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SolarWinds’ Patrick Hubbard talks about the apps of tomorrow.
Applications are at the core of almost every business-critical function, impacting business performance in ways never imagined just five or ten years ago.
Companies that are successfully managing the application stack now are likely to thrive in the future.
However, to maintain competitive advantage, companies should be asking themselves what app evolution has in store. In order to prepare for tomorrow’s apps today, there are a number of key considerations to keep in mind.
Prepare to take a step back. When it comes to the apps of the future, IT pros will know even less about their internal workings and performance metrics than they know today. This is because companies are increasingly moving to service models where apps run in virtual appliances or off-premise in the cloud. So when there is a problem, IT pros can’t dig around for an answer themselves, they have to open a helpdesk ticket and wait for the application provider to respond.
Increased app complexity means that even apps we’re familiar with today will grow more complex and difficult to manage. In order to succeed, we’ll need to step back and trust application providers to manage the apps that they have developed.
Adopt an app-centric ethos. IT teams must ensure that the application is front and centre for every critical network decision. Adopting an app-centric ethos can be challenging for admins with years of positive network-first experience. As workplaces develop, so must the IT pros’ priorities.
Virtualisation will become vital. From compute, to storage, to networking and security, we’ll have fewer management interfaces but greatly increased internal complexity as applications become increasingly vital to the success of a business.
IT pros with limited application experience will have to oversee increasingly complex systems. As such, deep troubleshooting skills will be more critical than ever, with IT pros being relied upon to pinpoint and resolve issues, either in house or by contacting the application provider.
Knowledge is power. While many IT pros are skilled in specific disciplines, such as network or system management, in the wake of new technologies the walls between these traditional IT silos are dissolving.
While many IT pros will likely still excel in one area, in-depth, cross-discipline training and flexible IT management styles will be crucial to an IT department’s ability to cope with the demands of an application-centric infrastructure.
About the author
Patrick Hubbard is ‘head geek’ at management software vendor SolarWinds.
