Disaster Recovery Journal Summer 2026

The Value of Unseen Infrastructure High availability, failover, and resil ience rarely make headlines. They are not as visible as AI interfaces or analytics platforms, yet they remain foundational. Maintaining reliability becomes more complex, not less, as workloads move into distributed, containerized environ ments. This creates sustained demand for technologies that operate quietly in the background - ensuring continuity regard less of where applications run. It may not be flashy. But every busi ness depends on it. What ‘AI-Ready’ Really Means Being ready for AI, in practice, is not about buying the latest platform or deploying the newest tools, it comes down to just a few fundamentals: 1.) Treat AI as a stress test for your existing infrastructure — If systems cannot handle AI workloads, they were already too fragile 2.) Simplify before you automate — Layering automation on top of fragmented environments only amplifies risk. Standardized platforms are easier to govern, secure, and scale 3.) Modernize data platforms before chasing “smart” system s — Reliable AI depends on reliable storage, databases, and pipelines. Weak data infrastructure produces weak outcomes 4.) Establish governance before granting already become common. However, agentic AI, the next phase, introduces much deeper operational questions. “ For tasks like summarization, drafting, and analysis, generative AI has

permissions, approvals, and auditability must come first 5.) Invest in people and partners, not just technology — Sustainable modernization requires expertise, collaboration, and long-term commitment Organizations that focus on these fun damentals move faster and with less risk than the organizations that are searching for shortcuts. Progress Will Be Incremental Most enterprises are not pursuing radi cal, immediate transformations, despite the hype surrounding AI. They are mod ernizing in stages: n Migrating legacy workloads n Standardizing platforms n Refreshing data infrastructure n Introducing controlled automation n Testing AI-assisted operations This approach reflects practical reali ties, i.e., budgets, regulations, skills gaps, and risk tolerance. As governance models mature over time, and trust in automation grows, more advanced AI-driven operations will become feasible. For now, responsible modernization is about balance. Companies want the benefits of AI. They also want stability. Why Infrastructure Still Matters Infrastructure is once again central to business strategy — as digital transforma tion enters its next phase. While AI may be the visible driver, data platforms, operating systems, containers, and availability layers determine whether those initiatives succeed. Organizations that invest in thoughtful modernization today, position themselves to scale responsibly tomorrow. Today, like during many previous peri ods of rapid technological change, speed may not be the most valuable capability. That would be reliability. v “

Organizationally, it is far more compli cated. To work autonomously, AI agents require permission levels that are nor mally distributed across multiple teams. Infrastructure, networking, security, com pliance, and storage are usually separated for good reason. Giving an AI agent full operational authority is like giving a junior employee every password in the company. No responsible organization does that. As a result, many enterprises are now deploying agents in tightly controlled roles focused on monitoring, deployment assistance, and diagnostic–rather than unrestricted automation. Managing Risk in an AI-Driven Environment Enterprise IT has always been about managing risk. AI intensifies that respon sibility. An automated mistake that brings down a core system affects customers, revenue, and reputation immediately. These failures do not just interrupt work flows. They disrupt entire businesses. The pressure is immediate and per sonal, when major outages happen. It is felt across the organization at every level, from customers, to partners, to inves tors. This is why companies are building stronger guardrails around AI systems. Proactive measures like approval work flows, segmented privileges, audit trails, and rollback mechanisms are becoming standard design elements. Adoption is moving forward ... but deliberately. Modernization Is Creating New Partner Ecosystems Infrastructure transformation is rarely handled alone — it increasingly depends on close collaboration between enter prises, vendors, and channel partners. Technical depth, not simply product selection, are what today’s successful projects are built upon. Today, partners who perform best are the ones who invest in expertise. They commit resources, build skills, and work closely with cus tomers throughout the migration process. Modernization is not a transactional activity. It is a long-term relationship.

Don Boxley Jr., is a DH2i co-founder and CEO. He has more than 20 years in man agement positions for leading technology companies. Boxley earned his MBA from the Johnson School of Management, Cornell

autonomy — No AI system should operate with unrestricted authority;

University.

26 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL | SUMMER 2026