Freeing up (human) capacity in the Data Center – Cisco Blogs

Data center capacity has historically been a technology concern focused on compute, storage, and power resources. But it now has a fourth vector: Humans.

IT specialists are in extremely high demand and disconcertingly short supply. They’re responsible for an increasingly complex mix of infrastructure and applications, which in many cases have branched beyond the data center and are now distributed among cloud, colocation, branch office, and edge environments. And more than ever, technologists have been pushed to the frontlines of business optimization, adaptation, and success.

Consider the upheaval of the past 12-plus months. As the COVID-19 pandemic ground conventional operations and processes to a halt, it was IT that enabled remote work, distance learning, telehealth, and many other adjustments that helped society in general and businesses in particular stay afloat.

Agility has frequently been touted as the preeminent requirement for an IT organization to support modern business needs. But considering the aforementioned factors – more to manage, more pressure to drive the business forward, and a dearth of available talent to do so – efficiency is becoming equally important.

IT efficiency is achieved by simplifying the underlying infrastructure, automating routine tasks, and freeing up human capacity to focus on strategic, value-added projects.

Companies like BVN are doing just that. Based in Sydney, Australia, the architectural firm had long struggled to manage and update discrete servers hosting graphics-intensive design applications. To simplify its operations, BVN deployed two Cisco HyperFlex clusters with NVIDIA GPUs.

Firmware updates, security patches, and application upgrades are now easily deployed across the two clusters, which are managed as one logical environment using Cisco Intersight. Compute, memory, and storage can be easily and independently scaled. And with less time dedicated to server management, BVN’s IT team is focused on new ways to enable and protect the business.

While every IT environment is different, two things are needed to drive operational efficiency and free up human capacity:

1.     A rock-solid, hyperconverged infrastructure that offers exceptional performance, administrative simplicity, and fast, easy scaling

2.     Intelligent tools that enable orchestration and automation across domains, while providing timely insights that eliminate patterns of reactionary problem solving

It wasn’t long ago that hyperconverged platforms and automation tools were perceived as job killers, with capabilities that could render human IT skills obsolete. If the tech talent shortage is any indication, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Technologists are more important than ever. And they’re even more valuable when they’re on the frontlines – of business innovation, protection, and customer experience – instead of in the data center managing blinking lights.

To learn more, read the full BVN case study.

Additional resources

·       Cloud and compute customer stories

·       Cisco data center and hybrid cloud solutions

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