Dramatic global shifts and talent shortages intensify the ever-present need to accelerate innovation, forcing infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders to rewrite their future and set their sights on a new horizon. In this session, Gartner analysts Padraig Byrne, Karen Brown and Mark Cleary explored how I&O leaders need to move I&O forward to continually match their organization’s digital ambitions and capabilities. 

Key Takeaways

• Immerse yourselves in the organization

  • “Our data shows that at least 84% of companies and 59% of government entities have set up “fusion teams” — and 43% already report outside IT to be closer to the point of value delivery.”

  • “Organizations operating with a distributed and simultaneous approach are 2.5 times faster than organizations that run initiatives in one centrally managed IT team.”

• Accelerate the adoption of automation and platform engineering

  • “Adopting a platform engineering approach is vital. I&O leaders use platform engineering to deliver shared infrastructure platforms.”

  • “While Gartner predicts that 70% of new applications will be developed with low-code/no-code approaches by 2025, platform engineering helps I&O leaders use this trend to their advantage.”

• Retool your I&O workforce

  • “Develop the right skills in your workforce, empowering them and putting them in the right spots at the right times.”

• Build an innovation engine

  • “Consider an innovation lab as your innovation engine that draws in new technologies, tests and evaluates them. Then generate the best candidates for further development and implementation.”

  • “Design matters. Build your innovation engine right and it will drive your I&O forward.”

Many organizations think they have a working cloud strategy or are lacking one altogether. They often consider the needs of IT without input from other parts of the organization. Likewise, they are often operating under the false assumption that a strategy is the same as an implementation plan or a data center strategy. In this session, Hassan Ennaciri, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner, outlined the top 10 mistakes Gartner sees when reviewing cloud strategy documents.

Key Takeaways

• “The most common mistake is to assume that a cloud strategy only concerns IT. People outside IT have relevant skills and knowledge that IT professionals don’t have.”

• “Many believe they don’t need an exit strategy because they don’t expect to bring anything back from the cloud. While doing so is rare, it’s vital to have an exit strategy even if you never use it.”

• “A cloud strategy is often confused with an implementation plan. The strategy must come first as it’s the decision phase on the role that cloud will play in your organization.”

• “Many think it’s too late to devise a strategy if they’re already using cloud, but it’s better late than never as you may be using it without really knowing why.”

• “Don’t equate a strategy with “we’re moving everything to the cloud.” It deters many from devising a strategy as they think they’ll be forced to adopt cloud for everything.”

• “Many confuse their cloud with their data center strategy. They may plan to shut down their data center and call that plan their cloud strategy, but it isn’t.” 

• “Your strategy for using cloud shouldn’t be: “The CEO said to, as it will result in cost savings.” This is one of many myths that continue to exist in the cloud world.”

• “Considering your organization a [fill in your favorite vendor] shop isn’t a real strategy. It doesn’t account for the multiple types of services and the reality that most don’t offer all.”

• “Outsourcing your cloud strategy may sound attractive, but don’t do it — it’s far too important to outsource.”

• “Avoid thinking that because your strategy is cloud first that it is your entire strategy. While an excellent principle, cloud-first shouldn’t force people to use the cloud; that’s a cloud-only policy.”

Infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders have to be active contributors to their organization's digital success. They must deliver growth by helping to scale digital initiatives and enable platform-led agility to support the distributed enterprise. In this session, Nathan Hill, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, provided insights to help I&O leaders plan for the future.

Key Takeaways

• “I&O is needed more than ever before – you are not redundant, I&O is not redundant. But with the rise of business tech and fusion teams, I&O is everywhere, not just a centrally funded IT department.”
  

• “Be more proactive and less reactive. I&O must evolve to sense, respond and anticipate new business needs and deliver on them.”

• “While much focus is on digital transformation, cloud and edge computing, nothing affects the volume of work more than technical debt management. Reduce resistance to reduction efforts by obtaining financial, technical and other stakeholder support.”

• “The rapid increase in solution complexity and deployment scenarios is causing a significant challenge to how I&O leaders approach skills, roles and career path management.”

• “Focus on your people if you’re going to keep I&O healthy and able to respond to business needs and continuous change. Have the right people with the right skills for now and the future.”

• “Finding and retaining staff, however, is a significant challenge, with employees demanding more than money to ensure their loyalty. Curate a workplace that attracts candidates and retains employees.”

• “In today’s environment, it’s not about having more automation. It’s about maturing automation and using it to free up time across all I&O operations, which increases the efficiency of IT and business processes that help to address labor and skill shortages.”

• “I&O organizations that are properly trained, do well at managing technical debt, do life cycle planning, use automation and build platforms, could be at full capacity. Sometimes the only answer in handling demand is additional budget and headcount.”

Tune back in tomorrow for more updates from the conference.