What is infrastructure software?

Every business that has a computer will have some form of infrastructure software. Often the software is critical to business process and the failure of the software can cause major losses or even destroy the business.

Infrastructure software includes application development (AD) software, application integration and middleware (AIM) software, information management software, storage management software, IT operations management and security software (Gartner, 2018). Infrastructure software includes:

• Information management software includes Data Integration Tools, Data Quality Tools and Database Management Systems.
• Storage management software aid in managing the device or managing and protecting the data.
• IT operations management software manages the provisioning, capacity, performance and availability of the computing, networking and application environment.
• Security software is included to control and monitor access to internal and external IT resources.
• Middleware software enables applications and other software to work together. This includes integration services, web services and application servers.
• Operating system (OS) software provides the foundation on which applications, middleware and other infrastructure components function.

A simple payroll system for example would need a computer with an OS as a host, a database to store data, middleware to host integration and the application. Immediately you have four tiers of software to manage before you even connect to a network.

What is a managed service?

A managed service in the information technology context is the management of equipment and/or services related to computers, networks or software. Typically, the term managed service is used when this management is provided by a third party, web hosting is a common example but any part of or all of your systems could be managed in this way.

IT support companies providing managed services normally support the Network, Storage, Hardware, Virtualisation and, partially, Operating Systems.

Managed services can be offered at various levels with various depths and scope but they should all have common features that sets the offering apart from ‘Break/Fix’ support:

• Active monitoring
• Proactive and preventative maintenance
• The provider manages issues
• Predictable fees

So, do I want infrastructure software as a managed service?

You may have an in-house IT team doing an astounding job at supporting everything but keeping up with the ever growing demands of the business is no easy task and you may find your team will perform better and be more effective if you lighten their burden. Do more with less!

Consider placing at least some of your infrastructure software as a managed service if you:

• Want a predictable budget
• Have IT covered but supporting the sprawl of databases and applications is getting more complex
• Develop a need for specific skills not currently available in your team
• Want cost effective 24/7 cover
• Do not want to worry about cover for when staff are sick or want holiday
• Want to be flexible and responsive to the demands of business growth

Your team and your business will benefit from offloading stress and worry making it easier to be more productive.

References

Gartner. (2018, 04 17). Gartner IT Glossary > infrastructure software. Retrieved from Gartner: https://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/infrastructure-software