Infrastructure & Operations Priorities Industry Report Released by Info-Tech Research Group

TORONTO, April 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Info-Tech Research Group, a leading global IT research and advisory firm, has recently released its report on Infrastructure and Operations (I&O) Priorities for the year. This new research provides a framework derived from data-based insights and strategies to help infrastructure and operations leaders better understand their internal and external pressures and select the most effective priorities over the coming months.

"These past two years have been a time of significant and largely unforeseeable events, which have made responsible planning challenging," explains John Annand, a principal research director at Info-Tech. "Planning becoming harder compels us to more closely examine our actions, to contextualize trends, and to evaluate the specificity of each to our unique business and operations. By reading through the Infrastructure and Operations Priorities Report, you can begin to address the age-old problem of not knowing what you don't know."

The priorities listed in Info-Tech's new report combine insights gathered over several months from key vendors, standards bodies, notable industry experts and organizations, and Info-Tech analysts. The insights have been analyzed and compiled to help leaders plan and prioritize in the face of unrelenting change.

Four Priorities from Info-Tech's 2022 Infrastructure and Operations Report:

With so much change experienced across nearly every industry, 2022 has seen different priorities being demanded compared to previous years. The priorities that an I&O leader advocates for will be the basis for how their leadership is evaluated.

Info-Tech's research has revealed four key sources of pressure that need to be top of mind for I&O leaders in 2022 and beyond:

1. Technology Acquisition. Half of I&O's focus is Infrastructure, meaning technology, which requires dealing with vendors. The "New" is constantly competing with the "End-of-Life" when it comes to priorities. This leads to I&O leaders considering where to invest. For example, an employee experience monitoring platform? Or are resources better spent modernizing the Windows Desktop Experience?
2. Business Demands. I&O departments today are at best designed for the business needs of yesterday. New markets, new products, and new political, financial and organizational realities all influence what an I&O department must deliver on. Consider how shadow IT has become business-enabled IT. Does the average user need tools, training and support for the new asynchronous work-from-anywhere hybrid work environment? 
3. Service Design. As with all technology, the only constant in I&O is that of constant change. Organizational design, skills development, staff retention and recruitment all place unique pressures on the services a leader can offer up. Is there consistency and consistency enough to make artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) successful? Are the skills required to build and maintain enterprise application private platforms available in-house or can they be outsourced?
4. Standards and Practices. There is no shortage of neutral and not-so-neutral bodies who have an opinion on how I&O work should be done. How will the latest Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) publication impact the implementation of a next-generation cloud-agnostic operating model? Or how does auditable separation of duties impact the DevOps trend toward group vs. individual accountability?

"To be seen an innovator and not a firefighter, to be viewed as a strategic asset instead of a cost center, I&O professionals must demonstrate a nuanced understanding, personal ownership, and stake in the business they work for," adds Annand.

Discover Info-Tech's four priorities for Infrastructure & Operations leaders. Download and read the entire Infrastructure and Operations Priorities 2022 Report.

To learn more about Info-Tech's research and services, visit infotech.com or follow on LinkedIn and Twitter for daily industry insights and research updates.

For more research and insights, media professionals are encouraged to register for Info-Tech's Media Insiders program. This complimentary program provides unrestricted, on-demand access to IT, HR, and software industry content and the ability to speak with subject-matter experts from a group of over 200 research analysts. To register for access, contact [email protected].

About Info-Tech Research Group

Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading information technology research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals. The company produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For 25 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group