Data center transformation a top priority in 2009 for CIOs
New global research reveals that 84 percent of technology organizations are planning to implement a data center transformation (DCT) project in the next 12 months, primarily to lower costs and reduce business risk.
The HP-commissioned survey further shows that a vast majority of technology decision makers are currently implementing or planning to implement in 2009 consolidation (95 percent), business continuity (93 percent) and virtualization (91 percent) projects.
Today’s CIOs are challenged more than ever to control costs and quickly achieve returns on technology investments. According to the study, respondents named reducing operational costs (31 percent) as their top driver for 2009 DCT spending. Enhancing security (29 percent) followed as a close second.
However, in both cases decision makers reported that technology needs, more than business needs, are prompting the investments. This may limit their ability to achieve both short-term and long-term business benefits such as reduced costs, mitigated risks and accelerated growth.
Most organizations are transforming their data centers through independent projects instead of taking a broad, integrated approach. The new research indicates that 20 percent of technology decision makers are initiating a complete transformation, while the remaining 80 percent are implementing individual transformation projects without an overall DCT strategy.
When asked to indicate what projects they would implement independently to achieve specific technology goals, respondents named the following:
- Automation – 64 percent
- Green IT – 60 percent
- Operations management – 59 percent
- Virtualization – 59 percent
- Business continuity – 58 percent.
All of these projects have the potential to also achieve business goals. By taking a comprehensive approach and aligning these autonomous projects to an overall DCT strategy, an opportunity exists for CIOs to maximize the value of their transformation initiatives.