Basic process for ICT infrastructure purchase

Information and communication technology has indeed brought about a digital disruption. The rate at which technology has come to simplify many tasks cannot be over emphasized. In this age of information revolution, there is need for everyone to keep abreast of the basic technological changes that has come to revolutionise our lives; failure to do this may spell doom for anyone if care is not taken.

It is on the premise of the afore mentioned that I am bringing on this short piece. Today, we shall look at the very basics, indeed the very basic principles to keep in mind when setting up many of the ICT devices that has found itself into virtually every nook and crannies of our society. From the computers in our various offices, to the laptops that we carry around, to the smart phones we all virtually carry about as a necessary companion. 

What can we say about the cameras installed all around us for surveillance and security purposes. What about the enterprise computers known as Servers and storages, switches, tapes, and libraries. How many shall we mention? The rate at which various ICT equipment are being churned out is overwhelming, and this has successfully set mankind into another endless race of “pursuing shadows” as it were. The rate at which the entire human race has come to give attention to information and communication technology is really alarming. I shall take time to deal with this growing concern sometimes later, but now, let us concentrate on the topic at hand, basic process for ICT devices purchase.

In this short piece, we shall consider the purchase of Server and storage infrastructure, which is majorly used by virtually all the Banks in Nigeria and worldwide. There is no company worldwide that does not use a server and storage infrastructure as a basis for their operations. Servers and storages infrastructures are very key to the operations of the banking, telecommunications, manufacturing, and broadcasting sectors of the economy, to mention just few. Hardly is there a sector that does not see the importance of the Servers and storage infrastructures in this digital disruption.

As a starting point, there is need to first understand the decision that goes into making the right choice of server and storage infrastructures to be purchased. This is very crucial, and we shall briefly explore it. It is worth noting that purchasing these IT equipment is capital intensive. The choice an organization makes to purchase depends on the knowledge they have about each of the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and having a sound knowledge of the OEM’s machine is very key, as this will make the organization to go for machines that are resilient and durable, which can handle whatever level of workload to be processed on a daily basis.

At this juncture, let me bring to your notice the major OEMs that play actively in the servers and storage hardware technology space. In no particular order, they are:

International Business Machines (IBM)

Hewlett Packard (Hp)

Dell-Sun Microsystems

Oracle 

Huawei 

Nutanix 

Netapp 

The above are the major players in the servers and storage infrastructure manufacturing. The organization that wants to purchase the infrastructures will connect with any of these OEMs through the business partners (BPs), who represents the OEMs before the prospective customers. The BPs are involved in the procurement of these infrastructures end-to-end. The truth is that these BPs have a major role in the whole procurement processes, and they represent the OEMs during the entire sales process, and are readily available to render after-sales support to the prospective customers on behalf of the OEMs.

In our next edition, I shall do a deep dive into the procurement process both technical and commercial. 

Andrew Omeike

#MEMBA 11