Change is good. But should it always add to costs? 

For instance, given the massive dependence enterprises have on data to determine their digital strategies for products, sourcing, capacity planning, pricing, marketing and customer support, how should they determine budgets for data management and compute power required for real time analytics? That is a difficult question to answer because of the variable involved. Anything—from markets to competition and regulation—could bend the forecast, wasting the investments made based on the forecast. 

Does the fact that the business environment is dynamic have to mean a constant addition to, or waste of, IT infrastructure investments? We tried to answer this question, along with several other pressing questions that hound IT infrastructure professionals. The result is one of the most extensive, first-of-its-kind reports on the subject called State of IT Infrastructure 2020 (you can download a free copy now). 

Spending an increasing amount on operational IT is no guarantee for growth or leadership. What matters is how these costs are managed— through platforming, outsourcing, automation, cloud enablement, etc., without compromising on operations, employee experience, partner convenience and customer satisfaction.

What are your peers in Banking, IT Services, Insurance, Industrial and Process Manufacturing, Utilities, Oil & Gas, Communications, Securities and Capital markets, Automotive, CPG, etc., putting their money on? Our State of IT Infrastructure 2020 survey showed that between Run and Change, 43% of enterprise IT budgets were rooting for Change. This means budgets for Run could be under pressure. The implication is that there is a growing need to optimize cost for IT infrastructure management using a variety of options. 

Based on our broader experience in the industry, we are seeing enterprises adopting a smart spend approach, which is about using your budgets wisely by optimizing the current operating models and transforming it to drive IT-enabled business value (Refer infographic - Smart spend – Transform, and not just cost reduction). This smart spend approach also helps businesses transform and not just reduce cost.

How should you optimize costs? There is no one-size-fits-all answer to that question because every enterprise has unique needs. But there are many options to choose from. IT infrastructure professionals must examine if:

• Outsourcing is the best answer
• Crowdsourcing presents a part-way solution
• Automation can lower costs (and improve user experience)
• Hardware and software asset consolidations are short-to-medium term solutions
• IaaS and PaaS can be used effectively to control costs
• The role of cloud can be enhanced

Wipro’s State of IT Infrastructure 2020 report is the ideal go-to document to find the best-fit answer for your business. The report is packed with over 100 easy-to-absorb infographics, of which, half are insights gleaned from the global survey. The report also includes expert insights backed by over two decades of our experience in providing IT infrastructure services to global industry leaders. Finally, the report also contains expert view points from external leaders who have begun the journey of IT infrastructure enhancement within their enterprises to meet the needs of a digital world. The State of IT Infrastructure 2020 report is an opportunity to follow in their footsteps.