5 November 2018

CIO

it outsourcing

When everything’s running as it should, the data centre is invisible, so it’s increasingly taken for granted. It’s something that just needs to be there, like electricity and water. But is it also so evident in reality?

Light with no lamps

‘Light with no lamps,’ to paraphrase Thomas Rau, architect and innovator. Several years ago, Rau posed Philips a challenge: ‘Give me light and I’ll pay for it. Whether it’s natural light or a lamp, I don’t mind how you do it.’ The end result was a ‘pay per lux’ lighting plan that assumes users aren’t actually interested in lamps; they’re only interested in the light that’s produced. And that’s what DCaaS – Data Centre as a Service – does. It’s a utility model that supplies computing power and data centre technology as a service, just like electricity and water. As CIO, you no longer need to worry about the technical details, operation or maintenance – how or where the data centre is running – but just that it’s running, with all the desired functionality and flexibility that your company needs in these rapidly evolving times.

You can focus on what really counts: using technological innovation to help meet your organization’s business challenges.

Multicloud as standard

Jo Leemans, Group Manager IT Outsourcing: ‘Realdolmen’s DCaaS model is a multicloud platform where on-premise solutions can be combined with hosted environments such as Rcloud, our own cloud environment, and the public cloud.’

DCaaS

Research by Gartner shows that no less than 70% of companies will be opting for multicloud in 2019.

The main idea behind multicloud as standard is the consideration that different workloads require different environments. Workloads that need a high level of scalability are best included in a public cloud, for example, whereas business-critical or privacy-sensitive workloads are perhaps better on-premise or in the Rcloud.

It’s never ‘one size fits all’ with DCaaS, so it’s essential that a clear strategy is formulated in advance to weigh up the requirements against the possible platforms. The ultimate choice is often made after considering a combination of various factors such as flexibility, speed, legislation and costs. ‘Our experts make sure the right workload lands on the right platform,’ explains Leemans.

DCaaS

On-premise in an opex model, it’s possible

In a traditional on-premise set-up, everything runs on your own infrastructure, which often requires big investments (CAPEX). Leemans: ‘To cope with this, we offer a flexible on-premise opex model where you pay per use and can easily upscale and downscale to satisfy changing loads with minimal commitment.

It’s new and makes our DCaaS model quite unique. It means you can profit on-premise from the scalable benefits of a hosted environment, but still keep the data centre in house. CIOs who still have cold feet can use this formula as a stepping stone to a cloud alternative.’

Sparring partner

DCaaS ensures that you as CIO can focus on strategy and innovation without needing to worry about the underlying IT infrastructure. It’s just there like electricity from the wall socket or water from the tap. ‘In our role as sparring partner, we can optimise our input even further by anticipating certain evolutions in the business, together with the CIO, and proactively convert them into the infrastructure they require,’ concludes Leemans.

Give yourself time and space to think about the future

Time is scarce and can only be spent once. Operational tasks often require so much attention that the development of an innovation strategy is pushed forward every time in agendas. Together with Realdolmen as a partner, you can look at what you can do more and better if you do not have to worry about anything else.

Read all about it in our new SimplICiTy magazine, you can download below.

The following blogs also appeared in this series:

Related solutions

Hybrid cloud infrastructure

The evolution to cloud is a fact. Anyone who wants to be involved with mobility, social and big data and wants to transform his business into digital business can not without the cloud.

Rcloud is our own cloud environment, where we take on the role of local service provider and provide cloud tranquility on Belgian territory.

Public Cloud: Microsoft Azure

A well-known and important public cloud is Microsoft Azure. The services and applications reside on the servers of the third-party service provider and are generic.

With new aspects such as software-defined networking, automation, pay per use, hybrid identity, scalability and geographical spread, we upgrade the on-premise data center to a private cloud, and we ensure optimal integration with the public cloud.

Related downloads

Download the SimplICiTy magazine here

To get there, together!

Let us know how we can help. We’ll happily take your ICT concerns off your hands and work together with you on your organisation’s future.

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