Summary
To summarize what's been discussed in this introductory chapter:
Success depends on the appropriate IT focus.
Your focus should be on solution or IT product delivery, not technological prowess. Any IT organization will find it difficult to differentiate itself positively based on how effectively it handles its systems administration. Delivering basic technology services is like having the lights come on when you flip a switch. The real value proposition for IT is not making the lights work, because this is expected of you anyway. Instead, the real value proposition is delivering sharable support services for applications in a way that promotes reuse, cost savings, and agility.
An "infrastructure product" mentality helps simplify optionsand drive competencies.
Thinking in terms of infrastructure products leads to a delivery mentality. Creating tangible infrastructure products reduces the amount of uncertainty for your IT department and, ultimately, your organization. You should focus on core infrastructure patterns and services, looking for ways to reuse pattern and service assets and expertise while emphasizing consistent delivery with people and process improvements.
Developing adaptive infrastructure requires a change in culture and relationships.
Successful implementation of adaptive infrastructure will change the relationship between business users and the IT group, but it should also change a key piece of the IT culture: the application developer community. Your efforts will create a new class of workers—infrastructure planners and developers, who will have application developers as their customers.
The ultimate goal is for IT and business to develop strategic investment priorities together.
The typical IT department can develop a suitable infrastructure plan at a given point in time. Developing a plan that reflects and accommodates developments within the business, then updating and managing that plan, will require close coordination with business managers.
Reuse is the linchpin of adaptive infrastructure.
Substantive reuse is impossible at the application level. Instead, reuse must be fostered at the interface level, among application components. A number of adaptive infrastructure concepts are designed to facilitate reuse, including adaptive infrastructure services, infrastructure pattern matching, predictive infrastructure cost models, and the role of the infrastructure planner.