Shift in technology infrastructure provides "best of both worlds" for businesses

Tuesday 30 October 2018

The infrastructure for consumption-based technology is changing, and with these changes comes unlimited business opportunities, clients and industry leaders heard at events held by C5 Alliance in Guernsey and Jersey recently.

Discussions focused predominantly on how Channel Island businesses with critical systems and sensitive data can directly benefit from infrastructure which provides the right mix of on-premises and cloud solutions with consumption models to suit.

The recent 2018 Ryder Cup was highlighted as an organisation deriving business benefit from this approach. Working with HPE, the iconic match between Europe and the USA held last month set a new benchmark in sporting IT infrastructure and connectivity, becoming one of the most-connected single sports venues ever.

Alex Fulton from HPE, explained: “HPE monitored its network usage to pinpoint particular areas of the course with large numbers of fans, prompting organisers to move more concessions stands to maximise profit. The system identified which players were attracting the biggest crowds, which provided information that could be passed to television networks to tailor their coverage; organisers could also tweak their social media strategy to result in more online interaction.”

Chief Technology Officer at BDO Scott Nursten discussed how the paradigm of consumption-based IT infrastructure is shifting - ownership of assets is no longer as important, it’s about access to assets, he said.

“Three of the biggest companies in the world are perfect examples of this,” he said. “Airbnb is now the world’s largest accommodation provider but does not own any properties; YouTube is one of the biggest media organisations with no content; and Uber, the largest vehicle hire company in the world, has over 2 million drivers but no vehicles.

“We see companies now born into the cloud, others are still on a journey to get there and many have an accidental hybrid of solutions. A pay-as-you-go consumption-based model, such as HPE GreenLake can deliver desired outcomes with hardware, software and expertise in on-premises and the cloud – it’s better value for businesses and allows clients to focus on their businesses, not their assets.”

This event was also the first client-facing opportunity for C5 Alliance’s new CEO, Scott Workman, who commented: “This has been a fantastic event to showcase C5’s expertise and highly respected partnership with HPE. There has been a tangible change in the blind optimism for international cloud transformation with uncertainty caused by Brexit and challenging international relations. Technology infrastructure can provide clients the best of both worlds: stability of back-ups on island, with the international standard of cloud hybrids.”