Top Four Challenges Facing Infrastructure and Operations Leaders…and solutions

August 27, 2021

For most companies, infrastructure is the organization’s backbone, thus increasing the importance of and challenges facing Infrastructure and Operations (I&O) leaders.  Covid-19 has also caused I&O leaders and their teams to create, deploy, and secure dynamic environments quickly. Significant challenges facing I&O leaders today include:

1. Addressing insufficient employee skillsets and resource availability – the workforce shortage and availability to find skilled resources is a critical issue facing most organizations today and will continue to be a challenge. Developing versatile employees and investing in those employees through training, certifications, and providing work/life flexibility can help ease the shortage. Your organization can start this process by following these steps:

1. 1. Conduct an I&O skills inventory by defining the necessary skills needed for future roles and assessing current staff.
   2. Invest in a skills transformation program by creating a three-year to five-year roadmap of skills needed for future I&O and business requirements. Focus on emerging skills that promote digital dexterity, problem-solving, and collaboration.
   3. Implement a prioritized set of methods to change the skills portfolio of the I&O organization by creating a skills roadmap that emphasizes connected learning, digital dexterity, collaboration, and problem-solving.  Devote a specific budget amount (recommend 20 to 25%) from the training and development overall budget for skills beyond current needs.
   4. Accelerate the decommissioning of skills that will be of less value in the future by prioritizing I&O skills based on future needs. Explore and establish alternative training methods emphasizing connected learning, immersion experiences, and collaboration.

2. Managing technical debt – for most organizations, technical debt is an ongoing challenge hampering innovation efforts. If your organization does not have a plan to address, it is imperative that a short- and long-term plan be put in place and followed to free up resources for innovation to foster a culture of agility and ultimately increase ROI in information technology.
3. Lowering infrastructure costs – through both tactical and strategic approaches:
   1. Working with sourcing vendors to negotiate better deals from vendors and service providers
   2. Focusing on mission-critical areas
   3. Implementing automation
   4. Accelerating adoption of cloud
4. Improving quality – moving to Platform Ops to bridge the gap between DevOps and the infrastructure team. This allows the development team the freedom to develop, be agile and not all need to be infrastructure and security experts while allowing your infrastructure team control over security, cost, and compliance, a low-risk solution, and not all be application experts.

If your I&O leadership or organization needs help in addressing the challenges, Dewpoint is here for you.  We have technical experts with in-depth I&O experience working with or for Fortune 500 companies.  Dewpoint can start with an independent review of your current I&O organization or help you jump-start your journey on implementing the solutions.  Contact us today to have a conversation with one of our I&O experts for more ideas to solve current and future challenges.