In a world where agility and digital transformation are key business objectives, optimizing IT has become a top priority. IT optimization is an important mandate—a question of when, not if. According to a Forrester survey of 300 infrastructure and technology professionals, nearly all organizations are engaged in initiatives to optimize their computing infrastructure and operating layer.1 These initiatives are driven by both technical and business imperatives. Nearly two-thirds of respondents cited technical goals of high availability and high performance. From a business standpoint, 86% cited the need to increase efficiency. But efficiency is just the beginning: IT optimization puts in place a powerful, stable, and cost-effective operating layer to provide agility and enable digital transformation. This layer paves the way for innovation and new business initiatives.