5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity

Page created by Andrew Mcgee
 
CONTINUE READING
5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity
ISSUE IX 2021                                               DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM

5G: The future, the present and
the channel opportunity

AIOps l Apps + DevOps l Artificial Intelligence l Big Data + Analytics
Cloud + MS l DC Facilities + Colo Digital Business l IT Management + Service
Networks + Telecoms l Open Source l Security + Compliance l Storage + Servers
5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity
Private Cloud
  The UK's Leading                                                                         Created by cloud experts with over 15 years of
                                                                                           industry experience, Hyve’s Private Cloud provides
  Cloud Hosting Provider                                                                   dedicated resources for your organisation, ensuring
                                                                                           the ultimate in security.
  We are Hyve, your cloud experts. Combining our small team ethos with a
  passion for technology, we provide fully managed, global cloud hosting services.
                                                                                           Dedicated Servers
  We are serious about service and take pride in our commitment to personal                A Dedicated Hosting solution with Hyve gives you the
  support culture. Alongside our team of highly-specialised cloud experts, we              autonomy to decide what is, or isn’t, allowed on your
  guarantee scalability, security and unparalleled performance for your business.          server. We only deploy the best hardware and the
                                                                                           fastest storage available.

                                                                                           Enterprise Cloud
                                                                                           Hyve’s Enterprise Cloud is a multi-tenanted cloud,
                                                                                           providing the ease of scale and cost savings of a
                                                                                           Public Cloud infrastructure, but with added security
                                                                                           and monitoring.

                                                                                           Managed Colocation
                                                                                           We provide fully managed Colocation on a global
                                                                                           scale, spanning across 35 locations worldwide. You
                                                                                           can maintain complete control of your hardware,
                                                                                           whilst we take care of the management.

www.hyve.com                                                              sales@hyve.com                                     0800 612 2524
5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity
Editor’s
View                                                By Phil Alsop

It’s a fair COP!
I SUSPECT THAT, for many, if not all, the recent COP26
Summit was something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. For
the ardent environmentalist, it didn’t go far enough; for
the ardent deniers/objectors, it went far too far; and for
what I imagine is a rather silent and bemused majority in
the middle, there seemed to be some good initiatives, but
maybe nothing much has changed or will be noticeable
day to day for quite some time to come.

Most noticeably, I thought that there was a complete
lack of understanding or initiatives around the fact that,
if we are serious about the environment, all of our lives
will have to undergo some major, potentially disruptive
changes but that, as the pandemic has demonstrated,
many of these changes will actually be for the long term     allowed to happen, so why would a geographical re-
good, not just of the planet, but for individual lives and   distribution be any different?
society as a whole.
                                                             Happily, the folks who work in the IT space are not
The world of work is a great example. What the pandemic      required to decide how society will function into the future
forced many of us to do – work from home, and then           to address, or not, the challenge of climate change. But
combine office and homeworking through the week –            they do offer a spectacular range of innovative solutions
seems like a no brainer when it comes to reducing our        which can help leaders across the globe make crucial
carbon footprint. Less travelling has to make more sense.    decisions about developing more sustainable economies
Okay, so city centres might notice the permanently
reduced footfall but, if this means giving a boost to        It will be fascinating to see which countries best leverage
local communities business-wise, is that such a terrible     the technology at hand to re-focus their economies in this
outcome? Not so much a loss of revenue across an             way. Or, will the carbon can be kicked down the road a
economy, more a redistribution. And the redistribution       while longer, until that road becomes impassable owing
of income between physical and virtual businesses was        to flooding?

                                          COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD   l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM   3
5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity
Contents                                                                                                        ISSUE IX 2021

     22 COVER STORY
           5G: the future, the
           present and the
           channel opportunity
           It’s time for the IT channel to
           lead from the front,
           engaging the market and
           building an ecosystem of
           expert partners that can
           steer and enable the
           distributed computing
           revolution

    NEWS                                                                  5G / EDGE FOCUS
    06 AI, ML, Cloud and 5G to take centre stage                          26 Building back better: Accelerating Industry
         in 2022                                                               4.0 digital transformation
    07   Silos stopping digital transformation                            28   How businesses can reap the full benefits of
    08   Gaps in IT staff skills causing increased                             private 5G networks
         stress levels and decreased productivity                         30   Location intelligence: Enabling 5G to thrive
    09   Business leaders and employees disagree                          32   How will 5G reshape the landscape for
         significantly on future of work                                       Industrial IoT?
    10   Businesses are not in sync with their                            34   Is 5G ready for manufacturing?
         IT departments                                                   38   How the right data management choices
    11   Lack of controls and visibility - a major                             will be key in driving next generation IoT
         security risk                                                    42   5G – Changing the shape of data centres?
    12   The need for new way to discuss business                         44   Why 5G hasn’t yet met the hype? It needs
         risk                                                                  full fibre
                                                                          46   5G crucial to the safety of autonomous
    THE ANALYST                                                                vehicles
    14 Predictions take pride of place                                    48   Channel can play a pivotal role
                                                                          50   Cybersecurity and connectivity:
                                                                               Going to the edge and moving to the cloud
                                                                          52   Deriving value from data

