Make Your Job Easier with Applied Simplicity | Extreme Networks

In this blog series, we've delved deep into the entrenched complexities that often bog down enterprise IT. We began by understanding the pervasive nature of complexity and how it quietly drains time and money, frustrates users and IT teams alike, and stifles agility. We dissected its origins, from corporate structures to vendor ecosystems, and highlighted the many lessons we can learn from the consumer world's relentless pursuit of simplicity.

Now, it's time to shift from diagnosing the problem to implementing the solution. In this final entry, we'll explore how to apply simplicity at every stage of the IT product lifecycle-from the initial spark of ideation to system retirement. Simplicity, after all, isn't a static achievement but an ongoing discipline that we must embrace to counteract the natural forces of entropy.

Let's examine at how we can bring simplicity into IT systems with deliberate, strategic actions:

1. Research and design: simplifying the ecosystem

At the foundation of simplicity lies clarity of purpose. As organizations grow and technologies evolve, it's easy for IT portfolios to become unwieldy tangles of tools, systems, and services. The result? Confusion, inefficiency, and frustration for everyone involved.

The first step to designing any solution is understanding the problem you're trying to solve and working backwards to build a system to meet those needs. No architecture, however clever or well-intentioned, can be fit for purpose if that purpose isn't truly understood. This is the foundational step underlying all of our subsequent efforts. I recommend exploring frameworks such as the "Jobs to Be Done" concept to deepen the understanding.

Once we know what we're solving for, we should focus on designing a solution comprised of a coherent and easy-to-understand set of components. Every new system should serve a clear, necessary function. The fewer SKUs, the simpler the product tiers, and the more streamlined the integration between products, the easier it becomes to manage, scale, and adapt over time to changing requirements. This doesn't mean implementing monolothic systems or a single-vendor portfolio, far from it. Recall the UNIX design principles from part 4 of this series, and choose a set of tools and products that are focused on doing what is necessary, and nothing more.

We must think holistically rather than view IT systems as isolated tools solving singular problems. This means understanding how each component interacts with others and how to architect solutions that reduce friction across the ecosystem. The ultimate goal is to solve business problems holistically, not just optimize individual parts-especially true when integrating into existing systems and processes.

Key to this ease of integration is discoverability-making essential information easy to find. On a technical level, this means ensuring applications can easily discover and interact with each other. For humans, it clarifies thinking, eases planning, and enhances comprehension.

Simplicity also involves removing the obstacles that prevent users from making informed, efficient decisions, whether through technical documentation, APIs, or live product demo. When vendors make this difficult, customers are forced to rely on forums, rumors, or outdated processes, further compounding complexity. Insisting on discoverability across products, components, and within your operations and support teams, will help ensure that simplicity doesn't revert to chaos over time.

2. Simplifying the purchasing process

In consumer technology, purchases are quick, frictionless, and almost invisible. By contrast, enterprise IT buying is often hampered by convoluted sales processes, unclear pricing, and excessive customization. The disconnect between decision-makers and implementers only worsens the complexity.

To simplify this, we need to streamline the IT purchase experience. Imagine an enterprise IT world where, like the consumer app ecosystem, buyers can access hands-on trials, clear pricing, and intuitive purchasing paths without navigating the labyrinth of vendor bureaucracy.

The goal should be to let the product do the talking. A well-designed system should sell itself. Instead of relying on elaborate sales cycles, let customers explore the technology firsthand, and when they're ready, allow them to purchase directly through simple, transparent channels. This improves the buying process and shifts the focus to user value rather than convoluted sales strategies.

IT vendors must embrace this approach. As an IT decision-maker, hold your vendors to a high standard-If their product is difficult to design, quote, and purchase, it's likely to be equally complex to operate and support. Simplicity across the entire product experience demonstrates clarity of thought and a focus on customer experience beyond just the product interface. Voting with your wallet is the best way to drive change.

3. Integration: maximizing time to value (TTV)

Once purchased, delivering value quickly becomes crucial. In enterprise IT, time to value (TTV) is a critical key to success. The longer it takes to integrate a solution into an existing environment, the more complex and costly the process becomes.

To shorten TTV, integration must be frictionless. Open APIs, well-documented integrations, and adherence to open standards are essential. Vendors that make product integration difficult only add to the complexity. An open ecosystem that prioritizes collaboration and seamless interaction is key to reducing integration headaches. Ensure openness, interoperability, and a clear path to integration in your design and selection process to avoid complex workarounds and future headache.

For IT teams, it's not just about getting the system up and running-it's about doing so quickly and efficiently. Embracing an alliance ecosystem-where vendors collaborate to create pre-tested, validated integrations-helps minimize time-to-operation and prevents unnecessary complexity.

4. Operations: simplifying management and AI-led efficiency

After systems are selected and integrated, the focus shifts to ease of management. IT professionals are often overwhelmed by bloated dashboards, irrelevant metrics, and disjointed management tools. Simplicity in operations means designing systems that allow teams to manage by exception-focusing on the critical tasks and automating the routine ones.

This is where AI-assisted operations can make a difference. AI and machine learning enable self-healing systems that can monitor themselves, optimize performance, and predict issues before they occur. AI raises the operational knowledge baseline, helping teams to manage larger, more complex systems without being swamped by minutiae.

Imagine systems that optimize in real-time, where dashboards display only critical information, and AI flags and resolves issues before human intervention is needed. That's the future we should aim for-a world where AI simplifies operations by managing the exceptions, not the noise.

However, AI should not be a "band-aid" to cover overly complex systems. Instead, AI should be built into the operations strategy to focus on predictive maintenance, improved design, and quicker resolution of complex issues.

5. Lifecycle and evolution: flexibility from day one

Finally, simplicity must be embedded throughout the entire lifecycle of IT systems. From conception to deployment, operations to retirement, systems should be designed with flexibility in mind.

A flexible system is simpler to manage in the long run. Design for modularity-loosely coupled systems allow for easy upgrades, changes, and expansions without extensive re-engineering. Flexibility reduces reliance on vendors for every change, empowering IT teams to adapt quickly to business needs. By considering reuse and adaptability during the design phase, we can avoid future costs and complications as requirements evolve.

Moreover, avoiding vendor lock-in is critical toward achieving simplicity. By embracing open standards and open systems, organizations can evolve their architecture without being held hostage by proprietary technologies. Open standards also preserve operational knowledge allowing smoother transitions when platforms change.

Retiring systems is another area when complexity resurfaces. Many systems run far beyond their useful life because transitioning to new technologies is too difficult. Simplicity means building systems that are easy to retire or repurpose, with well-planned migration paths and minimal disruption. Systems should be designed from the beginning with their end in mind.

A call for radical simplification

Throughout this blog series, we've shown that complexity is not inevitable -it's a choice. While complexity may seem like the easier path, it's the most costly, inefficient, and frustrating one. Simplicity requires ongoing effort, but the rewards are immense.

For simplicity to truly take hold, it requires a shift in mindset. IT leaders must champion the cause of simplicity within their organizations and demand the same from vendors and partners. This is more than a technical challenge-it's a cultural one.

Radical simplification leads to better outcomes, lower costs, happier users, and more innovative, agile organizations. In today's rapidly evolving technological landscape, simplicity is not just a nice-to-have-it's a necessity. Let's embrace it.

• Enterprise Networking