CIO Helper

There are several ways to address this task. The traditional way is to build a new data center or expand an existing one. Yet there is a more effective way—to use virtualization technologies (for details see the IT Infrastructure Transformation and Optimization section) that increase the hardware utilization ratio (the ration between nominal and utilized computing capacity). Virtualization also allows raising the reliability and fail safety of all systems, while reducing energy consumption and heat generation. De Novo also has the expertise to conduct an audit of power supply systems (see Data center Engineering Infrastructure), using audit results to assess the available potential of the data center engineering structure and opportunities for its continued development.

Creating and protecting justified IT budgets poses a serious challenge for IT department managers at numerous companies. A systemic solution is possible only through developing an IT strategy consistent with the company's business goals. An important element of an IT strategy is an IT infrastructure development roadmap for the medium term (an infrastructure strategy). De Novo has the expertise to formulate an infrastructure strategy as a set of interconnected IT projects enabling an IT director to justify the need for and scope of investments in IT, while demonstrating to the company management the evolution of IT systems as individual projects are completed as part of a single infrastructure strategy.

This task is accomplished by intruding an information lifecycle management (ILM) system. This system allows structuring data stored in the corporate network, identifying duplicate or irrelevant data, ensuring data security as required by Ukrainian laws. Additionally, an ILM solution substantially reduces the time spent by employees retrieving and accessing data, translating into less operating costs.

De Novo experts recommend resolving this problem with the help of virtualization of computing resources.  Modern virtualization technologies make it possible to efficiently manage, allocate and upgrade resources for operating environments while increasing hardware utilization. The De Novo team has vast experience implementing virtualization projects for the largest data centers. Improving scalability indicators also requires conducting an audit of computing resources. The audit results will be used to work out an optimization and transformation strategy for computing resources of the business. In some cases these measures also enable companies to postpone data center expansions and provide the basis for continued business growth without significant investments.

The shortage of skilled workforce for IT departments of major businesses becomes more pronounced with each passing year despite the fact that tens of thousands IT specialists graduate from Ukrainian colleges each year. Recruiting additional IT staff may also pose a problem for the top management, as it involves higher operating costs, including staff training and certification. This problem has an alternative solution, namely raising IT infrastructure manageability, automating processes, and enlisting skilled contractors for specific projects or technical support. De Novo offers a host of measures to compensate staff shortages through raising the effectiveness of managing the computing environment of the business. They include audit, IT infrastructure optimization and transformation, introduction of infrastructure management tools, and provision of maintenance and technical support for solutions in place at the company.

This problem is faced by companies with multiple remote business units. The solution targets two aspects: centralization of computation and optimization of IT system operation processes. Requirements for IT service support in the regions are minimized through centralizing computation with parallel use of IT infrastructure management and monitoring systems, as well as virtualization of local workstations. ITIL, ITSM library best practices provide the management with clear requirements for local resources and criteria for their assessment. The set of these measures will enable the management of the central IT department to manage the entire computing environment from the head office.

Arguably the sole effective solution to this problem is virtualization of a computing environment that meets the requirements of such applications. Modern tools allow creating virtual environments for any obsolete applications (contact De Novo to find out about existing limitations). This solution allows running inherited applications on modern hardware.

De Novo has the expertise to create elements of key IT infrastructure units in keeping with national legislation requirements. Furthermore, the effectiveness of IT services in this case can be substantially increased by implementing information lifecycle management (ILM) systems. This is particularly relevant for institutions required by regulators to store date for a certain time period, such as banking institutions and insurance firms. ILM systems allow categorizing data and raising data storage effectiveness (removing duplicate or irrelevant data).

Storage of large data volumes, including copies of primary documents, at a major institutions requires a precise structure and a special approach to storing data that may become irrelevant at some point. The solution is implementing an information lifecycle management system. This solution is most needed by institutions whose operations must correspond to specific government standards applying to data storage periods and conditions.