                                                                          CLOUD STORAGE
                                                                          54 Cloud storage – what’s hot, what’s not.
                                                                               Navigating the complicated landscape of
                                                                               cloud storage
                                                                          56   Cloud native storage comes of age
     26                                                                        post-Covid

4   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM      l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD
5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity
60      Backup software boosts data protection
        with cloud storage
62      Why you need to manually back up your
        Office 365 data
                                                                                                            DCA News
AIOPS                                                                                                       84 Introduction - Future Views
64 Harnessing AIOps for a proactive network                                                                    By DCA CEO Steve Hone
66 How visibility is key to preventing cloud
        overspend                                                                                                   2022 Predictions: Digitising the
                                                                                                                    design and build of data centres
UTILITIES FOCUS
                                                                                                                    By Steven Carlini, Vice President, Innovation
68 How can energy providers use AI to help
                                                                                                                    and Data Centre, Schneider Electric
        customers?
70      Solving the utilities bad debt crises with
                                                                                                            86 Four power supply cornerstones to
        better data
                                                                                                               consider in 2022
                                                                                                               By Noveus Energy
LOGISTICS FOCUS
72 Why? What? How? A guide to the exciting
                                                                                                            88 Giving data centre operations teams
        new technologies soon to revolutionise the
                                                                                                               more control in 2022
        warehouse
                                                                                                               By Dr. Stu Redshaw, Chief Technical
DX
                                                                                                               Innovation Officer, EkkoSense
74 Reprioritising the digital employee experience
                                                                                                            90 Prediction - Where will be the most
DATA ANALYTICS
                                                                                                               popular region for DC development
76 Breaking down the barriers to data science
                                                                                                               over the coming year and why?
                                                                                                               Comments from Mark Acton and Venessa
SECURITY
                                                                                                               Moffat, DCA Advisory Board Members
78 Understanding the importance of security
        for your IT infrastructure

COLLABORATION
80 The rise in collaboration technology over the
        last 18 months and the key drivers for change

COLLABORATION                                                                                                  62
82 Succeed as an IT leader in the digital age?

Editor
Philip Alsop           +44 (0)7786 084559                  philip.alsop@angelbc.com                       Circulation & Subscriptions
                                                                                                          +44 (0)1923 690214 circ@angelbc.com
Sales Manager
Peter Davies           +44 (0)2476 718970                  peter.davies@angelbc.com                       Directors
                                                                                                          Stephen Whitehurst: Chairman
Account Manager                                                                                           Scott Adams: Chief Technical Officer
Jessica Harrison       +44 (0)2476 718970                  jessica.harrison@angelbc.com                   Sukhi Bhadal: Chief Executive Officer

Director of Logistics                                                                                     Published by:
Sharon Cowley         +44 (0)1923 690200                   sharon.cowley@angelbc.com                      Angel Business Communications Ltd, 6 Bow Court, Burnsall Road, Coventry CV5 6SP
                                                                                                          T: +44 (0)2476 718970 E: info@angelbc.com
Design & Production Manager
Mitch Gaynor        +44 (0)1923 690214                     mitch.gaynor@angelbc.com

Publisher
Jackie Cannon          +44 (0)1923 690215                  jackie.cannon@angelbc.com

Digitalisation World is published 10 times a year on a controlled circulation basis in Europe, Middle East and Africa only. Subscription rates on request. All information herein is believed to be correct at
time of going to press. The publisher does not accept responsibility for any errors and omissions. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. Every effort has been
made to obtain copyright permission for the material contained in this publication. Angel Business Communications Ltd will be happy to acknowledge any copyright oversights in a subsequent issue of
the publication. Angel Business Communications Ltd. © Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced in whole or part without the written consent of the publishers. The paper
used within this magazine is produced by chain of custody certified manufacturers, guaranteeing sustainable sourcing. ISSN 2396-9016 (Online)

                                                                      COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD                          l   ISSUE IX 2021      l   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM                             5
5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity
NEWS

