Ghosts of Information Technology - Past, Present and FutureCharles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol" is no doubt one of the most popular stories of the holiday season (also made into a movie). Three ghosts disrupt Scrooge's miserly, bitter life and challenge him to change or die.

The Ghost of Christmas Past of IT…

Many organizations operate information technology the same as they did 20 or 30 years ago when technology was in its infancy. IT is still viewed as simple, irrelevant, nothing complex. In organizational hierarchies, it's often an extension of finance. These teams are often referred to as data processing, information systems or information technology. They often are still counting on the reliability of in house server farms, backup power & connectivity and of course the teams to keep these chugging. The more evolved organizations have moved these server farms to 3 rd party datacentres.

Would anyone, five or ten years ago, have used the cloud to run mission-critical, transaction-based apps and deliver them to trusted users around the world? Not very likely to have happened is it? It was unproven, the security was not in place, and valid concerns over latency and data reliability and recoverability prevented all but minor apps to move over the cloud. It was often out of curiosity. There was no way to know in those early days, what that “abstract” concept would bring. Because by nature, the cloud is mostly hidden, we thought it to be non-existent. The fear of the unknown was looming …

The Ghost of Christmas Present of IT …

The bulk of organizations are slowly making their way into early adulthood. IT is rising out of the basement and beginning to impact operations. IT remains subordinate to the C-suite. The title may include "C," but that is mostly ceremonious. Integration and interfaces become increasingly important. Still primarily reactive in nature, IT does not propel the organization forward.

Once people started to understand that the cloud wasn't a cloud at all, but rather, a set of very concrete pieces of equipment located at individual datacentres staffed by smart people, who delivered software and infrastructure services over a secure Internet connection, we slowly started to realize the enormous power that it held. Nothing has been the same since and like a fat Christmas turkey, the cloud has enough capacity for everyone, and even more. It is infinitely scalable. Those who sell the cloud now have the knowledge to do it effectively, and the assurance that what they are selling really is worthwhile and capable. They look to the state-of-the-art datacentres with 24x7 staffing, two-factor authentication, virtualization and built-in redundancies with disaster recovery capability. Now that we know what it is, business people everywhere are rushing to embrace it, and it's no longer just a curiosity—it's a competitive necessity.

The Ghost of Christmas Future of IT …

The ubiquitous title "technology" replaces the outdated "information technology." Leaders view technology as an investment, not a cost centre. Technology officers sit at the executive table and thrive under board-level oversight. Discussions are no longer about technical means, per se, but about the strategies and business outcomes that the technology department enables. Advanced social media, business intelligence, mobility and innovation pour out of these forward-thinking organizations.

What is incredibly remarkable about the time in which we now find ourselves is that we are seeing the beginning of a Renaissance of sorts. Remember the dotcom boom of the '90s? The dotcom boom of the current decade will make that heady time seem like a flash in the pan. The cloud is today better understood—and the underlying technology mature enough to handle just about anything—new opportunities are being created. Yes, it has created a new and disruptive business model, but when Scrooge himself finally embraced a new business model for himself, he found a better life. So it is with the cloud. Instead of a start-up requiring millions of dollars to launch, it can do so with only a few thousand. Capital expenditures that would have gone to building on premise datacentres in the past can now be diverted to innovation.

Our Ghosts …

CommGate India started off in 2006 with a product vision – a Secure Business Server which was an Internet gateway, router, firewall, IPS, proxy, authentication, file server, web server, mail server, backup server etc. rolled into one. It was an uphill journey trying to convince customers that a single box on their premise can do all this and we even remotely manage it for them. Over 3000 customers and 5 years later we decided to drop the product and move on to become a pure play System Integration company. Working closely with various companies like VMware, Cisco, Zimbra, Balabit, IBM, Kaspersky, HP to name a few has been a fantastic experience. Come 2014 we are laying our bets on the Cloud. CloudGate is the vehicle for taking this forward. We have invested heavily into technologies, tools and partnerships to make the cloud journey simpler, smoother and faster while we navigate our customers through private, public or hybrid debates, optimize database with or without SQL, secure the data, applications and even your source code, navigate through the network, virtualization, storage discussions… A Premium Service we are offering is Managed Operations which will involve managing everything except your code. You do what you are good at while CloudGate provides the visibility you need to be successful. Our Managed Operations is also an optimal fit for your Agile and DevOps initiatives, enabling real-time behavioural understanding before, during, and after deployments. At CloudGate, we are more than just your “partner”—we are your entire operations department. We call this Managed Operations. When you are able to outsource ALL of your operations to experienced engineers, architects and support staff, your company can focus on what sets you apart: your intellectual property, customers or sales and marketing.

Email: sales@cloudgate.in Web: www.cloudgate.in