The delegates shared their challenges including how they could get the most from their existing infrastructure, considering the dearth of skilled talent. Simplifying management, data storage and retention, DR, whether cloud DR was a good option, sector-specific challenges, inflexible SIs, the lack of reliable power and its impact on data center design etc were all topics that came up. A point was made that, from the architectural perspective, systems were either over- or under-designed.
Venkat suggested that organizations should plan ahead for five years at a time. Another question that emerged was with regards to the role of standardization when it came to hardware. Organizations face dilemmas around interoperability with lots of silos existing in data centers. Dell’s suggestion was that, since x86 is a standard in the compute environment, organizations could migrate their applications onto this platform.
The delegates were interested in the sustainability of services rather than the underlying hardware. Another problem raised was with regard to migrating from a proprietary architecture to an open one. Security was also listed as a major challenge, especially as the cyber awareness amongst users is low. Venkat stressed that Dell was supplying equipment to the US Army and Navy.
He explained that, before opting for any technology, you needed to figured out the sort of security that you needed. From security, the discussion turned to concerns around RFPs and the various things that had to be captured in one.
“The way to minimize gaps is to capture the fundamental needs,” concluded Venkat.