AI, ML, Cloud and 5G take centre stage in 2022
CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICERS,                        entertainment, sports, and live event       somewhat). Recruiting technologists and
chief technology officers and                       streaming (14 percent)                      filling open tech positions in the year
technology leaders globally surveyed               manufacturing and assembly                  ahead is also seen as challenging by
on key technology trends, priorities, and           (13 percent)                                73 percent of respondents.
predictions for 2022 and beyond.                   transportation and traffic control
IEEE, the world’s largest technical                 (7 percent)                                 Robots rise over the next decade
professional organisation dedicated to             carbon footprint reduction and energy       Looking ahead, 81 percent agree that
advancing technology for humanity, has              efficiency (5 percent)                      in the next five years, one quarter of
released the results of “The Impact of             farming and agriculture (2 percent)         what they do will be enhanced by robots,
Technology in 2022 and Beyond: an IEEE                                                          and 77 percent agree that in the same
Global Study,” a new survey of global             As for industry sectors most impacted         time frame, robots will be deployed
technology leaders from the UK, US,               by technology in 2022, technology             across their organisation to enhance
China, India, and Brazil.                         leaders surveyed cited manufacturing          nearly every business function from
                                                  (25 percent), financial services              sales and human resources to marketing
The study, which included 350 chief               (19 percent), healthcare (16 percent) and     and IT.
technology officers, chief information            energy (13 percent).
officers and IT directors, covers the                                                           A majority of respondents agree
most important technologies in 2022,              As compared to the beginning of 2021,         (78 percent) that in the next 10 years,
industries most impacted by technology            92 percent of respondents agree,              half or more of what they do will
in the year ahead, and technology                 including 60 percent who strongly             be enhanced by robots. As for the
trends through the next decade. To learn          agree, that implementing smart building       deployments of robots that will most
more about the study and the impact               technologies that benefit sustainability,     benefit humanity, according to the survey,
of technology in 2022 and beyond, visit           decarbonisation and energy savings            those are manufacturing and assembly
https://transmitter.ieee.org/impact-of-           has become a top priority for their           (33 percent), hospital and patient care
technology-2022/                                  organisation.                                 (26 percent) and earth and space
                                                                                                exploration (13 percent).
The most important technologies,                  Workplace technologies, Human
innovation, sustainability, and the future        Resources collaboration and COVID-19          Connected devices continue to
Which technologies will be the most               As the impact of COVID-19 varies globally     proliferate
important in 2022? Among total                    and hybrid work continues, technology         As a result of the shift to hybrid work
respondents, more than one in five                leaders nearly universally agree (97          and the pandemic, more than half
(21 percent) say AI and machine                   percent agree, including 69 percent who       (51 percent) of technology leaders
learning, cloud computing (20 percent)            strongly agree) their team is working         surveyed believe the number of devices
and 5G (17 percent) will be the most              more closely than ever before with            connected to their businesses that they
important technologies next year.                 Human Resources leaders to implement          need to track and manage – such as
                                                  workplace technologies and apps for           smartphones, tablets, sensors, robots,
Because of the global pandemic,                   office check-in, space usage data and         vehicles, drones, etc. – increased as
technology leaders surveyed said in               analytics, COVID and health protocols,        much as 1.5 times, while for 42 percent
2021 they accelerated adoption of cloud           employee productivity, engagement, and        of those surveyed the number of devices
computing (60 percent), AI and machine            mental health.                                increased in excess of 1.5 times.
learning (51 percent), and 5G
(46 percent), among others.                       Among challenges technology leaders           However, the perspectives of technology
                                                  see in 2022, maintaining strong               leaders globally diverge when asked
It’s not surprising, therefore, that 95           cybersecurity for a hybrid workforce of       about managing even more connected
percent agree – including 66 percent              remote and in-office workers is viewed        devices in 2022. When asked if the
who strongly agree – that AI will drive the       by those surveyed as challenging by           number of devices connected to their
majority of innovation across nearly every        83 percent of respondents (40 percent         company’s business will grow so
industry sector in the next 1-5 years.            very, 43 percent somewhat) while              significantly and rapidly in 2022 that
                                                  managing return-to-office health and          it will be unmanageable, over half of
When asked which of the following areas           safety protocols, software, apps and data     technology leaders disagree
5G will most benefit in the next year,            is seen as challenging by 73 percent of       (51 percent), but 49 percent agree.
technology leaders surveyed said:                 those surveyed (29 percent very,
 telemedicine, including remote surgery          44 percent somewhat).                         Those differences can also be seen
   and health record transmissions                                                              across regions – 78 percent in India,
   (24 percent)                                   Determining what technologies are             64 percent in Brazil and 63 percent in
 remote learning and education                   needed for their company in the post-         the U.S. agree device growth will be
   (20 percent)                                   pandemic future is anticipated to be          unmanageable, while a strong majority
 personal and professional day-to-day            challenging for 68 percent of technology      in China (87 percent) and just over half
   communications (15 percent)                    leaders (29 percent very, 39 percent          (52 percent) in the U.K disagree.

6   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM        l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD
5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity
NEWS

Silos stopping digital transformation
NEW RESEARCH from Virtana reveals
that 70% of cloud decision makers view
silos across teams as a hindrance to
IT’s ability to maximize business value.
The research shows that a lack of
executive involvement in cloud efforts,
along with cross-functional stakeholder
participation, correlates with escalating
challenges for enterprises.

Notably, only 26% of cloud decision
makers claim C-suite executives are
actively involved in their organizations’
hybrid cloud efforts. This is a key
finding of a survey of 350 IT/cloud
decision makers in the United States
and the United Kingdom commissioned
by Virtana and fielded by Arlington
Research.

