Amidst hype and hyperbole about virtualization and commoditization, what constitutes a worthwhile infrastructure investment? The following rules of thumb for understanding utility infrastructure, along with specific examples in storage, help set some context.
1. Alignment is Software
Both strategically and operationally, the primary goal of IT is to align with business objectives. The intersection point between the strategic and operational goals of the enterprise and IT is application software. Applications enable business processes and can make the business more efficient and competitive.
Where applications support and enable the business, infrastructure supports and enables applications. The business value of the applications is a critical determinant of investment in the supporting infrastructure, not only for making the application run but also for ensuring its security, availability and recoverability.
