Most federal government agencies are working with the technological equivalent of Stone Age data centers. While the networking equipment used in these data centers might only be a few years old, IT seems to have a multiplier effect that works just like dog years! Between the exponential increase in the volume of data that federal agency networks are handling, the changing network as more and more federal employees work remotely, or on the go, and the need to be resilient against cyber attacks it’s no wonder that federal networks should be upgraded on an annual basis.
While government CIOs are aware that their networks should be upgraded far more regularly than they are, the stark reality is that between budget cuts and recurring expenses of maintaining the existing network infrastructure, it’s more than likely that there’s no capital available for investment in new equipment.
Hearing this situation repeatedly from government CIOs, Brocade applied some real world thinking to the problem at hand and asked how do other industries and organizations solve struggles between CapEx, OpEx and the reality of available budgets? The answer was to stop thinking of the network as part of physical infrastructure that you buy and own, and to start thinking of it as something to lease, or perhaps, subscribe too. As such, IT requirements become a service; something that can be utilized on a pay-as-you-go basis offering all the benefits of upgradability, scalability without burdens of ownership.
This change to treat the network as a service, is part of an overall perspective shift in IT departments throughout the public to treat IT as a Service (ITaaS). The movement towards ITaaS was originally proposed by former U.S. CIO, Steven VanRoekel, and OMB Director, Jeffrey Zients, in early 2013 as and referred to as PortfolioStat. In a blog post written in March 2013, VanRoekel specifically identified the cost saving imperative of ITaaS, noting that early adoption of the PortfolioStat process had already saved close to $300 million.
Watch the video above to learn more about how networking as a service can help government agency realize benefits without breaking the bank.
