Zealand.
“A key focus for all CIOs and IT managers in 2009 will be eliminating wastage of technology resources – from hardware to systems and people. A renewed focus on increasing competitiveness will drive ICT managers to adopt market-ready IT solutions that had previously been considered too bleeding edge to embrace.
“Real-time infrastructure solutions, such as automation solutions and software, will instil confidence in IT processes and their ability to adapt to business demands quickly and seamlessly,” Mr Barnes said.
The five areas of technology that Unisys predicts will drive IT strategy in 2009 are:
1. Take the Guesswork out of IT with Automation
In 2009, automating infrastructure management in a virtualised environment will enable businesses to make their operations more responsive, flexible and competitive.
Automation solutions and software allow IT infrastructure to quickly and automatically respond to changing business demands based on pre-determined rules to immediately change which servers are running, determine software and capacity requirements and reconfigure how those servers are connected to network and storage, as required.
2. On-Demand Service Delivery
The flexibility provided by on-demand technology delivery models, where businesses pay only for what they use through Software as a Service (SaaS) or cloud computing, will experience greater take-up into and beyond 2009. Utility computing services, such as metered storage, allow businesses to only purchase the processing and storage capacity that meets their current business requirements and easily add, change or remove allocated capacity as their IT resource requirements fluctuate.
3. Centralised IT infrastructure
As management teams strive for a more comprehensive “whole of company” view of all facets of their organisation, more will adopt a centralised IT infrastructure. This will also enable knowledge management and modelling methodologies to be used to track interdependencies across an organisation and more easily consider the impact of changes before they are made. Individual business unit accountability will be maintained using chargeback capabilities to track use and allocate costs to the appropriate business unit.
“A centralised IT infrastructure allows businesses to provide equitable service for all parts of the business while removing unused applications,” said Mr Barnes. “Similarly, managers now want a more transparent view of their business and knowledge management solutions can provide a snapshot, in real-time, of any and all IT assets running in the business at any one time.”
4. Better Asset Management
Under-utilised IT resources will become a large focus for companies looking to identify wasted resources and improve organisational efficiency. If managed correctly, IT can be the foundation for improved productivity, lower costs and simplified management.
In 2009, organisations will increasingly embrace asset management solutions that ensure the appropriate matching of enterprise license purchases with end-user demand.
Thirty-five1 percent of the 161 respondents to the Gartner 2007 IT and Software Asset Management Summit survey reported a software vendor audit during the past 12 months. This is in line with the 35 percent that emerged from the same survey conducted at the 2006 conference, and up slightly from the 33 percent that was reported in the 2005 survey. Clearly, the benefits of implementing asset management solutions extend beyond internal processes to the maintenance of software licensing compliance as well.
5. Being Green – an Added Benefit Only
As businesses will look to protect their bottom line first and foremost in 2009, solutions that also help them meet their green commitments will be an added benefit, but not a primary decision driver.
However, businesses will be forced to make some adjustments to reduce their impact on the environment to comply with specific CO2 emission legislative requirements.
Virtualisation will prove to be a key feature in the organisational arsenal to increase business efficiency and ensure physical IT assets and the IT infrastructure work harder by doing more with less.
Footnote 1 - Source: Gartner "Gartner Predicts Increase in Vendor Software Audits" by Frank DeSalvo, Jane B. Disbrow, 3 January 2008
About Unisys
Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and solutions company. We provide consulting, systems integration, outsourcing and infrastructure services, combined with powerful enterprise server technology. We specialise in helping clients use information to create efficient, secure business operations that allow them to achieve their business goals. Our consultants and industry experts work with clients to understand their business challenges and create greater visibility into critical linkages throughout their operations. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.
Contacts
Claire Hosegood, Unisys, 0411 253 663
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