Building Resilient and Agile Infrastructure in the Digital Age
- By CDOTrends editors
- May 25, 2022
In today's digital economy, businesses rely on interconnected systems to function. When you disrupt one part of the network, the business users can experience ripple effects throughout the system.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a case in point. The sudden shutdown of businesses and the ensuing economic downturn highlighted the importance of a resilient and agile digital infrastructure.
In response to the pandemic, many businesses have turned to interconnection to help them weather the storm. By connecting critical systems, companies can create a more resilient network that can better adapt to change.
In a recent panel discussion organized by CDOTrends with Equinix, experts from the digital economy explored the opportunities that interconnection can offer businesses in the post-pandemic world. From tackling supply chain disruptions to accelerating high-frequency trading, the panelists agreed that interconnection will play a pivotal role in helping businesses survive and thrive in the new digital normal.
Interconnectivity’s importance
Alex Henshaw, digital transformation lead for APAC, Equinix, led the discussion by defining interconnection as the deployment of IT traffic exchange points that integrate direct, private connections between counterparties. It’s essentially the ability to connect different digital ecosystems in a very low-latency, direct, and private way so that companies can create microcosms of innovation.
Henshaw explained that when companies leverage interconnection and re-architect their network topologies to be more cloud-centric and digital-first, they can reap the benefits of increased agility and resilience. They also avoid the performance issues and high latency that come with backhauling traffic across regions and make it harder for them to scale.
Panelists agreed that digital transformation is also no longer a luxury; it's a necessity. In a post-pandemic world, businesses need to be able to connect with more customers, networks, and the cloud to optimize IT performance and automate business operations.
Businesses need to have a scalable, optimized, and secure hybrid infrastructure in place to be successful. Automating this process can help companies save time and money while ensuring that their systems are always up and running.
One panelist from the hospitality industry shared their company's transformation journey, moving from a B2B to a B2C focus. For them, the challenge was in integrating multiple systems and data sources to create a seamless customer experience.
Legacy applications, siloed data, and manual processes made it difficult to keep up with the competition. So the company invested in an automated interconnection solution that allowed them to quickly and easily connect with new applications, services, and data sources.
Another panelist from the insurance industry discussed the challenges of connecting different data sources and applications. His major challenge was siloed data, impeding data sharing between various stakeholders.
Data siloes make it challenging to get a holistic view of the customer. It can also lead to inaccurate risk assessments and higher premiums. For companies to fully take advantage of the opportunities for digital transformation, participants agreed that they needed to look at their back-end processes and digitize them.
Cloud is an enabler
In digital transformation, the cloud is a crucial enabler for digital transformation as it provides the agility and flexibility that companies need to scale. Yet, not many companies are using the cloud.
In a survey during the panel discussion, members of the audience ranked productivity as the top benefit of cloud adoption. Moving to the cloud can help businesses automate processes and improve collaboration. It can also help companies to save money on infrastructure costs.
One panelist said that moving to the cloud accelerated digital transformation. And while dealing with legacy systems can be a challenge, he believed that the benefits of interconnection — such as increased agility and scalability — are worth the effort.
Another panelist said that many companies worked with multiple cloud providers to create a more resilient network. It allowed them to avoid vendor lock-in and take advantage of the best features of each platform. For example, companies could route traffic between different clouds to balance the load and improve performance.
Data sovereignty on the cloud was also a vital issue for many companies that panelists highlighted. One panelist mentioned the need for understanding the implications of regulatory environments to ensure compliance around data sovereignty.
In some cases, data needs to stay within the country or region for compliance reasons. Fortunately, there are now cloud providers that offer data sovereignty solutions. These providers store data in multiple locations to meet compliance requirements.
Henshaw added that entire industries are rethinking their business from edge to cloud alongside these developments. This is where digital maturity comes in, as companies have to focus on interconnecting their core and integrating their digital ecosystems if they want to succeed.
According to him, digital leaders interact at the digital edge, deploying infrastructure four times faster than pre-pandemic levels.
Emerging technologies
The cloud is not the only emerging technology businesses need to take advantage of.
Panelists noted that today's companies ran on ecosystems of applications and needed to focus on integrating these systems. Whether a CRM system, an ERP system, or a custom application, businesses need to quickly and easily connect these applications to optimize their workflows.
For innovators, the development and testing environments are critical. They need to be able to rapidly develop and test new applications without impacting the live system. This allows businesses to experiment and fail quickly without risking customer data.
The DevOps cycle, for instance, is a continuous integration and delivery process that helps businesses quickly develop, test, and deploy new code. This helps companies avoid the risks of lengthy development cycles and allows for more experimentation. The company's IT infrastructure plays a massive role in enabling this process, and businesses need to be able to quickly provision and configure resources.
"This new architecture that we are seeing, and the interconnection side of it, is a checklist of actually optimizing the local traffic, optimizing the network, simplifying the cloud, and paying directly with your partners, rather than going through the internet. That's going to give you more security. It will also give you more scalability and allows you to leverage digital ecosystems," Henshaw shared.
Culture club
But it's not just about technology. The panelists highlighted that one major challenge for businesses is the culture and mindset shift required to embrace digital transformation.
This culture includes building partnerships that allow for open collaboration and sharing best practices. It also includes a focus on customer experience and continuous innovation.
Talent is another crucial area that is posing a major challenge. Panelists noted that businesses need to attract and retain the right talent, from developers, designers, and other digital experts who can help companies transform their operations.
The panelists added that businesses need to be clear about their goals and objectives. In addition, they need to have a clear strategy for how they're going to use technology to achieve their business goals. Digital leaders, or companies that are further along in their digital transformation, can be a great source of inspiration and best practices.
Digital transformation is a journey, not a destination. And while it can be daunting, the rewards are well worth the effort. By taking advantage of emerging technologies, such as the cloud and building a culture of digital transformation, businesses can unlock new levels of growth and agility.