Returning to the good old times of the early nineties, I, alongside skilled colleagues, operated an IT company in my hometown Umeå.
We were then the IT partner for our clients and proudly installed PC networks. Quite often, we placed a PC server with Novell installed “under the stairs,” ran cables, and then had our clients’ PCs log in to that server. Security relied on a tape station connected to the server.
Now, 30 years later, with the explosive development, especially from AWS, Google, and Microsoft, there are few reasons to maintain “one’s own server.” Particularly, the demand for security has increased due to constant cyber threats from criminal entities (in my earlier example, the server wasn’t even connected, as it was a LAN, a LOCAL area network).
I am impressed by how the three major “hyperscalers” invest in cybersecurity. They allocate enormous amounts of dollars to incident monitoring and response teams. What small or medium-sized company today has the chance to secure its environment adequately on its own?
A secure, scalable IT environment is also expected to facilitate innovation and business development at levels we couldn’t even imagine a few years ago. Logically, company management should focus on developing their business (with the help of smart IT). Taking responsibility for one’s own server environment, technicians, and security now seems simply unreasonable.
An IT partner in the year 2023 is more like financial advisors, guiding their clients on where to place their various IT workloads.
It all started with QD in Umeå …