Charles Araujo, Principal Analyst of
Intellyx commented, “There is a definitive
competitive chasm developing within
traditional enterprises between those
that see the cloud as merely a part of
the IT infrastructure, and those that see
it as a strategic business enabler. Those
that see it as the latter are investing both
resources and executive engagement in
leveraging the cloud to drive competitive
advantage, and have recognized that
doing so requires managing it from a
business as well as technical perspective      than the overall respondent pool to                  impact of an issue (vs. 65%)
to deliver transformative business             report a variety of cloud visibility and            73% agree or strongly agree that
results.”                                      management challenges. In particular,                they are unable to make data-driven IT
                                               there is a double-digit difference in the            investment decisions (vs. 63%)
Organisations that reported a lack of          number of respondents who reported the
cross-functional cloud stakeholders are        following:                                         Jon Cyr, VP of Product Management for
less likely than the overall respondent         85% agree or strongly agree that                 Virtana, shared, “With growing cloud
pool to have what they need in terms              limited visibility across their hybrid          costs and the buzz around the cloud
of cloud management tools and                     cloud environment creates                       enabling digital transformation (not to
optimization capabilities. In particular,         inefficiencies and wastes time (vs. 71%         mention the strategic importance of
only 16% reported having billing visibility       of the total respondent pool)                   cloud), you would think execs would
tools (compared to 40% of the overall           79% agree or strongly agree their team           be all-in on breaking down siloed cloud
respondent pool), 30% have usage                  works in silos (vs. 67%)                        procurement and management. This
dashboards (compared to 44%), and               78% agree or strongly agree that it’s            research shows that most organizations
38% have capacity/usage planning tools            hard to understand whether they are             aren’t there yet, but we expect this to
(compared to 53%).                                delivering the service levels required          change dramatically in the coming year.
                                                  for business success (vs. 66%)                  As organizations gain more insight
Organisations where IT is the exclusive         75% agree or strongly agree that it’s            into cloud costs and management, the
cloud stakeholder are also more likely            difficult to identify the overall business      C-suite is sure to take notice.”

                                               COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD        l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM    7
5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity
NEWS

Gaps in IT staff skills causing increased stress
levels and decreased productivity
SKILLSOFT has released its annual                roles with diverse candidates.”                 new skills and certifications – including
Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary                                                            improved quality of work (49 percent),
Report, exploring the current state of           To continue closing the skills gap,             higher levels of engagement (32
skills gaps, training and development,           understanding the reasons behind                percent), and faster job performance
compensation, and job satisfaction in            it, and its impact, is critical. As digital     (27 percent) – providing upskilling
the IT industry. Based on responses              transformation accelerates, 38 percent          opportunities is a win-win for both
from more than 9,300 IT professionals,           of IT decision makers cited the rate            organisations and employees alike.
the report found that 76 percent of IT           of technology change outpacing their            Additional takeaways from the Global
decision makers worldwide are facing             existing skills development programs            Knowledge IT Skills and Salary include:
critical skills gaps in their departments        as the primary driver, followed by               IT staff crave learning and
– a 145 percent increase since 2016.             difficulty in attracting qualified candidates      development and will move on if they
While still a significant challenge, this        (35 percent) and lack of investment in             are not getting it.
represents the second consecutive year           training resources (32 percent).                 For the third consecutive year,
of slight improvement (79 percent in                                                                respondents that switched employers
2019, 78 percent in 2020).                       In addition to the direct effect these gaps        within the past year cited a lack of
                                                 have on organisations’ bottom lines –              growth and development opportunities
 “Today’s digital-first economy has              IDC predicts the financial impact growing          as their top reason for doing so
presented significant opportunities for          to $6.5 trillion worldwide by 20251 –              (59 percent), taking precedence over
organisations. However, it has also              respondents also said they increase                better compensation (39 percent)
created a dire need for new skills in cloud      employee stress (55 percent), make it              and work/life balance (31 percent).
computing, cybersecurity, AI, DevOps,            difficult to meet quality and business           When training, 66 percent of
and many other critical tech areas,”             objectives (42 percent and 36 percent,             respondents said they prefer a formal,
said Michael Yoo, General Manager,               respectively), and create project delays           instructor-led approach, while the
Technology & Developer, Skillsoft. “Gaps         (35 percent), among other challenges.              remaining third gravitate toward
in skills don’t just disappear, they only        Of note, organisations are increasingly            informal, peer-to-peer methods,
grow wider if not properly addressed.            recognising the role that professional             underscoring the value of providing
                                                 development plays in combating skills              personalised and blended learning
While it is encouraging to see early             gaps and raising employee morale and               experiences.
signs of closing the gap, work is far from       retention, with 56 percent of IT decision        Salaries are on the rise and
done. Organisations must place a bigger          makers saying they have a plan in place            opportunities exist for even bigger
emphasis on investing in employee                to train existing team members. And,               paychecks.
training, empowering professionals to            given that 80 percent of IT professionals        The average annual salary for IT
earn new certifications, and filling vacant      report a myriad of benefits after achieving        professionals has increased across all
                                                                                                    regions. Aside from executives
                                                                                                    and those in sales, the higher-paying
                                                                                                    positions are in cloud, risk
                                                                                                    management, security, and IT
                                                                                                    architecture and design.
                                                                                                  52 percent of respondents said they
                                                                                                    received a raise in the past year.
                                                                                                    Of those, 60 percent attributed it to job
                                                                                                    performance, developing new skills, or
                                                                                                    obtaining an industry certification.
                                                                                                  More IT professionals are certified than
                                                                                                    ever and are boosting the bottom line.
                                                                                                  92 percent of all respondents said they
                                                                                                    have at least one certification, a
                                                                                                    5 percent and 7 percent increase
                                                                                                    compared to 2020 and 2019,
                                                                                                    respectively.
                                                                                                  64 percent of IT decision makers say
                                                                                                    certified employees deliver $10,000 or
                                                                                                    more in added value compared to
                                                                                                    non-certified team members,
                                                                                                    demonstrating the positive impact
                                                                                                    that investment in training has on
                                                                                                    organisations’ bottom lines.

