Although innovation in the data center, through the use of managed hosting, cloud computing and a host of other new technologies has brought powerful new capabilities to modern businesses, it has also created major increases in complexity.
Sys-Con Media contributor Jason Bloomberg recently compared the current-generation data center to its mid-1990s equivalent, highlighting the relative simplicity of the older setup.
"The server you ordered finally arrives. Could be Windows, Linux, some flavor of Unix, doesn’t matter. You unpack it. Boot it up. Patch the OS. Configure the OS. Install software off of CDs. Patch the software. Configure the software. Move data to the box. Test. Tweak. Test again. Finally, the box goes live," he wrote, adding that the present-day equivalent of this task involves ongoing configuration management, virtual server provisioning and handling the integration of IT Infrastructure services in a wide range of different formats.
The idea with automation, Bloomberg wrote, is that much of the upkeep required by today's more sophisticated enterprise IT systems is handled by pre-determined actions in the data center, sparing tech staff from having to spend their entire workdays simply keeping up with the fluctuating needs of the infrastructure.
It's difficult, if not impossible, to get the most out of cloud computing in the absence of robust automation capabilities, according to the writer. In the case of private cloud users, a lack of automation means that the data center isn't a real cloud at all — instead, it is a standard facility with "cloud-like features," and a more expensive one, to boot.
"As organizations adopt the cloud, they increasingly transform the role of operations. No longer does your ops team actually take care of servers, networks, and applications. Instead, you're automating that work, shifting the expertise required to the development team who must now create and manage the automation scripts that form the specification," Bloomberg said.
IT workers shouldn't worry that the cloud is going to cost them their jobs, however. Experts say that the advent of the technology simply means they will spend their time on higher-level considerations than checking patch updates or unpacking new servers in order to bring them online. What's more, those with cloud expertise could quickly become hot commodities on the employment market.
