What Is Dynamic IT?

Dynamic IT is based upon advancements in technology and thinking behind how a business should deploy hardware and implement software solutions. It adopts a flexible approach to implementation and frees an organization from the constraints of traditional thinking. This allows for significant business benefits because of the ability to deliver services as and when the business needs them and in a format which is demanded by users and business conditions.

Before we look at Dynamic IT, let's take a very brief look at the traditional approach to managing and developing an IT infrastructure. Traditional IT strategy has been to implement hardware and software projects in a piecemeal, step-by-step basis on the original network backbone. This incremental approach leads to an eclectic mix of management tools, support headaches, reduced availability and disproportionate amounts of the IT budget being diverted away from developing IT solutions which provide a tangible bottom-line benefit to the business.

From a business viewpoint, IT departments become slow to respond to the fast-paced demands and challenges encountered in the modern world. Opportunities are lost, risks to the business are amplified and increasing amounts of money must be found to support and administer existing infrastructure rather than delivering improved services.

Dynamic IT takes a holistic approach to the problems faced by a business and what that business demands from its IT resources. This delivers tangible benefits for business operations and management of IT assets some of which are:

•Reduced Costs - hardware and software are used more efficiently; fewer servers are required to perform the same amount of work, due largely to virtualization. Simplification of the network also means that support and management costs are reduced and these tend to form a large chunk of an IT department's budget;

•Agility - simplification of the network and the removal of barriers between software applications and hardware systems mean that new solutions can be implemented far more quickly than under traditional strategies; and

•Allocation of IT Assets - because connections within the network infrastructure and access to external resources are so much more faster providing the ability to deliver applications and data as needed, it becomes easier to allocate resources where the business needs them most so IT departments move towards being a service provider rather than constraining what the business can do because of limitations on mission critical solutions.
Specifically, Dynamic IT rests on three main pillars:

•Virtualization - this is the separation of hardware from software; no longer is software reliant on specific hardware assets but allows applications to access hardware on an "as needed" basis. Virtualization has made the greatest impact on data centers and server storage.

•Service Oriented Access - SOA relies on the advancements which have been made in standardization of components and with web service interfaces. This allows information to flow much more freely across the network and beyond. This in turn provides the ability to deliver applications and solutions in a format which employees and companies want and in a format which can be adapted to meet the prevailing business demands.

•Blended Resources - both virtualization and SOA provide enhanced flexibility for accessing third-party professional services and other external resources, such as those provided by web-based solution providers e.g. Software as a Service (SaaS).

These three developments form the basis for Dynamic IT, however management and IT departments must deliver the direction and vision to allow full development of these factors in an holistic manner.

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