The IT Journey

This month let’s wax poetic bit, so indulge me, please. I was thinking about and discussing with someone about how long I’ve been in the IT world, and as of March 2019, it’s been 25 years. Whoa. The revelation of that number got me thinking about many things, such as where the time has gone, as we’ve all have done throughout our careers and lives. However, what I started to think about was the journey I’ve had in my career. The journey of all that has happened in those 25 years, all I hope I have done well, and the challenges I’ve faced. Reflecting like this is nothing that we all haven’t all done before, but I keep thinking of the journey and the story around that journey. That journey has made me who I am, for better or worse. Most importantly, that journey has put me exactly where I am supposed to be, which at this precise moment is penning this article for my monthly blog post for you. But isn’t that the case for all of us? Let's discuss this month.

Our journeys are unique and have compelling stories behind it them, which, if you think about it, is a very cool thing. This goes for individuals as well as companies. That journey is an amalgamation of the decisions you made (good and bad), the things you’ve done, the things you tried, your trials and tribulations, and the consequences of the actions and paths you’ve taken. That’s what makes you who you are and is the basis of your success. Well, isn’t that same with IT? I bet you were wondering when I was going to tie this all together with what we all do in IT, right? Here we go.

Companies have an IT journey, as well; how they began their journey in using IT to where they stand today. All of the things they’ve done, the technology and solutions they’ve invested in—some that worked and some that didn’t—all the partners they’ve used, and their successes and failures. Generally, a company didn’t wind up where they are with the IT solutions and technology that they are using today. For the most part, it was a bit of a step process. Use something, try something, adjust, update, and try again to get it right—and then do it again. That’s all part of the journey.

When we are using IT, we don’t always make the right choices right off the bat. Sometimes we know exactly what we need—and it turns out to be incorrect. That’s life. We did things, learned from it, adjusted as necessary, and grew and looked towards different solutions as business needs change. Where there mistakes in there? Sure. I don’t know of any firms that got it right in the beginning. You live and learn. That’s the same as us as individuals, both in our personal and professional lives. One part of what you do always will lead you to the next part of what you need to do and/or are ready to do.

Let me use Vicom as an example. If you look at how we conceptualize and represent our company, you’ll see the Vicom Cube and those of you that know us recognize we’ve used some version of the Vicom Cube for over 12 years. It’s evolved as our business model has changed and as time went on. It changed to facilitate our needs throughout our journey.

The middle section of our cube, with Compute, Network, Storage, Infrastructure Services and Software Defined (or what we all use to call Virtualization) was and continues to be a significant part of what Vicom does. We call this Vicom 1.0, as this is where our roots are and what we’ve been doing since our beginning.

The areas that immediately surround the Vicom 1.0 areas are Security, Data Protection, Operations & Service Management, and Consulting & Governance. That area is what we refer to as Vicom 2.0. These are areas that we did not immediately offer when we first started but were built upon the Vicom 1.0 areas as part of our journey and growth. These areas are natural extensions of the growth and of what we had already been doing. Our journey dictated the necessity of these areas. However, we would not have been able to offer these Vicom 2.0 areas without the many years of growth and success with Vicom 1.0. We weren’t ready for them. Now, many years later, not only are we ready for them, but they are one of the most important solution areas we offer to our customers.

Then when you look at the two sections that surround Vicom 2.0, they are focused on cloud, support, and managed services. These areas are what we call Vicom 3.0. This is the next evolution of our journey, where firms are spending more much more time, effort, and money focused on using cloud technologies and multi-cloud environments. The focus on multi-cloud dictates a stronger need for support (since their IT environments can be in multiple places) with further justifies the need to ensure that their IT environments allow the business to be successful. Vicom 3.0 would not be possible for us to provide to our customers unless we were truly successful and competent with Vicom 1.0 and 2.0 areas. We, as a firm, needed to nail those first before we could move on to the next sections and that's precisely what we've done, and we, and most importantly, our customers, are better for it.

So what’s the message here? The journey is part of our story and makes us who we are, and that applies personally and to our IT environments as well. So how has this IT journey been for our customers and Vicom? From my perspective, it's been an informative and productive journey throughout the years. We've all grown in our abilities and capabilities, and yes I am talking about our firms IT journey, but this is just as applicable from a personal perspective for me too. That journey has allowed our customers to be better at what they do through the use of technology. It makes us all more productive and efficient, and that's a very good thing, but it didn't necessarily start that way, it evolved over time. Our journey makes us who we are both in life and IT. That’s deep and profound when you stop to think about it, as I've done this month. Thanks for indulging me. Until next time.

Andy

ajonak@vicomnet.com

www.linkedin.com/in/andyjonak/

@ajonak

www.andyjonakblog.com