8   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM       l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD
5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity
NEWS

Business leaders and employees disagree
significantly on future of work
79% of organisations believe employees         Voice of the Employee (VoE) data shows           sentiment analysis, compared to 64%
prefer to work in an office – but just 39%     that, when offered a choice of at-home,          utilising employee surveys.
of employees would prefer to work from         hybrid, or in-office working arrangements,
an office full time.                           employees are relatively evenly split            The research also demonstrated that
                                               between the three, at 30%, 30%, and              the application of these kinds of data
NTT Ltd. has released the 2021 edition of      39%, respectively.                               for improving an organisation’s EX
the Global Workplace Report, providing                                                          needs to go much further than day-
vital insight into the future of work as       This finding contradicts the belief, shared      to-day quality-of-life improvements; at
businesses around the world prepare for        by 79% of organisations, that employees          40%, a company’s purpose and values
a post-pandemic reality. The report finds      prefer office working – when in fact, VoE        is now the third most important factor
that business leaders are significantly        data finds that just 39% of employees            for choosing where to work. In this
more satisfied with how they have              desire full time office working.                 area, employees and business leaders
adjusted to new working norms than their                                                        are in sync, with 82% agreeing that
employees are, and points to the need          “Currently, the narrative is all about           environment, social and governance
for clearer organisational insight into how    remote working – but the reality of              (ESG) objectives are at the heart of the
employees have reevaluated what they           employees’ needs is much more                    organisation’s agenda.
need from their workplace.                     complicated, and any failure to accurately
                                               assess and respond to that fact presents         “I would look at this as a call to shift
Shared awareness, divergent outlooks           a serious risk to organisations”,                our thinking from being about actions
Conducting 1,146 interviews across 23          comments Alex Bennett, Global Senior             to being about outcomes”, concludes
countries, NTT found near-universal            Vice President, GTM Solutions at NTT             Bennett. “What’s important is not what
agreement that remote working has              Ltd. “These are not mild preferences:            we do to improve the workplace, but
introduced difficulties, with 84% of UK        we found that work-life balance and              how it actually benefits the workforce –
& Ireland (UK&I) respondents saying            commute times are now the two biggest            and an organisation cannot know that
that it has challenged organisational          factors people look at when deciding             without a mature approach to measuring
performance and 86% saying that it has         where to work, and so performing well on         employees’ sentiment. Surprisingly, two
been challenging for employees. 68% of         workforce and workplace strategy will be         thirds of employees say they’re not yet
organisations in UK&I, meanwhile, say          a real competitive advantage.”                   equipped with all the tools they need to
that employee wellbeing has deteriorated                                                        work from home, and just 44% of UK&I
over the course of the pandemic.               The need to lead by EXample                      organisations say they are strongly
                                               Acting on the basis of a clear view of           satisfied that office spaces are ready
Broad awareness of the issue is not            employees’ outlooks is being made                for hybrid working. Nonetheless, 88%
always translating into a realistic            more difficult by a lack of thorough data        of UK&I organisations are engaged in
assessment of organisational capability,       and insight collection. In terms of data         reshaping their office space over the next
however. Compared to operations staff,         priorities, 49% of UK&I businesses report        12 months to foster an environment of
CEOs are 20 percentage points more             VoE being the top focus, closely followed        innovation and social connection. Clearly,
likely to believe that their organisation is   by workplace analytics at 41%.                   there’s an awareness on some level that
very effective at managing working hours,                                                       immature workforce strategies will lead
28 points more likely to believe that they     In spite of this, however, just 37% of           to employee discontent, and that work
are effective at preventing burnout, and       UK&I organisations have structured VoE           should be led by what people actually
41 points more likely to be very satisfied     programs, and 26% employ real-time               need.”
with their organisation’s employee
experience (EX) capabilities.

This awareness gap mirrors a serious
lack of employee confidence, with just
38% saying that their employer fully
values their health and wellbeing, and
only 23% saying they are very happy
working for their employer.

The great work-life reassessment
Underlying the satisfaction gap between
employers and employees, the research
found a significant degree of diversity in
employee attitudes towards their own
future working preferences.

