Transforming IT: Part One

In a recent survey of 1,400 CIOs by Gartner’s Executive Program, the top business priority for CIOs is business process improvement. This statement alone tells us that the current marketplace is changing; customer demand is growing, entire business infrastructures are being deployed to the Cloud, and multi-million dollar decisions are made at the speed of light. At the heart of the imminent change and the core of business infrastructure is Information Technology. In order for a business to remain competitive and be successful in today’s marketplace, it has to adapt to the ever-changing landscape quickly and cost-effectively. This has spurred widespread IT transformation in an effort to maximize business effectiveness and support achievement of enterprise goals.

As we delve further into the IT transformation abyss, we quickly realize that professionals have mixed emotions and varied definitions when it comes to the concept of IT transformation. Whether it is a necessary value creator, a cost-cutting method or an ambiguous ploy to generate more business- it is absolutely real, and it is happening today.

According to Deloitte, IT transformation is no longer a once-in-a-lifetime event, in many cases it is the life of today’s CIOs. 21st century companies are facing unprecedented challenges and changes. Globalization is creating worldwide competition for resources, talent, products and services. This competition can pit companies under relentless pressure to cut costs while improving performance. As a result, many companies are reorganizing, merging, acquiring and divesting to continually help create shareholder value and meet the demand of the evolving marketplace.¹

It is a vicious circle; constant IT transformation means constant innovation as the service providers try to keep up with clients’ ever-growing demands. Today, companies are leveraging new technologies and support strategies including enterprise storage and compute partners in an effort to conserve both time and money while better managing their data. Enterprise storage is specifically designed for the large-scale, high-tech environments of modern enterprises. Unlike consumer storage, it is highly scalable, reliable and fault-tolerant.²

While it is obvious that innovation is extremely important for business growth, leveraging it is still a mystery to some. How, where and what business functions to deploy in the Cloud are common questions asked by today’s CIOs. As for Cloud service providers, the question becomes how can you be in close proximity to end-users in multiple markets - in the most cost-effective way?

A multitude of new technological innovations can mean an overwhelming bevy of choices for CIOs and technology leaders to make. Selecting the right solutions can be a time consuming task. Which option is right for my business size? How do I know I am getting the best price? How do I connect to the right entities in the Cloud? How do I speed up productivity?

This phenomenon is slowly but surely driving the transformation of IT into more of a partner role, not the end-all to IT issues. Many CIOs are turning to outsourcing as a means for business enablement, improved processes and performance and direct bottom-line contribution. Utilizing compute partners and their offerings is an effective way for enterprise leaders to better manage their transitions, reduce business disruption and yield the expected business benefits.

Telx is one of these strategic partners, helping enterprises keep up with IT transformation by providing a plethora of interconnection, colocation and datacenter solutions. Through its well-connected communities like Cloud Xchange, Financial Exchange, Media Exchange and Carrier Exchange, as well as Telx Connect Marketplace, the company joins together an ecosystem of 1,000+ telecom carriers, ISPs, content providers and enterprises. These communities are portals for all business and operations, a one-stop-shop for Telx customers looking to both buy and sell their goods.
Telx’s online marketplace enables its customers to facilitate commerce and foster the development of new business relationships across a variety of industry sectors. The service also makes it possible to explore partnership opportunities and discover the significance of geographic connections, yielding a reduction in valuable time and money spent on outsourcing as well as the ability for businesses to focus on their core operations.