The “State of the CIO Study 2006” (CIO Research, 2006) shows that, more and more, CIOs are looking for IT to proactively initiate technology solutions to enable business outcomes. This is a dramatic shift from just a few years ago when the majority of CIOs viewed the role of IT as a supporter and enabler of predefined business initiatives.

Core IT Infrastructure Optimization focuses on using an organization’s IT assets to support and advance the business. It helps businesses measure their level of optimization and drive for a truly people-ready infrastructure. Embee can help customers by helping them to focus on Core IT infrastructure and the application platform—that outline a progression through four stages of optimization Each of the models illustrates the strategic value and business benefits of moving from a “basic” stage of optimization, where the infrastructure is generally considered a “cost center,” toward a “dynamic” infrastructure, where the business value of the infrastructure is clearly understood and is viewed as a business growth enabler and strategic business asset. Using these models, you can gauge the current level of optimization of your infrastructure, establish a technology vision for the future, and build a clear roadmap to achieving that vision.

The Benefits of Optimization

• The optimization models have been developed using industry best practices. A key goal for Embee in the model was to enable our customers to effectively draw an optimization framework that is flexible and can easily be used as a benchmark and a roadmap for technical capability and business value.
• Dramatic cost savings can be realized by moving from an unmanaged environment toward a fully automated management and dynamic resource usage environment.
• Security also improves from highly vulnerable in a basic infrastructure to dynamically proactive in a more optimized infrastructure. Infrastructure management changes from highly manual and reactive to highly automated and proactive.
• The first step in using the models is to evaluate what optimization level you are currently at. Once the current level has been established, the next step is to use the models to develop a plan on how to progress through each level in order to reach the target level needed for maximum business benefit.
  
  

The Core Infrastructure Optimization model

helps you understand and strive for a more secure, well-managed, and dynamic core infrastructure that will help enable you to reduce your overall IT costs, make better use of IT resources, and make IT a strategic asset for your business. This model supports IT professionals in the management of servers, desktops, mobile devices, and applications and in achieving efficient resource usage to help you eliminate unnecessary costs and complexity, ensure that your business is always up and running, and establish a responsive infrastructure.