                                               COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD      l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM     9
5G: The future, the present and the channel opportunity
NEWS

Businesses are not in sync with their IT
departments
AS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION                          undergone significant data analytics         “These revelations come at a time where
accelerates a disconnect between IT                adoption, compared to just 42% of            businesses rely more on technology
decision makers and non-IT decision                non-ITDMS.                                   to streamline operations, as a point of
makers is evident.                                                                              differentiation, or even just to function
                                                 The Dae.mn study canvassed the                 at a basic level than ever before,” says
Dae.mn, the consultancy that helps               opinions of 200 decision makers across         Calum Fitzgerald, Co-Founder of Dae.
businesses to get the most out of                a range of industries including retail,        mn.
technology, finds that although almost           manufacturing, financial services,
all respondents (94%) agree that the             professional services, energy, media           “As a result, demonstrating ROI has
speed of digital transformation (DX) has         and leisure in Q3 of 2021. It also found       never been more important, but is
accelerated over the last year, decision         that the majority (58%) of respondents         clearly proving difficult. If decision
makers outside of IT departments fail to         say that their organisation is only in the     makers outside of IT are struggling to
recognise the extent of change.                  very early stages of implementing their        see the impact that investment is having,
                                                 digital transformation strategy or has only    especially whilst technology is playing a
Of the respondents that believe they             partially implemented it.                      pivotal role, then this could be down to
have fully implemented their digital                                                            internal communication.”
transformation strategy (35%), only              The data suggests that some
20% are decision makers outside the              organisations are further ahead with           Fitzgerald continues: “Ultimately
IT Department and 80% are IT decision            their implementation of a DX strategy, as      the solution lies in making sure that
makers. This disconnect continues when           well as internal misalignment. A recent        the objectives are agreed upon in
respondents were asked about the                 IDC report predicted that direct digital       the preliminary stages of any digital
implementation of specific technologies:         transformation would total over $6.8           transformation project, and that they
 79% of ITDMs agree that they have              trillion USD between 2020 and 2023.            are measurable. Additionally, allowing
   undergone significant DevOps                                                                 leadership across the entire
   adoption, compared to 61% of                  As both the speed of DX investments            organisation to maintain visibility over
   non-ITDMS.                                    and implementations accelerates, ITDMs         digital transformation and communicating
 79% of ITDMs agree that they have              are struggling to demonstrate the impact       with them in terms that they will
   undergone significant adoption of             of DX despite it being a priority. Of the      understand is crucial in mollifying
   cloud services, compared to 58% of            respondents, 92% consider “proving             any concerns that they may over
   non-ITDMS.                                    business value of IT services” a high or       budgets, implementation, or general
 80% of ITDMs agree that they have              top priority.                                  disruption.”

10   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM      l    ISSUE IX 2021   l   COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD
NEWS

Lack of controls and visibility is a major
security risk
80 PERCENT of organisations report
employee misuse or abuse of access to
business applications.

New research released by CyberArk
reveals that organisations continue to
operate with limited visibility into user
activity and sessions associated with web
applications, despite the ever-present
risk of insider threats and credential theft.
While the adoption of web applications
has brought flexibility and increased
productivity, organisations often lag
in implementing the security controls
necessary to mitigate risk of human error
or malicious intent.

The global survey of 900 enterprise
security leaders found that 80 percent of
organisations experienced employees
misusing or abusing access to business
applications in the past year. This comes
as 48 percent of organisations surveyed
said they have limited ability to view user
logs and audit user activity, leaving a          as Amazon Web Services, Azure and                  the proper controls follow suit to manage
blind spot for catching potentially risky        Google Cloud Platform and marketing                risk accordingly while enabling their
behaviour in user sessions.                      and sales enablement applications such             workforce to operate without disruption,”
                                                 as Salesforce.                                     said Gil Rapaport, general manager,
The new research coincides with the                                                                 Access Management, CyberArk. “Today,
general availability of the first-of-its-kind    For many security teams, investigation             any user can have a certain level of
CyberArk Identity Secure Web Sessions,           into questionable user activity represents         privileged access, making it ever more
a cloud-based solution that enables              a significant investment of time and drag          important that enterprises add security
organisations to record and protect user         on thin resources, and must be balanced            layers to protect the entire workforce as
web application sessions.                        with other priorities such as improving            part of a comprehensive Identity Security
                                                 incident response and enforcing                    strategy and Zero Trust framework.”
Consider financial, healthcare, marketing        consistent controls across applications to
or developer web applications that               reduce threat of credential theft.                 Secure Web Sessions Adds Layers of
contain sensitive, high-value data like                                                             Security to High-Risk User Activity
financial records, customer or patient           According to the research:                         CyberArk Identity Secure Web Sessions
information or intellectual property. Most        More than half (54 percent) of                   helps enterprises gain visibility into user
security and compliance teams have                 organisations investigate user activity          activity within web-based applications
limited resources, visibility and control          stemming from security incidents or              protected by CyberArk Workforce Identity
over how confidential data is being                compliance at least weekly vs. 34                and third-party Single Sign-On (SSO)
handled, or what is being done during a            percent of organisations that                    providers. Secure Web Sessions enables
user session.                                      investigate monthly                              organisations to:
                                                  44 percent of organisations said                  Record and search every click and
According to the research, in 70 percent           they need to enable the same security              data change made within a protected
of organisations, the average end-user             controls across all applications amid              app while maintaining a frictionless
has access to more than 10 business                disparate built-in application controls            user experience
applications, many of which contain high-         41 percent of respondents said that               Implement continuous monitoring
value data – creating ample opportunity            better visibility into user activity would         and re-authentication, such as when a
for a malicious actor. To that end, the            enable them to identify the source of a            user steps away from a device during
top-three high-value applications that             security incident more quickly                     a session, reducing risk of abuse
organisations were most concerned with                                                               Protect web sessions from threats
protecting against unauthorised access           “Ensuring security and usability is key.             originating on the endpoint and restrict
were IT service management apps such             As more high-value data migrates to the              data exfiltration actions, such as
as ServiceNow, cloud consoles such               cloud, organisations should make certain             copying of data and file downloads.

