In dispersed networks, organizations need to find the sweet spot between consistency and mission requirements.
By: Dave Dimlich
President of SD3IT
Standardization is the bread and butter of IT environments, and for very good reasons. It makes everything fit together. Systems are easier to purchase, deploy, maintain and secure. And it gives IT teams a common set of tools to work with, common requirements to comply with and common terminology that helps with interoperability.
Without standardization, life would become a lot harder. Imagine electrical systems without uniform specifications, where your walls need different sockets for different devices, or you need an adapter like you do in Europe but for every other thing in your kitchen. (Apple and Android chargers have provided just a hint of what that would be like, though their most recent models now can use the same charging port.)
IT systems require more than just physical standardization, of course. Cybersecurity and software interoperability are constant concerns, so having a common baseline is essential.
But there are situations where standardization gets in the way of efficient, effective operations. A one-size-fits-all approach across the board can prevent organizations from selecting the right technology for specialized missions, edge environments or emerging requirements. And in an increasingly complex environment, where data processing takes place at the far reaches of the network rather than in a centralized core, organizations need the flexibility to meet specific needs while maintaining standardization wherever it’s most useful.
When Standardization Isn’t a Benefit
The advantages of standardization are straightforward. A common hardware and software environment can reduce support requirements and costs because teams don’t have to maintain dozens of different configurations. Common platforms can simplify onboarding and collaboration, while streamlining cybersecurity via centralized patching and consistent security controls. Standardized equipment can also provide significant purchasing advantages, allowing organizations to buy in bulk and maintain common replacement inventories.
Those benefits can never be discounted. But they do come with tradeoffs.
Modern networks have steadily grown outside the data center environment, extending to remote facilities, tactical locations, operational technology (OT) devices, sensors, mobile platforms and the edge. Those environments don’t always have the same computing, power, connectivity, workloads or mission requirements as the enterprise core. Edge systems, for example, may operate with limited bandwidth, in extreme temperatures or while dealing with persistent vibration and other factors like dust ingress. They may also rely on or connect to legacy OT devices or proprietary chips.
Trying to force all of a modern IT infrastructure into same mold can create an unworkable problem. The challenge is finding the point where standardization provides consistency without eliminating the flexibility that modern missions require.
Organizations with rigid standards can have difficulty addressing specialized requirements. A technology that works well in an enterprise data center, for instance, may not be appropriate for a remote edge location with limited power or connectivity. A standardized application might not provide the capabilities a particular mission requires, such as those involving deployed troops or industrial environments. And when organizations lock themselves into a particular technology stack, they can make it harder to adopt new technologies as requirements change.
There is another concern that sometimes gets overlooked: concentration of risk. If every system depends on the same OS, application or configuration, a vulnerability affecting that common platform can have a broad impact. That doesn’t mean organizations should avoid standardization. The overall benefits are too great. But in dispersed environments, they may have to be a bit more deliberate about what they standardize.
Steps to a Consistent but Still Flexible Environment
There are several effective steps organizations can take to balance the consistency of standardization with the flexibility they need for specialized processes.
Standardize Interfaces, Not Components. The enterprise can establish common requirements for essential processes such as data exchange, identity, security and interoperability. Behind those interfaces, individual applications or mission environments can retain the flexibility to use the technologies that best fit their requirements.
That is the basic idea behind a loosely coupled architecture. A common baseline defines how systems communicate without dictating exactly how every system must operate internally, which becomes especially important at the edge.
An organization might have a common security model, identity framework and data-exchange standard across its entire network. At the edge, however, the actual computing platform, application stack and local data structures may look very different from those in the enterprise data center. That flexibility can be an advantage, provided the systems communicate through agreed-upon interfaces.
Build Around Modularity. A modular infrastructure, such as that implemented by SD3IT, is one of the practical ways to achieve that balance. A modular, component-based architecture allows organizations to replace or upgrade individual capabilities without rebuilding the entire environment. Microservices and containerization are examples of technologies that can support this approach.
The Department of Defense’s Modular Open Systems Approach, or MOSA, uses open systems standards and modular architecture to allow components to be added, removed or replaced throughout a system’s life cycle. The objective is to create opportunities for greater efficiency, competition and innovation while supporting more affordable acquisition and sustainment.
Put a Common Core Around a Flexible Edge. A core establishes the nonnegotiable standards, such as those for security, identity management, data exchange and other enterprise-level controls. Open APIs, common data formats and established protocols can provide the foundation for interoperability.
At the edge, mission teams and individual operating environments can use specialized applications, local data structures and different computing technologies when their requirements justify them. The critical requirement is that those systems can translate their information into common standards when they need to communicate with the broader enterprise.
Move Data Without Breaking the Architecture. Trying to standardize across multiple environments, such as between a sensor-rich tactical deployment, a remote facility and a regional processing site, can prove difficult. A better path would be standardizing the various layers.
The same approach can apply to data. A data mesh approach, for example, allows organizations to maintain decentralized data environments while establishing governance and access requirements across the enterprise. Individual domains can maintain data models appropriate to their missions while using translation and abstraction layers to communicate with the broader environment.
Event-driven architectures offer another example. Applications can publish standardized events through a common messaging infrastructure while remaining independent of the systems consuming those events. That loose coupling allows individual applications to evolve without forcing changes throughout the network. Flexibility works when there are standards underneath it.
Keep Security as Part of the Baseline. An organization can give mission teams flexibility in how they deploy applications and computing resources while maintaining common requirements for identity, access, data protection and cybersecurity.
That is where zero trust principles and data-driven security become important. Distributed systems need security controls that travel with the architecture and the data.
For SD3IT, that means looking at infrastructure, networking, data and security as connected pieces of the same problem. Our work with modular infrastructure, edge computing, data-centric security and distributed architectures reflects that approach. As a solution aggregator working with a wide variety of partners, we can help organizations establish common operational and security frameworks while building the flexibility needed for different environments and workloads.
The Sweet Spot Is Architecture, Not Uniformity
Modern networks increasingly operate in environments with diverse requirements. The edge, for example, may have different power constraints, connectivity, workloads and mission objectives than the enterprise core. Emerging technologies will continue to introduce capabilities that did not exist when today’s standards were established.
The answer is not to abandon standards but to apply them strategically. Standardize interfaces, security, identity management and the rules that allow systems to communicate and move data. But give operating environments room to adapt.
At SD3IT, we bring together modular infrastructure, edge computing, data and security capabilities from across the technology ecosystem to build environments that are interoperable without being unnecessarily rigid. Finding that balance enables the whole environment to work together.
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About SD3IT
Solution Driven, Designed and Delivered Technology (SD3IT) provides advanced IT solutions that help organizations modernize infrastructure, enhance security and improve operational performance. The company specializes in zero trust architecture, edge computing, cybersecurity, IoT visibility, data management and supply chain risk management to support mission-critical operations in complex and demanding environments.