While enterprise applications have existed since the 1990’s, enterprise software is expanding its scope to link the enterprise with suppliers, business partners and customers.
According to Gartner, enterprise applications are designed to integrate computer systems that run all phases of an enterprise’s operations to facilitate cooperation and coordination of work across the enterprise. The intent is to integrate core business processes ranging from sales, accounting, finance, human resources, inventory and manufacturing.
In addition, enterprise applications, have also been a key driver of transformation from replacing ageing and inflexible on-premise software with more flexible alternatives hosted in the cloud, to integration of new services with legacy applications, improving not only usability but unlocking the power of data analytics.
This evolution of enterprise systems and increased integration is putting even more emphasis on the growth of, and management of, data. In fact, according to our latest research, commissioned by Amárach and in partnership with HPE, 36% of organisations felt that a key challenge facing their organisation was understanding data and how best to manage it.
With increasing growth and reliance on enterprise applications, understanding how to best support your organisation’s data is paramount. The rapidly evolving digital economy is forcing enterprises to address more questions and challenges regarding their IT infrastructure.
In fact, with more than half of respondents (54%) from our research forecasting that the total number of IT and business applications deployed by their organisation will grow anywhere from 11% – 50% in the next 12 months, there has never been a more important time for Irish businesses to have the right IT infrastructure and partner ecosystem in place to scale and meet the changing demands of the current business environment.
An immediate next step for Irish organisations on their digital transformation journeys is to understand how to best protect and optimise their enterprise applications and the data they contain.
The role of cloud computing in managing enterprise applications is critical. A reason why some IT and business leaders may be apprehensive about migrating fully to the cloud, including their enterprise applications, is the prospect of extended downtime. When dealing with the public cloud or not having the skill-base to complete the job effectively, migrating to the cloud can cause lengthy downtime. Similarly, cost can be a key deterrent from cloud migration as well as legacy applications, which can’t live on the cloud.
Data centres and specifically colocation facilities can help to simplify this complex process by providing a hybrid approach that securely manages IT systems and data. Colocation offers a myriad of supports ranging from connectivity, security, disaster recovery (DR), ability to scale, as well as control over business-critical IT infrastructure.
When an organisation is so heavily dependent on enterprise applications, the risk of data becoming disorganised is quite high. Leveraging data centres to efficiently store, power, cool and connect an organisations’ IT infrastructure is critical because it could transform the way your organisation performs on many levels, especially when it comes to productivity and efficiency.
To read a full copy of Digital Realty report The Drivers and Challenges of Ireland’s IT Landscape, click here.
