MEA November 2017

MEAMARKETS / November 2017 23 Consolidation - The Foundation for IT and Business Transformation g for consolidation-related tasks, to minimize “time to success” • Enable business users to create applications quickly and easily, with the full guidance and support of IT but with no direct IT intervention required • Include specific features that let IT decision makers sleep well at night • Be offered by a proven, committed provider of enterprise-class, cloud-based solutions, and supported by comprehensive professional services and a broad ecosystem of helpful knowledge, partners and users Host with the Best Platform – and Platform Vendor When choosing the right platform for your organization, below are some questions you should ask every vendor you consider: • Does the vendor offer a written service level agreement (SLA)? • Is the offering based on modern, cloud-based technologies for maximum flexibility and economy? • Are upgrades to the vendor’s technologies straightforward and non- disruptive to your business operations? • Does the solution make it easy to create and tailor applications and their interfaces to meet specific business requirements and user preferences, to maximize adoption and minimize training? • Is the offering proven in the real world at enterprises with requirements at least as demanding as those at your organization? • Is the offering known to and supported by IT decision makers at your organization and elsewhere? • Does the solution incorporate support for mobility, social networking and other features that make applications more usable and popular? • Is the solution supported by a broad ecosystem of partners, users, and readily available knowledge, online and in person, at user groups and industry events? The right combination of justification, planning, execution, and platform can reduce or eliminate redundancies, incompatibilities, and complexities associated with those resources, as well as associated hardware, software, and maintenance costs. It can also make management processes and delivery of IT-enabled services more consistent and efficient, and enable new, innovative, high- value business applications. And as these extend beyond IT, they can also extend the value of IT consolidation platform investments. All of these benefits can, in turn, increase IT’s support of and relevance to the business, and IT’s overall business value, while improving IT’s perception across the enterprise. Achieving these benefits, however, relies upon the careful selection of a platform that can support the features and functions needed to succeed with consolidation.