The Enterprise’s Guide to IT-as-a-Service

It shouldn’t be an all-or-nothing IT consumption conundrum: a full-blown, high-capacity data-center solution including services you don’t need, or piecemeal solutions for each capacity need from storage to databases.

Cloud has alleviated many pressures on the data center, offering scalability, availability, and storage capacity, as well as cost savings. Yet some workloads and applications are better suited on premises, whether for security, compliance, or performance reasons.

At the same time, having to manage both cloud and on-premises environments can create new IT headaches. That’s why some companies are considering a new model to better address consumption and capacity challenges: IT-as-a-service (ITaaS).

Unlike other as-a-service models, ITaaS is not cloud based, although the concept can be applied to cloud environments. Rather, the focus is about shifting IT operations toward managed services on an as-needed, pay-as-you-go basis.

 IT With Benefits

ITaaS looks different for every business because it’s based on both business and IT consumption needs. But there are over-arching benefits:

Scalability. ITaaS enables companies to provision and pay for only the IT capacity needed in the on-premises data center — and adapt if requirements or demand fluctuates. For example, ITaaS can manage cloud bursting when compute capacity spikes, or provision storage or containers-as-a-service during app development stages.

Transparency. Using a consumption-based IT model gives managers and executives greater insight into where, when, and how IT services are used. In addition, ITaaS provides transparency into asset performance, as well as improved financial clarity into IT resource consumption.

Expertise. It’s a given that there’s an ongoing IT skills shortage. However, it’s quickly becoming a business risk factor, according to Gartner. ITaaS providers have industry expertise and technical knowledge to support IT organizations where need is greatest — such as time-consuming software updates and patching. 

Simplicity. IT teams typically spend inordinate amounts of time on mundane tasks and solving operability problems, especially in increasingly complex infrastructure environments that mix public and private clouds. Together with an ITaaS provider, companies can discuss where capacity concerns are the greatest, then shift those workloads or services to a consumption-based model. This simplifies IT management, while freeing personnel from time-burdensome routines.

Cost savings. The pay-as-you-use-IT model inevitably results in companies only paying for actual consumption¹, rather than overspending on estimated requirements. Yet there are also ITaaS savings in the long run, such as those gained from improved capacity planning, use of existing resources, and equipment maintenance.

Improved IT Consumption from HPE GreenLake

As companies increasingly adopt hybrid cloud, IT is required to manage more complex IT environments — often with already stretched-thin staffing and resources.

HPE GreenLake enables companies to simplify their IT environments, pay only for the resources they actually use, while providing the business with the speed it requires to keep up with new market demands.

Learn more at hpe.com/greenlake.

¹ Minimum commitment may apply