Building an IT Infrastructure Today vs. 10 Years Ago

rjupstate sends an article comparing how an IT infrastructure would be built today compared to one built a decade ago. "Easily the biggest (and most expensive) task was connecting all the facilities together. Most of the residential facilities had just a couple of PCs in the staff office and one PC for clients to use. Larger programs that shared office space also shared a network resources and server space. There was, however, no connectivity between each site -- something my team resolved with a mix of solutions including site-to-site VPN. This made centralizing all other resources possible and it was the foundation for every other project that we took on. While you could argue this is still a core need today, there's also a compelling argument that it isn't. The residential facilities had very modest computing needs -- entering case notes, maintaining log books, documenting medication adherence, and reviewing or updating treatment plans. It's easy to contemplate these tasks being accomplished completely from a smartphone or tablet rather than a desktop PC." How has your approach (or your IT department's approach) changed in the past ten years?

Comments

You don't build it

[dyingtolive]

You just put it all in the cloud brah. My boss assured me it'd be okay and he got his MBA from

Same now as it was back then . . .

[mmell]

FIrst, consult the stars to ensure that the project will be done at the right time. Then, after arranging the entrails of a rooster in a circle under the full moon cast the bones into the pit and invoke the augury which will allow me to see the hardware, software stack, network stack and end-user facilities all magically "come together".

Really - I'm pretty sure my boss in the Midwest thought that was how I did it. Why would I change success?