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Business growth is the mark of a successful global enterprise. Expanding operations to new markets is never easy, but specific roadblocks can be avoided with the right strategies.
A one-size-fits-all approach to connectivity leads to complex implementations, compliance issues, and costly shadow activities. Companies risk their reputation and revenue streams in new regions without flexibility and innovation.
When multi-location enterprises embrace IT agnosticism, they have the freedom to choose the most advantageous solutions and vendors for each market and adopt new technologies as business needs evolve. This article explains this concept as it relates to global connectivity.
What is agnostic in the context of IT?
IT agnostic means prioritizing open standards, interoperability, and vendor neutrality across all technology solutions and processes. Businesses do this in a variety of ways.
First, by avoiding exclusive reliance on a single vendor for hardware, software, or cloud services. Next, by steering clear of siloed technologies that require complex data integrations. Lastly, by refraining from investing in solutions that aren’t easily scalable or maintainable.
A multi-location enterprise’s connectivity ecosystem needs to be scalable and cost-effective while supporting the employees and customers it’s serving.
Are platform agnostic and vendor agnostic the same?
Platform agnostic and vendor agnostic are not the same thing. Platform agnostic refers to software or systems that can run on any operating system or hardware. For example, a platform-agnostic application works without modification on any operating system, cloud, or hardware.
On the other hand, vendor agnostic means that a solution does not rely on any specific vendor’s products or services. Although both promote flexibility, platform agnosticism emphasizes compatibility across platforms, while vendor agnosticism ensures independence from particular suppliers.
Challenges in implementing a vendor-agnostic strategy
Evaluating, selecting, and implementing the right enterprise connectivity solutions requires unique industry expertise. Considering the needs of different departments and regions reveals the time-intensive and costly nature of the procurement process.
Streamlining data flow, security, communication, and change management for diverse systems spread out over multiple locations requires careful attention to detail, experienced personnel, and time.
Enterprises need expert support to overcome these roadblocks. An in-house team often turns to multiple managed service providers (MSPs) to ensure connectivity.
However, the management time and resources associated with juggling multiple MSP partnerships and vendors quickly exhaust an IT budget and cut into any cost savings from outsourcing.
What are the advantages of cloud provider agnosticism?
Embracing a cloud-agnostic approach offers several benefits, including cost savings, compliance, and operational efficiency. The flexibility and agility of the cloud allow enterprises to choose providers that best meet local privacy and data regulations, simplifying compliance and operational concerns.
Additionally, equitable approaches to cloud services enhance business continuity, foster innovation, and optimize workloads by leveraging the strengths of multiple cloud providers through a multi-cloud strategy.
Forrester shows that 90% of multi-cloud practitioners find it helps achieve their business goals. The study notes a skills shortage is the primary factor impeding the benefits of a multi-cloud strategy. These findings highlight the value of supporting multi-cloud strategies with expert third-party management and support.
Why is vendor agnosticism important for scalability?
Vendor agnosticism is critical for expansion, particularly for enterprises looking to evolve across multiple regions.
Varying regulations, infrastructure, and technology availability stall growth when skill or vendor limitations constrain a team. For example, a business locked into a US-based connectivity platform will experience issues with compliance, communication barriers with different languages, scheduling conflicts with locations in global time zones, and other ongoing support limitations.
When an enterprise can quickly establish connectivity with regional vendors and local data centers—the time to market decreases. Apply this strategic thinking to all aspects of an enterprise’s connectivity to optimize cost and resources across the entire scope of the enterprise connectivity lifecycle.
What is the role of MSPs in vendor-agnostic IT?
Third-party partners fill the skills and resource gaps of an internal IT team. Qualified MSPs tout their vendor neutrality as a benefit to their clients. They offer better support, lower costs, flexibility, and innovation at every phase of the technology lifecycle.
If an enterprise wants to remain adaptable, it must work with a partner who can accommodate. Auditing current solutions, advising on the latest market offerings, procuring and implementing new tools based on changing needs—few MSPs provide the whole package.
Conclusion: Single support for vendor-agnostic IT
Future-proofing your connectivity infrastructure begins with dropping single-vendor dependence and proprietary technologies. Not only do these practices risk contract lock-in and business continuity, but they also drive up expenses and limit innovation.
A vendor-agnostic approach allows enterprises to scale, switch providers, lower costs, and integrate new solutions. This is especially practical for enterprises operating or expanding in different regions.
By embracing vendor and platform agnosticism, businesses can use existing IT investments, adapt to local regulations, and build a custom tech stack that integrates across the entire infrastructure. When internal resources aren’t available or lack the appropriate skills to accomplish this, turning to a trusted, vendor-neutral partner is necessary.
Advantage uses an equitable approach to connectivity management. All enterprise business needs are met with a single partnership that helps you save on ancillary costs of managing connectivity for multiple locations.
Discover how much time and money you’ll save managing connectivity for multiple enterprise locations with Advantage.