This year, like every year, a new crop of buzzwords enter the Hype Cycle with the result of integration friction and frustration upon implementation. Too often, challenge and complexity come from embracing the newest technologies on the annual Gartner Infrastructure & Operations Hype Cycle. Knowing this, the RackN team designed the Digital Rebar platform to reduce friction from integration of siloed infrastructure.
Here are four ways to reduce both technical and organizational friction:
- Streamline technology adoption
- Embrace maturity with stability
- Bridge silos with integrated systems
- Standardize for multi-site collaboration
1. [ABSTRACTIONS] Streamlining Technology Adoption:
When adopting new technologies, considering integration within existing ecosystems is critical. Digital Rebar simplifies this process, offering methods that seamlessly incorporate new technologies into current infrastructure. This reduces manual handoffs and departmental delays typically required for integration.<
2. [INTEGRATION] Embracing Maturity with Stability:
Technologies later in their lifecycle are generally more stable and integrate better. Digital Rebar supports this by providing a platform that easily adapts to both cutting-edge and mature technologies, ensuring a smooth integration with existing infrastructure and minimizing disruption.
3. [PEOPLE] Bridging Silos with Integrated Systems:
It’s easy to blame complexity on the technology, but friction can also come from isolation of teams and departments. One of Digital Rebar’s key strengths is its ability to connect disparate systems and departments. By creating a unified automation pipeline, it bridges gaps between siloed teams and disconnected processes, creating a more cohesive and efficient IT environment.
4. [STANDARDIZATION] Multi-site Collaboration:
Digital Rebar simplifies the integration of new technologies across diverse sites, such as on-premises, edge locations, and public clouds. Its Infrastructure as Code approach enables orchestration of multi-vendor environments. This ensures consistent provisioning and unified management, significantly reducing the complexity typically associated with integrating new technologies in distributed infrastructure settings.As an IT Leader, your goal should be to balance innovation with practicality. And with the responsibility of a leader, that’s easy to say but not to do. That’s why RackN took time to create the structure and the methods necessary for that balance. And if you’ve still not read the 2023 Gartner I&O Hype Cycle yet, access a free copy provided by RackN. Lastly, to see if RackN is the right fit to reduce friction for you, schedule a demo with a RackN team member.
FAQs on Avoiding Integration Friction
What is integration friction in IT infrastructure?
Integration friction refers to the delays, manual work, and coordination challenges that occur when new technologies are introduced into existing infrastructure. It often stems from incompatible systems, siloed teams, or immature tools that complicate deployment and slow operational progress.
Why do new technologies create implementation challenges?
New technologies frequently appear on industry hype cycles before they reach operational maturity. As a result, teams may face unstable integrations, limited documentation, and evolving standards that make implementation more complex than initially expected.
Why do older technologies have less integration friction?
Technologies further along in their lifecycle typically have stable APIs, clearer documentation, and broader ecosystem support. This maturity makes integration more predictable and reduces the operational risk associated with deploying and maintaining new solutions.
How do siloed teams contribute to integration friction?
When infrastructure, operations, and development teams work in isolation, processes become fragmented. Communication gaps and disconnected tooling slow deployments and troubleshooting. Integrated automation pipelines help align teams and create a more coordinated IT workflow.
