Every single day, customers leave swarms of their data online, be it through actual data-sharing platforms, sharing their contact information such as their email address, or simply by leaving any kind of a digital footprint, which will then be used and analyzed by companies to understand trends and customer habits. Data management has become the epicenter of all things business. Your employees also build databases, your software apps collect relevant user information, all of which serves to help your brand adapt and become more relevant.
What can you do with all of that data? Store it on hard drives? Send it to a cloud server with less than optimal security features? Hardly. Enter: hyper-convergence. A type of infrastructure that relies on the best of what any hardware can offer paired with advanced software systems that ensure security, scalability, and much more flexibility for your business today as well as tomorrow, when you focus on growth based on the data you utilize every day.
Simplified hardware and software systems
Legacy IT systems can be cumbersome, expensive to operate and maintain, and they might require constant upgrades to keep up with your fast-evolving software. At a certain point, any kind of hardware will become outdated, and you always need to make budget changes to invest in yet another round of equipment, be it for data storage, or for maximizing your software use. With HCI, the hardware portion of your traditional architecture is significantly reduced and replaced by a single, hybrid platform.
No need to worry about additional switchboards, cables, servers, or additional software to keep those hardware pieces running. HCI enables a single touchpoint for all of your hardware essentials, enabling a much more streamlined infrastructure, no matter the size or scope of your business. Suddenly, you have at your disposal a centralized, unified system that allows data integrity and consistency, as well as usage standardization for all of your teams.
Increased security all around
More hardware (especially outdated models) and more data management segregation leads to nothing but trouble. You leave more windows of opportunity for potential data breaches with faulty equipment, poor network protection, and not to mention outdated software without proper monitoring ensured. All in all, old-school systems pale in comparison to robust HCI systems that not only simplify, but ensure unified security measures. The built-in firewall paired with advanced malware and ransomware protection, and data backup plans, all work in favor of enhancing business-wide data security.
Such a high level of consolidation in terms of data storage and data security also allows a bird’s eye view of your entire infrastructure, allowing your built-in security monitoring systems and your IT experts to spot vulnerabilities in the earliest possible stages and prevent data loss and breaches. In case anything does go awry, a disaster recovery plan with HCI is much more effective and easier to execute, thus ensuring a safer solution for all scenarios.
Scalability and flexibility
The simplification of systems, both in terms of hardware and software by no means leads to usability restrictions, on the contrary. Less hardware means that you have less to worry about, but the cloud that comes with HCI enables you the necessary flexibility and agility in all of your business operations, especially with regard to data management. From a short-term perspective, that allows your business to safely work on your databases every day and monitor ongoing processes with ease.
From a long-term perspective, HCI grants you the potential to grow your databases far beyond the capacities of your legacy IT systems or cloud-only infrastructures depending on external servers alone. That said, you can use HCI to scale your business, add more users, grow your data, and manage it with equal ease over time, because HCI can grow at the same pace as your business grows.
Cost-effectiveness
Unlike your traditional IT systems, keeping all of your operations under a single, HCI roof means that a single provider covers all of your needs. The costs of running your business on HCI are significantly lower when compared to traditional IT systems, for starters, precisely because of that unification and data consolidation.
Furthermore, not having to invest in excess hardware, separate security systems, and separate storage platforms. Not to mention that reducing security risks for the long haul means preventing major financial losses due to security breaches, compromised customer data, and above all, the damage done to your brand reputation.
Improved productivity and collaboration
Merely a few years ago, companies used software apps as the end line of their operations. Today, businesses use a wide array of complex AI-based algorithms, machine learning, IoT, and VR to maximize their potential. It’s only natural to require the infrastructure to safely and seamlessly use all of those tools, all of which have further growth and development potential, particularly through data access and analytics. Modernization through HCI systems is perhaps the latest response to the increasingly complex business requirements of any company.
Faster data analytics with these and other IT tools, paired with a unified collaborative cloud platform with built-in security features all makes it much easier for your employees to work on their assignments. Improving productivity is also possible simply because HCI allows for faster software usage and it reduces delays in upload no matter how many users there are.
If you have had any experience with intricate hardware systems and less than secure cloud servers, then you know the importance of merging your technologies into a unified system. This infrastructure approach is by far the most efficient, cost-effective, employee-friendly solution you can rely on for all of your business data storage and security requirements. After all, maintaining data integrity and still enabling business growth through scalable systems is what IT is all about. HCI has precisely that potential, so it’s up to you to use it to your advantage.