                                                COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD       l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM    11
NEWS

The need for new way to discuss business risk
TREND MICRO has published new                      C-suite to recognise security as a growth
research revealing that 90% of IT decision         enabler, not a block on innovation.”
makers claim their business would be               The research reveals that just 50% of IT
willing to compromise on cybersecurity             leaders and 38% of business decision
in favor of digital transformation,                makers believe the C-suite completely
productivity, or other goals. Additionally,        understand cyber risks. Although some
82% have felt pressured to downplay the            think this is because the topic is complex
severity of cyber risks to their board.            and constantly changing, many believe
 “IT leaders are self-censoring in front           the C-suite either doesn’t try hard
of their boards for fear of appearing              enough (26%) or doesn’t want (20%) to
repetitive or too negative, with almost a          understand.
third claiming this is a constant pressure.
But this will only perpetuate a vicious            There’s also disagreement between              business risk today, and 66% claiming
cycle where the C-suite remains ignorant           IT and business leaders over who’s             it has the highest cost impact of any
of its true risk exposure,” said Bharat            ultimately responsible for managing and        business risk – a seemingly conflicting
Mistry, UK technical director for Trend            mitigating risk. IT leaders are nearly twice   opinion given the overall willingness to
Micro.                                             as likely as business leaders to point to IT   compromise on security.There are three
“IT decision makers should never have              teams and the CISO.                            main ways respondents believe the
to downplay the severity of cyber risks to                                                        C-suite will sit up and take notice of cyber
the Board. But they may need to modify             49% of respondents claim that cyber            risk:
their language so both sides understand            risks are still being treated as an IT          62% think it would take a breach of
each other,” said Phil Gough, Head of              problem rather than a business risk. This          their organization
Information Security and Assurance at              friction is causing potentially serious         62% it would help if they could better
Nuffield Health. “That’s the first step to         issues: 52% of respondents agree that              report on and more easily explain the
aligning business-cybersecurity strategy,          their organization’s attitude to cyber risk        business risk of cyber threats
and it’s a crucial one. Articulating cyber         is inconsistent and varies from month to        61% say it would make an impact
risks in business terms will get them              month. However, 31% of respondents                 if customers start demanding more
the attention they deserve, and help the           believe cybersecurity is the biggest               sophisticated security credentials

Hybrid hang-ups?
USER DEVICES acting as gateways for                hybrid working is putting more pressure        data protection standards.
malicious attacks (42%) and employees              on teams to ensure the business is             Positively, some businesses are already
being less attentive to risks when at              prepared for cyber security threats.           taking action to implement change,
home (42%) named joint-first in biggest            The research, which was conducted              with 67% of IT DM’s agreeing that the
security risks as a result of greater hybrid       by Censuswide on behalf of IONOS               business they work for is putting enough
working.                                           Cloud, polled 557 IT decision makers           funding into updating its cyber security
                                                   who currently have a hybrid working            strategy in the face of hybrid working.
New research from Europe’s leading                 approach. When it came to improving            Commenting on the findings, Peter Prahl,
provider of cloud infrastructure and cloud         security around hybrid working                 SVP International and Digital Cloud
services, IONOS Cloud, has highlighted             practices, almost three quarters (74%) of      for IONOS said: “Although it has many
the biggest security risks businesses are          respondents agreed that their business         benefits, hybrid working can create a
facing when it comes to hybrid working,            must communicate more regularly about          variety of technical challenges. With
and views and attitudes on how to ensure           the increased cyber security risks caused      clear education and knowledge gaps
organisations stay safe and secure.                by hybrid working. In addition, a further      within businesses, and companies still
When IT decision makers (IT DMs) were              70% agreed the business needs to invest        managing the impact of the COVID-19
asked about the biggest risks hybrid               in more education for employees on             pandemic, it’s a time when many
working is causing businesses, user                cyber security risks, and nearly seven         organisations are more vulnerable than
devices acting as gateways for malicious           out of 10 (69%) of those asked agreed          ever before.”
attacks (42%), employees being less                that the business must put longer term
attentive to risks when at home (42%),             strategies in place.                           Exploring the hybrid working impact
and user devices being away from the                                                              on a business’s cloud strategy, 38% of
corporate network for too long (40%)               Focusing on data protection standards,         respondents have increasingly looked
topped the list.                                   over a third (35%) found working               at cloud-based IT operating models,
                                                   from home means employees are not              38% will increase the use of hybrid
The evolution of working habits is also            adhering to data protection standards          cloud management and 35% are moving
causing additional stress, with over               and nearly three in 10 (29%) say hybrid        workloads and applications to the private
two thirds (69%) of respondents saying             working has made it hard to manage             cloud.

