No matter the industry, advanced IT infrastructure is the backbone of modern research and development (R&D) operations. As we will find, sophisticated IT encourages rapid innovation, competitive differentiation, proactive security, and better conditions for attracting and cultivating talent compared to analog or even less advanced IT-enabled settings. IT decision makers for R&D facilities face the formidable task of architecting systems to meet these modern R&D demands. In this article, we benchmark modern progress in the evolution of IT infrastructure for research and development settings. We consider the critical elements of IT infrastructure that contribute to R&D success, with recommendations for how R&D decision makers can adopt more advanced IT environments for their own operations.