The IO Model helps customers understand and subsequently improve the current state of their IT infrastructures and what that means in terms of cost, security, risk, and operational agility. Dramatic cost savings can be realised by moving from an unmanaged environment toward an environment of fully automated management and dynamic resource usage. Security improves from highly vulnerable in a Basic infrastructure to dynamically proactive in a more optimised infrastructure. IT infrastructure management changes from highly manual and reactive to highly automated and proactive.

Teksys uses the IO Model as a strategic tool, helping to evaluate the maturity level of an organisation’s core technology infrastructure (management, security, and networking).

An assessment of a company’s technology adoption relative to the IO Model enables strategic discussions that focus on the business value of deploying new technologies and using the existing platform as a whole.

The IO Model is a “journey” across four phases of progressively higher technological maturity: Basic, Standardised, Rationalised, and Dynamic.

The Four phases:

Basic
A typical company in the Basic phase has manual, localised processes, minimal central control, and limited or un-enforced IT policies. Examples include:

• The Basic IT infrastructure comes at a high cost and is characterised by chaotic, ad hoc, reactive, manual operations. Service levels are low and business drivers are not used to set IT priorities.
• There is a general lack of knowledge regarding the details of the infrastructure that is currently in place or how to improve it. The overall health of applications and services is unknown, due to a lack of tools and resources. 
• Infrastructure costs are high, largely due to high-touch and time-consuming software deployments and updates. Responding to security threats is a reactive process because there are no consistent security policies or management features.

Standardised
A company in the Standardised phase can be characterised as having a managed infrastructure that introduces operational controls through standards, policies, servers, and resources. Examples include:

• The Standardised infrastructure is centrally managed with some automation. IT operations remain primarily reactive, with some proactive processes to reduce short-term costs.
• Service levels are better than Basic but not optimal. IT makes decisions on behalf of the business based on its perception of business needs.
• Meeting regulatory requirements is difficult and costly for the IT department, because it is responding to and solving unforeseen technology incidents. There is no formalised process for the standardisation and testing of applications, and identity management is not fully centralised.
• End users feel that the introduction of IT governance, standards, and procedures impose restrictions on their business flexibility and productivity.
• Compared to the Basic phase, there is more thorough support for rich collaboration tools, improved network uptime, and more continual access to mission-critical data meaning that the organisation will experience an increase in productivity among employees and IT professionals.

Rationalised
A Rationalised infrastructure generally includes proactive processes, provisioning, and policies that have matured and begun to play a large role in supporting and expanding the business. Most importantly, the costs involved in managing desktop computers and servers are at their lowest. Examples include:

• The Rationalised infrastructure is a business enabler: security enhanced and well managed, with low complexity and high levels of automation.
• The use of zero-touch deployment helps minimise cost, the time to deploy, and technical challenges. The number of images is minimal and the process for managing desktop computers is very low touch.
• Rationalised customers have a clear inventory of hardware and software and purchase only those licenses and computers that they need. The IT department’s primary challenge is to improve integration across implemented products and take advantage of the total value of those products.
• Security is extremely proactive with strict policies and control, from desktop computer to server to firewall to extranet.
• Compared to the Basic and Standardised phases, IT costs are substantially lower, because efficiencies increase through a centrally managed and monitored desktop environment, and improved security administration reduces the burden on IT resources.
• End-user productivity is significantly increased due to the flexibility provided by mobile options and the ability to collaborate across physical locations and time zones.

Dynamic
Customers with Dynamic infrastructures are fully aware of the strategic value that their infrastructures provide in helping them run their businesses efficiently and staying ahead of competitors. Processes are fully automated, often incorporated into the technology itself, enabling IT to be aligned and managed according to the business needs. Examples include:

• Costs are fully controlled; there is integration between users and data, desktop computers, and servers; collaboration between users and departments is pervasive; and mobile users have nearly on-site levels of service and capabilities regardless of location.
• The Dynamic infrastructure is a core strategic business asset, optimised for business agility and high service levels. It may have a higher cost profile than the Rationalised state, which is offset by its increased value.
• Company executives view IT as a strategic asset instead of a cost center, enabling an organisation to be much more agile and better respond to business needs and competitive challenges. Additional investments in technology yield specific, rapid, measurable benefits for the business.
• The use of self-provisioning software and quarantine-like systems for ensuring patch management and compliance with established security policies enables the Dynamic organisation to automate processes, thus helping improve reliability, lower costs, and increase service levels.

New employees can be immediately productive, because the IT department can rapidly and proactively respond to end-user issues, and because of the end-to-end integration, automation, and management of data, desktop computers, and servers.