As a data centre engineer, what would you rank among the top five most pressing issues of the current cloud environment? If one of your priorities is developing a competitive edge for cloud customers, you're not alone. According to Savvis, a CenturyLink company and global leader in cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions for enterprises, a recent survey done for them by Computing shows developing a competitive edge is among the top concerns of IT professionals. That may surprise some, as we've been led to believe scalability is the top priority. But with system architecture as advanced and robust as it is, scalability is no longer a leading concern. Any reputable company offering managed services and cloud hosting is more than capable of scalability. Not only that, scalability is purposely built into the cloud environment from the ground up. Savvis maintains the real focus of IT services should be giving customers a competitive advantage through a variety of different means. They cite the Computing survey, which indicates cloud users are looking for three primary things:

• infrastructure solutions that are cost-effective
• efficient operation through collaboration
• development of business critical applications specific to their businesses

Add Value without Complexity Savvis also believes it is entirely possible to add real value to IT systems without increasing their complexity. Suffice it to say that Savvis is one of the leading experts in data centre operations and colocation, and they've put into practice the principles they are now teaching to others. They know how to increase IT value and optimise solutions by combining colocation, private and public cloud systems, and managed services in a way that creates that competitive advantage cloud users are looking for. As a means of sharing this knowledge with the IT industry, Savvis is offering a downloadable IT Leadership Report titled “Making Infrastructure Pay.” The free white paper highlights the previously mentioned Computing study as well as insights into value-adding IT solutions. Application Development On the customer side, adding value to cloud computing environments is primarily focused on the quality of managed services and application development. It’s one thing to provide the finest data centre environment in the business; it’s an entirely different prospect to use that data centre to offer your customers excellent managed services and application development. Furthermore, convincing businesses to set aside their fears and join the cloud rests heavily on whether business-critical applications can be implemented quickly and effectively. If there's one thing that business owners hate, it's change. So it's important to have managed services and apps ready to go right from the start. If you're interested in learning more about Savvis, the services it provides, and its ideas for adding value to IT infrastructure, you are encouraged to schedule a visit to tour Savvis’ new Docklands data centre in person. You can book a data centre tour by clicking here.