Did you know that the infrastructure as a service market will reach over $87 million in 2021? It’s a huge market, growing along with the cloud infrastructure services market, which hit $45.4 billion in Q3 of 2021. Infrastructure services are the way of the future – they simplify, lower costs and fill knowledge gaps within your organization, but there are so many other benefits hidden under the surface. Let’s explore the concept of IT infrastructure services, and see why it’s popularity will be on a steady increase for a long time to come.
What are Infrastructure Services?
IT infrastructure services are the systems that provide enterprise-level hardware, software and infrastructure that supports all networking activities. Specific services that fall under this category include:
- Communication services
- Application hosting
- Networking
- Data processing & storage
- Content & media
- Knowledge management
- Systems & applications
- Internet of things
- User devices
- Information security
- System resilience
An example of how a large enterprise like the University of Vancouver uses infrastructure services includes management of their network, phone system, data center and servers. They rely on their Infrastructure Services Team to enable most technological services at the university.
The Gartner infrastructure as a service definition says IaaS is a “standardized, highly automated offering in which computing resources owned by a service provider, complemented by storage and networking capabilities, are offered to customers on demand. Resources are scalable and elastic in near real time and metered by use. Self-service interfaces, including an API and a graphical user interface (GUI), are exposed directly to customers. Resources may be single-tenant or multitenant, and are hosted by the service provider or on-premises in a customer’s data center.”
What is Managed Infrastructure Services?
The role of an infrastructure management service, is to manage all information and data proactively, in an effort to keep it secure and flowing. There are quite a few benefits to using managed services, including:
- Rapid response to any malware or ransomware attack, natural or man-made disaster or any other issue.
- Proactive management of all network devices means fewer bottlenecks or surprise guests within the network.
- Easy monitoring for performance, and easy corrections means administrators are aware of any slow-downs quickly, and can make moves to repair the issue before users even perceive it.
- Fast and accurate threat identification means less danger of a mystery attack.
- Streamline administrative and operations tasks for IT administrators, freeing up their time to be a profit-producing area of the company.
- Fast repairs and updates for all devices and systems, meaning quicker updates and more security from vulnerabilities.
- Increased customer satisfaction – speaks for itself.
The future of IT Infrastructure Services
Gartner predicts a shift toward new infrastructure and operations (I&O) tools, as they move away from more traditional infrastructure environments.
“Traditional I&O tools are quickly reaching their limits when tasked with such a wide array of data-processing venues. Today’s I&O professionals must be willing to move beyond legacy practices and mindsets to embrace trends that will profoundly impact I&O teams and the capabilities they provide their business,” says Ross Winser, Gartner Senior Director Analyst. There are several trends the IT industry is poised to follow, in regard to their infrastructure services, including:
-
Rethinking Disaster Recovery
As infrastructure becomes more complex, so does recovery in the event of a disaster. It’s critical that you are ready for any emergency, and thus time to rethink cloud infrastructure services. IT professionals must now consider everything in both the public and private cloud, stored in the data center, and even the endpoints.
-
Rethinking Data Storage
Enterprises rely on the cloud to make their business available anywhere, but this means more data is moving, and thus, at risk. It’s important to rethink how data is stored, and how it’s protected at every stage of its lifecycle
-
Rethinking Customer Expectations
The layman and general public are more aware than ever of any glitches in their ability to connect, and expect a lot of their IT experts. Fast and secure connections that are easy to manage and monitor are needed. When the security of a company hinges on its internet connection, it’s not an element you can afford to ignore.
-
Rethinking Management
One of the most important elements of IT infrastructure services is the ability to easily manage all users, from a single screen, with full visibility. Expect to see enterprises moving away from the more traditional “silo” form of visibility, toward a more single-pane-of-glass management style.
-
Rethinking Billing
With more traditional technology solutions, investment in hardware was huge. IT simply cost too much money, and was providing too little value. Now, more companies are choosing the pay-as-you-go model found with infrastructure management providers.
What to look for when choosing infrastructure services?
You’ll want to think carefully about several things when choosing the right infrastructure services provider. Are they well known in your region, and aware of region-specific needs or threats they might encounter? Are they known for offering after-sales service and support for their products, or will any issue be prohibitively expensive? Can they make use of your legacy equipment, or will you need to start from scratch? There are so many things to consider, but in the broad-strokes, you should look at 4 primary elements of any infrastructure service provider.
-
Cloud services
You want to go with the company with the best threat intelligence, as security is a huge part of what makes IT infrastructure services great. Cloud-based security usually means fast service, repairs, updates and threat intelligence. As cyber threats evolve, you’ll want your security to evolve to keep up, making managed cloud security services vital for all enterprises.
-
Infrastructure services
Part of what makes managed services so great, is that it takes what was once a complex task, requiring a team of highly skilled administrators and engineers, and makes it simple. Using infrastructure services means your infrastructure will be up-to-date and managed proactively by a dedicated team.
-
Unified Endpoint Management
The number of endpoints is growing by the day, with 21.5 billion devices in use, worldwide, at any given time. The more endpoints connected to the network, the more work for administrators. Managed services should be able to proactively set security policies for endpoint and user devices, with a policy of least-privilege. A good cloud infrastructure services provider will vastly simplify complex management tasks like this.
-
Security Services
Access to security professionals is one of the biggest benefits of managed services. We all know of the massive skills shortage in the IT and security industry – this is no longer an issue when working with a professional. Take a look at your providers accreditations and certifications, and don’t be afraid to ask for a list of past work. Your new infrastructure team is an extension of your own, so keep them close to learn and grow with them!
Working with Sangfor
We’d like to help! Learn more about Sangfor’s Managed Cloud Services and see how Sangfor can make your IT simpler, more secure and valuable.