The New Capacity Planning Process Requires Three New Steps

Virtualization and cloud computing bring a new dimension to IT operations: a choice in how services will be delivered to the business. Capacity planning must change to reflect this evolution: It now becomes a key part in delivery platform selection. Forecasting capacity requirements at the business service level provides IT operations with information needed to evaluate and compare costs. But today's capacity planning process is performed at the individual component level, which doesn't reflect the true capacity requirements of global facilities and infrastructure resources made available by virtualization and cloud, be it public or private. To offer competitive IT services into the future, Forrester recommends that I&O professionals update today's capacity planning process with new steps: 1) cost-value analysis; 2) governance; and 3) global planning. To do this, I&O must take an evolutionary, not revolutionary, approach by repurposing skills and tools already available.