The Indian IT industry faces a pressing need for infrastructure modernization to remain globally competitive. With the ever-evolving technological landscape, outdated systems hinder agility and innovation. Modernizing IT infrastructure is essential to accommodate increasing data volumes, improve cybersecurity, and enhance scalability. To dive deep into India’s fast growing digital landscape and rising need to modernize IT infra, DT talked to Ranganath Sadasiva, CTO, HPE India. He shared crucial insights about the current IT landscape, challenges and their support to organizations.
The State of IT Infrastructure Among Large Organizations Today
In today's digital landscape, businesses, regardless of size, are pushing the boundaries of agility and performance to deliver powerful user experiences. IT infrastructure teams are in the spotlight, expected to achieve more with less while maintaining impeccable service levels. Parallelly, automation has emerged as the backbone of efficient IT operations and monitoring,” said Ranganath Sadasiva, CTO, HPE India. “The IT infrastructure landscape among large organizations can be characterized by its rapid evolution. Organizations now place greater reliance on digital technologies, seeking attributes like agility, scalability, and resilience in their IT environments. However, the reality is that many organizations are still grappling with complex legacy systems, increasing data volumes, and the imperative to adopt emerging technologies to remain competitive. This presents a golden opportunity for organizations to modernize their IT infrastructure.”
He further added, “In the contemporary IT environment, the dynamic nature of infrastructure demands new monitoring tools and methods. It is crucial to shift the focus from singular data points derived from individual hosts and network services to a more holistic view that considers services' combined health and performance. With greater complexity in the mix, visibility into the infrastructure becomes a challenge, making robust asset monitoring crucial for minimizing software application outages and response times. The monitoring platforms for today's IT infrastructure must have the capability to oversee the entire environment, whether it's on-premises, in the cloud, or a hybrid blend of both. At HPE, we are committed to assisting organizations in navigating this transition, offering solutions and expertise to help large organizations modernize their IT infrastructure, achieve greater agility, and harness the full potential of the digital economy.”
Key Verticals Seeking Urgent IT Infrastructure Upgrade
Talking about the need of urgent IT Infrastructure upgrade, he said, “It's imperative for organizations to re-align their IT infrastructure to cater to the specific demands posed by their workloads and applications. Currently, we are observing a ‘Consolidate and Build’ phase emerge as a technology trend with customers of all sectors. Customers are looking into their investments, available technology options and evaluating newer technologies to make a data-driven decision for the new age of Digital Infrastructure.”
He further added, “In the healthcare sector, we've witnessed a remarkable transition towards telemedicine and the digitization of health records. These advancements necessitate a robust and secure IT infrastructure. It's important to safeguard patient data while ensuring seamless communication between healthcare providers and patients. Financial institutions, on the other hand, face relentless pressure to stay ahead of cyber threats and fraudulent activities. They rely on advanced data analytics and real-time transaction processing, which demand high-performance IT infrastructure. The manufacturing industry too is experiencing a profound transformation propelled by the Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing. To enhance operational efficiency, manufacturers are seeking IT infrastructure capable of processing data rapidly from connected devices and sensors on factory floors. This is critical for real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, and automation.”
“Governmental efforts to build digital capabilities for seamless governance involve the need for digital infrastructure that provides the scale and security to deliver services. The need to build robust, resilient digital infrastructure that can handle the volume of these services is important and we are seeing a lot of work happening in this space. Growth of Emerging businesses and startups are adopting a cautious yet aggressive posture to upgrading their infrastructure to include all new-age technology needs,” he stated.
“And lastly, the retail sector is also at the vanguard of requiring IT infrastructure upgrades. The surge in e-commerce and the quest for personalized shopping experiences have compelled retailers to harness data analytics and artificial intelligence. These technologies necessitate modernized infrastructure capable of handling large data volumes and supporting innovative customer engagement strategies,” he commented.
Challenges Faced by CTOs/CIOs in Technology Adoption
Being the CTO or CIO is harder than ever in today’s data-driven, hacker-plagued digital world. While navigating the adoption of cutting-edge technologies like cloud computing, edge computing, and AI, they encounter a multitude of challenges. These challenges are pivotal in shaping their strategies and decision-making processes. Commenting on the challenges for CTOs and CIOs, he added, “The challenges may include resistance to change, data migration complexities, and legacy system integration. CIOs and CTOs can overcome them through change management strategies, careful planning, and adopting modern cloud-native tools. With the proliferation of AI and IoT, the volume of data generated has grown exponentially. Handling, storing, and efficiently analyzing this massive influx of data is a significant challenge. For CTOs and CIOs, ensuring that data is turned into actionable insights is a priority. Additionally, the security of data and applications is paramount. Whether it's data stored in the cloud, data at the edge, or the algorithms powering AI systems, protecting them from cyber threats is a constant concern. Ensuring compliance with data regulations adds another layer of complexity.”
He further added, “Organizations need to scale their IT infrastructure to meet evolving demands. However, this must be done while carefully managing costs and optimizing resource utilization. Balancing scalability with cost efficiency is another ongoing challenge. Lastly, finding and retaining talent with expertise in these emerging technologies is becoming increasingly competitive. Skilled professionals who can design, implement, and manage cloud, edge, and AI solutions are in high demand. As an industry leader, at HPE we understand these challenges and are committed to helping organizations overcome them. We offer comprehensive solutions, services, and expertise to assist CTOs and CIOs in successfully implementing and managing these transformative technologies. Our goal is to empower organizations to harness the full potential of these innovations while mitigating the associated challenges.”
Support to Organizations in Scaling Their IT Infrastructure
“At HPE, we understand the diverse needs of organizations across different sectors and offer a comprehensive array of solutions to facilitate expansion of their IT infrastructure. These sectors include healthcare, manufacturing, finance, public sector, Emerging and Start-up entities, retail, and energy, each with its own distinct demands that our solutions- address, such as compliance in healthcare to efficiency in manufacturing. We deliver hybrid cloud solutions that enable organizations to seamlessly manage workloads across both on-premises data centers and public cloud platforms. Integrating best-in-class hybrid capabilities for computing, connectivity, software, management, and storing data, this flexibility ensures that organizations can optimize their infrastructure for performance, cost-efficiency, and compliance,” he stated.
He further added, “Our edge solutions empower organizations to process data closer to its source, enabling real-time insights and immediate actions. This is particularly crucial in sectors where immediate decision-making and low-latency processing are essential, such as manufacturing and logistics. HPE's AI solutions are meticulously designed to assist organizations harness the power of data for predictive analytics, automation, and improved decision-making. Whether it's optimizing supply chains or personalizing customer experiences, our AI solutions provide a competitive edge.”
“We also offer comprehensive security solutions to safeguard data and applications across the entire IT landscape. In an era marked by constantly evolving cyber threats , our security solutions ensure the protection of sensitive information for organizations. Beyond our technology offerings, we provide consulting and support services to assist organizations in planning, implementing, and optimizing their IT infrastructure. Our experts collaborate with organizations to ensure their ability to scale and adapt effectively to the ever-changing landscape of technology trends. In essence, HPE is committed to being an organization's strategic partner, helping them modernize their IT infrastructure and navigate the complexities of technology adoption. Our solutions are not one-size-fits-all; they are customized to meet the unique requirements of various sectors, enabling organizations to thrive in the digital age, and can be consumed in all phases of Digital journeys,” he concluded.