There are advantages to having flexibility in your server and operating system strategy.
But what are some of those advantages of staying agnostic and independent? Why should this even be a question that you consider as a business owner?
To find out why an OS strategy should be agnostic, we asked seven fellow data storage professionals and business owners about the advantages.
Here’s what they had to offer on all things OS (operating system) related.
Simplifies Migration
When starting with a data management server, the operating system mostly used in a company might be the best choice. This can change over time. A different OS might have lower cost or more performance or there might be other reasons to switch. This is where an OS agnostic solution that can easily migrate between the platforms Windows, macOS and Linux is of big benefit. Moving Backup and archive plans and settings becomes easy with a solution that was built for these migrations. Archiware P5 is OS agnostic and storage agnostic and can use disk, tape and cloud storage for Backup and Archive. Being storage agnostic means that the storage used for Backup and Archive can be either disk or LTO tape or cloud storage. Pricing, access requirements and local setup can change and easily adapt if the data management solution supports the different storage types and migration between them.
Dr. Marc M. Batschkus, Archiware
Workspaces Of The Future Will Be Agnostic
Workspaces are evolving. Businesses, by necessity, are finding new ways to work. That means work will get done on tablets, laptops, smartphones, and thin clients. Considering the range of endless options in future workspaces, proceeding with an agnostic OS strategy will be the only option for organizations to access key applications and data.
Brett Farmiloe, SaaS SEO
Makes Data Integration More Simple
A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) or a HCM (Human Capital Management) system requires large volumes of data to be processed in order to be used by teams. Many of those data sources feeding into a CRM or HCM are external and diverse. An agnostic OS helps simplify those data integrations with external tools so teams can rely on the information in the system.
Francesca Yardley, Threads
Saves Money
Eliminating intermediary solutions saves time and money. When an OS strategy is not agnostic, then an intermediary solution is needed to interlink different data systems. But when there’s an agnostic design, a business doesn’t need the intermediary to sync systems. It’s the same old adage, just applied to servers and operating systems: cut out the middleman, and you’ll save time and money.
Carey Wilbur, Construction Equipment Financing
Saves Time
If an app is designed to work across a variety of operating systems, that means it can be built once, and released on multiple platforms at once. It also means coders and designers will have less overall work and the user interfaces and learning curves will remain consistent across all devices. This approach makes it particularly easy for a startup to establish a trademark look and feel that works across the board.
Tricia Lewis, HackEDU
Remains Consistent Across Devices
OS agnostic app design or a cross-platform design makes the most of every platform by remaining consistent across devices. The current trend in websites of mobile first design offers app developers lots of opportunities to set up niche markets that serve the interests of their firm regardless of which device or platform is currently the hot item. It also allows
updates and patches to be released once and distributed globally, as opposed to production hours wasted making different builds of the same update.
Blake Taylor, Synergy Business Brokers
Answers Wide Range of Needs
The ability to remain agnostic and not to be tied to a specific database engine and blockchain framework enables us to answer the needs of a wider spectrum of businesses. Each company is governed by a different business logic, which implies the need for specialized software designed and optimized to fit a specific business operational pattern. An agnostic approach empowers end-users by giving them the flexibility to choose what components are best suited for helping them streamline operations and enhance productivity. Each company has different business requirements, and by giving them the ability to customize their solution from a wide range of components, we remove bottlenecks and friction points. From a development perspective, an agnostic take on the technology gives us the freedom to work towards enhancing our product with additional features that will impact every company that uses our product, regardless of the components they decide to use.
Alin Iftemi, Modex