After developing a strategy, an enterprise must identify where the current architecture falls short and come up with migration plans, which might involve expansion or contraction depending on each organization's specific needs.

Enterprises can take many steps to lower the cost of data center operations. Here are a few specific pieces of advice offered by Gartner:

-- Perform an IT service cost analysis before deciding which facility or facilities best suit your needs.

-- Rationalize and consolidate data centers.

-- If latency is not a major concern, host the application or service in a single data center for worldwide access.