The document discusses the challenges faced by IT infrastructure leaders, including cost pressures, increased complexity, and the need for innovation to meet evolving business demands. It emphasizes the importance of a business-centric approach to IT, driving productivity through technology frameworks, and integrating innovation into vendor partnerships. Additionally, it highlights trends like cloud computing and 'bring your own device' (BYOD) strategies as essential for fostering a responsive and efficient IT infrastructure.

1. Building IT infrastructure
framework that drives
innovation and business
performance
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2. The first trend is the buyer’s increased
perception of IT Infrastructure service as a
commodity which lowers perceived value
and forces cost reductions. The second
trend is that of increased complexity which
is driven by disruptive technologies like
cloud, virtualization and others along with
innovative service models such as
software-as-a-service and
desktop-as-a-service.
The challenges of cost, complexity, and
compliance are nearly overwhelming today's
CIOs. Instead of devising business aligned
IT programs, they are forced to concentrate
on maintaining and managing a sloppy
infrastructure. To tackle these challenges
and to align with business goals, IT must
The complexity of the evolution of IT
Infrastructure service can be broadly classified
into two categories of contradicting forces.
shift its focus to become a business-centric
line of business. From the large variety of
our clients and our interaction with their IT
Infrastructure leaders, we understand that
they strongly believe that consistent
innovation is their only means of meeting
user expectations and rapidly evolving
business demands within budgetary
constraints. This innovation is not just about
using a new technology but also about
doing the same thing differently, which
involves new way of interacting with the
customers and vendors.
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3. Here we list six novel ways of creating a framework
that fosters innovation and propels business
performance driven by IT Infrastructure.
Innovation is not only about creating a new
technology but also about a new way of doing
things using the same technology, if required.
This suggests innovative ways of providing
services and managing daily business
operations.
Most CTOs from our clientele agree that
selecting the right technology is only half the
job. The circle does not complete itself until
scalable processes are built around the
technology and until the technology itself is
integrated into services that meet the needs of
business-user. It is the second half of the circle
that is much more challenging to accomplish.
Understand and accept that innovation is
not just technology driven
The technology leaders of most of our clients
identify end-user productivity as one of their
top priorities. Some of the leading
technological frameworks that can enable this
are enterprise mobility, unified
communications and collaboration, and
virtual-desktop services.
One reason to promote such productivity
focus is because tech-savvy employees are
becoming increasingly confident about using
these tools effectively, and in some cases,
actually demanding to use them.
Focus on technology frameworks that
promote end-user productivity
Over 80% of our large clients identify ‘Cloud
Computing’ as one of their top innovation
priorities for the future. While concerns remain
with regards to data security, privacy,
regulatory requirements, most companies are
cautiously but definitely going ahead with
various forms of cloud computing which
Leverage the power of cloud computing
include private cloud, public cloud, mixed
model, highly virtualized server environment
and others.
Large infrastructure functions, especially the
highly regulated ones like pharmaceuticals and
banking, are moving towards building their
own private cloud while smaller companies are
adopting public cloud because they lack both
the skills and budgets to develop and manage
a private cloud.
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Most of the infrastructure functions are
reactive in nature. While this helps reduce the
risk of innovation, which then becomes
focused around a particular problem, it also
makes it more difficult to drive superior cost
cutting innovation across the business.
Some of the possible ways which can help
drive innovation in IT infrastructure are:
a. Set up a smaller infrastructure innovation
group that is funded by the function. The group
focuses on addressing larger business issues
that may be causing most of the business
issues.
b. Create product driven models where the
infrastructure managers lead the solution
building with a focus on end-user productivity.
Engage with business challenges
proactively
“Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) is becoming
increasingly popular – Over 50% of our
medium scale clients are actually evaluating
BYOD proposals while about 15% have already
implemented the model.
BYOD strategies are gaining traction because
they are beneficial to both the company and to
the employees. For instance, users can carry
personal smart-phones of their choice which
are integrated with corporate solutions. They
don’t have to carry a separate corporate phone.
On the other hand, companies save
themselves the trouble of supporting these
small devices and realize considerable savings
by not having to procure and support certain
common services.
Make BYOD a part of your strategy
It is extremely critical that buyer companies
seek out partnerships with vendors that are
driven by innovation. Vendor’s technology
insight and capabilities are important to
buyer’s innovation efforts.
This may, however, be easier said than done
because the vendor team usually does not
have complete insight into the client’s
environment. This is precisely why innovation
clauses can be introduced into the contract to
incentivise the vendor to proactively introduce
efficiency and productivity.
IT infrastructure function faces a formidable
challenge in the prospect of continuous
innovation. In order to make the most of
technologies like cloud computing, unified
communications, virtual desktops and mobility,
these functions need to integrate technology
with new possibilities of services and
processes that meet business-user needs.
That translates to proactive engagement with
business users, finding the right talent, and
building effective vendor relationships that
support innovation.
Liaise with vendors driven by innovation4 6
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5. As the Service Delivery Leader, Sachin is
responsible for running the global delivery
operations for GlobalStep in the IT
Infrastructure business unit. Based out of Pune,
India, his primary focus is on operations,
revenue and profitability of the Pune center
and delivering stellar experiences to its
customers in the IT Infrastructure space
globally.
In the last 14 years, Sachin has donned
different hats in the IT service industry
supporting Fortune 100 organizations and
For more information, Contact : info@globalstep.com
About Global Step
GlobalStep is a technology services firm headquartered in Dallas, TX. Established in 2007 and led by a team of visionary leaders,
GlobalStep was founded on the basis of one simple idea: We can create long term sustainable value by bridging the gap between talent,
which is distributed evenly on a global level, and opportunity, which is manmade and not yet available to everyone. We seek to create
opportunities by nurturing untapped human potential and bringing those capabilities to market.
GlobalStep has regional offices in US and Europe and has a dedicated delivery center based out of Pune, India. We provide services to
over 100 clients worldwide ranging from small companies to Fortune 100 companies.
About the Author
Sachin Kulkarni
Service Delivery Leader, GlobalStep
www.globalstep.com
developing their service management / IT
business strategies in the telecom, banking,
industrial, and medical industry verticals.
He has a deep understanding of shared
services / managed services and global
business services (GBS) industry.
He can be reached at :
sachin.kulkarni@globalstep.com