Enterprises have often relied on 3-tier infrastructure and storage area networks (SANs) to run business-critical applications and their associated databases. This includes critical applications such as ERP, CRM, HR, collaboration, and analytics as well as industry-specific apps and numerous business applications created in-house.
However, in response to accelerating digital transformation, enterprises across all industries are shifting to a higher gear and becoming application development factories. IDC estimates that by 2026, 750M new applications will come to market. This surge in application development is causing IT decision makers to reconsider their infrastructure choices. More and more organizations are choosing a hybrid multicloud strategy, with applications and databases spanning on-premises data centers, edge, public clouds, colocation facilities, and service providers.
The hybrid multicloud approach is not well supported by legacy infrastructure or public cloud:
- Legacy 3-tier infrastructure is too costly, with high OPEX due to complex management and frequent forklift upgrades. Flexibility is limited and 3-tier platforms cannot be easily extended to the cloud. Legacy solutions lack the agility to meet rapidly changing requirements, and operational complexity robs valuable time from IT staff.
- Public cloud solutions provide automation, but they lack the flexibility to extend to other public clouds, on-premises datacenters, edge locations, or service providers. Public clouds may not accommodate all the specific databases you’re using today, creating a need for time-consuming re-platforming.
Modern infrastructure is needed that is capable of supporting all business-critical applications and databases (old and new), and capable of spanning on-premises, cloud, and other environments.
