Episode 3

The Evolution of Modern Infrastructure

Published on: 1st August, 2023

On this episode of The Smart IT Podcast, I welcomed Chris Norris, Chief Technologist Cloud & Datacenter @ Computacenter, to the show to have a chat about modern infrastructure.

Chris has seen a lot over the years in technology. His vantage point as a thought leader who spends time analyzing the trends in the industry was invaluable for our conversations. The evolution from organizations having their own datacenters to the widespread adoption of Cloud (and hybrid models) has changed how IT operates. From the increased flexibility and capability that the Cloud provides, it has also come with some challenges that must be understood. We discussed several insightful areas, including:

  • Busting the myth of Cloud as easy or cheaper. Multi-cloud brings in more complexity. Increased need for Enterprise Architecture and workload design. System thinking to understand all this complexity. 
  • Organizational shift of how IT teams work. Distinct tools across cloud environment. Data protection strategies for how data is stored in various places. Need mature communication styles among teams.
  • Shared responsibilities. You cannot hand off liabilities to someone else. Companies are still responsible for the protection and confidentiality of its data.
  • The use of automation to pull human errors out of your systems. The benefits of building some code and automating. Want to avoid application drift by managing with automation.
  • Platform Ops, embedding into other dev and ops teams to ease communication challenges and understand how they are integrating with the business.
  • Changes in IT organizational structure. Changes in inter team communications pattern 
  • Before automating, must get everyone on the same page for process, including approval processes, change control, monitoring solutions.
  • Business imperatives to move fast to react to market/competitive forces, line of business see new tech and want to leverage it for themselves.
  • Somebody must translate how new initiatives map to technology.
  • Financial analyst role to understand and drive down Cloud costs. The dichotomy of agility/speed along with not blowing up the budget. Need to understand cost models to determine which one is optimal. Runaway tech costs could throw off TCO and ROI. 
  • There are no IT projects, they are all business projects.
  • Security implications of how new systems are designed and implemented. Is the new system more exploitable than it was before? Could we blow the budget by making it safer? 
  • IT has moved passed managing infrastructure to managing service availability. 
  • The app is king, the business does not care about the underlying infrastructure.
  • CIO’s role has changed. Some have developer background. Must look at operating models, financial models, and infrastructure; and see how they all come into play. The CIO’s job is much tougher today.

We wrapped up chatting about how much more there is for IT professionals to learn.

LinkedIn Page: Chris Norris

#cloud #enterprisearchitecture #platformops

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About the Podcast

The Smart IT Podcast
Where IT explores what's next...
The Smart IT Podcast, where IT professionals can assemble and hear from each other, industry leaders, thought leaders, and those in adjacent fields to collaborate and learn from each other and explore what’s next for IT.

The Smart IT Podcast explores what’s next for IT as it continues to find ways to get the important things done for our organizations.
Preparing for the next decade, we need to think differently about how we approach our work to continue to thrive into the future.

Smart IT is an approach, conceptual framework, and development model to getting the important things done by transforming the way traditional IT thinks, works, and leads. It supports the disruption of the status quo, simplifies the complex, reduces uncertainty, and improves risk mitigation.

There has never been more pressure to deliver for our organizations; but I know IT is up to the challenge.

That will require IT to lead by working smarter. Let’s do it together.

About your host

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William Reed

I am an advisor of technology for business use, have seen the possibilities, the challenges, the constraints, and the risks. I have seen firsthand the technical debt, silos, broken communication, despair of IT, and business frustrations. And, I have seen the possibilities, the hopes, and the opportunities while working in the trenches of IT.

As someone that has analyzed, designed, built, and supported technology infrastructure for many businesses over the years, and followed the technology trends and cyber threats, I see the opportunities for our organizations and for the professionals of IT as a fulfilling and thriving career.

I believe we have been blessed with great opportunities to continue to improve ourselves and organizations. If it’s possible, there is no reason enterprise IT cannot reach new heights and help our businesses thrive in age of disruption, complexity, and risk.

I have a passion is bringing a fresh perspective to the challenges in front of IT and help inspire a team to tackle and win. And to help individuals and organizations make better decisions to improve outcomes and experiences.

I advise on matters of technology use for organizational benefits. He has over 20 years’ experience in the Information Technology field. He has worked for multiple technology value added resellers, representing the major vendors and technologies in the industry. He has consulted across the major industries, including banking, health care, retail, oil & gas, education, government, finance, and legal.