12   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM         l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD
AI and Natural Language Processing
Faster and more efficient trading

www.ipc.com
© Copyright 2021 IPC Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. The IPC, IQ/MAX, Unigy, Blue Wave and Connexus names and logos are trademarks of
IPC Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owner. Specifications and programs are subject to change without notice.
THE ANALYST

Predictions take pride of place
IDC takes a look into the future across a range of technology and
business related topics.

                 Top 10 predictions for the Future of                            collaboration around that data. The bigger challenge
                 Operations                                                      remains the organizational changes necessary to take
                 The top 10 predictions for the Future of Operations             advantage of these innovations.
                 from International Data Corporation (IDC) speak to
                 the rapidly expanding world of remote operations, the           As the world gets greater control over the pandemic,
                 growing role of digital engineering, and the need to            organizations will need to decide whether to hang
                 prioritize sustainability.                                      on to the traditional way they have run operations
                                                                                 or to embrace more data-driven, collaborative, and
                 The COVID-19 pandemic created some unique                       responsive models.
                 operational challenges and opportunities. Demand
                 for many products plummeted and then accelerated                The top 10 Future of Operations predictions for
                 past previous levels. Companies were forced to send             2022 and beyond are:
                 workers home and then struggled to staff back up. At            Prediction 1: By 2023, only 25% of G2000 companies
                 the same time supply chains developed numerous                  will have moved beyond using their digital engineering
                 choke points, some internally created and some                  organization for the enforcement of IT policies in
                 externally imposed.                                             operations, resulting in limited ability to extract more
                                                                                 value and insights from their operational data.
                 The crisis forced rapid changes in operations – what            Prediction 2: By 2023, 40% of G2000 companies
                 would normally have emerged over a decade, took                 develop all new processes as remote operations first,
                 place in a matter of months – that accelerated the              compared with the very limited number of remote
                 move to more remote operations, the development                 operations processes in 2020.
                 of more distributed decision-making processes,                  Prediction 3: As compared to 2% in 2021, by 2024,
                 and a shift to data-driven operations. New sensor               35% of G2000 companies will use their Digital
                 technologies, wireless connectivity options, the                Engineering capabilities to sell remote operations,
                 rise of artificial intelligence, and the maturation of          data, and other services to peers, partners, and
                 cloud platforms have all combined to open up the                customers.
                 possibility of much better visibility and predictability        Prediction 4: Compared to less than 5% today,
                 of operational performance. They have also broken               by 2027, 40% of consumer value chains will share
                 down the technology barriers to data sharing and                real-time capacity information based on increased

14   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM     l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD
THE ANALYST

consumption and demand transparency.                       digital-first ways of working will enable organizations
Prediction 5: 60% of G2000 companies will use              to respond to the needs of customers and employees,
sustainability KPIs and data as primary operational        driving improvements in employee retention and
control parameters by 2026, compared to less than          customer satisfaction.
20% in 2021.
Prediction 6: By 2026, 40% of G2000 companies will         “As organizations continue to define and refine
have used AI, data governance, and a transformed           work models best suited for their industries, they
organization to develop a resilient and distributed        inevitably will need to calibrate the right deployment
operational decision-making framework that drives          of automation, digital and physical workspace, and
25% faster change execution.                               place technologies,” said Amy Loomis, research
Prediction 7: By 2025, 30% of brand owners/                director, Future of Work. “Far from being a means to
managers will bring operations back in house or            an end, deployment of these technologies is sparking
closer to demand to exercise greater operational           new leadership conversations around empowering
control, improve supply transparency, and reduce           workers to be more autonomous and innovative
operational risk.                                          working with IT, across functions and with clients.”
Prediction 8: By 2024, the use of data and analytics       IDC’s Future of Work 2022 top 10 predictions are:
will have enabled a 3% reduction in global CO2             Prediction 1: By 2024, 80% of the G2000 will use
emissions by the industrial and commercial sectors (a      AI/ML-enabled «digital managers» to hire, fire, and
net reduction of over 400 million metric tons of CO2).     train workers in jobs measured by continuous
Prediction 9: From 2021 to 2027, the number of new         improvement, but only 1 of 5 will realize value without
physical assets and processes that are modeled as          human engagement.
digital twins will increase from 5% to 60% resulting in
operational performance optimization.                      Prediction 2: By 2023, G2000 line of business
Prediction 10: Compared to less than 10% in 2021,          employees will use tools to automate their own
by 2025, 60% of companies will use some form of            work using codeless development, but 90% of
remote expert to support operational staff with AI and     these programs will fail without supporting COE and
knowledge management.                                      adoption methodology.
                                                           Prediction 3: 40% of the G2000 will see a 25%
Top 10 predictions for the Future of Work                  improvement in information usage by 2026 due to
The Future of Work predictions from International          investments in intelligent knowledge networks that
Data Corporation (IDC) signal an enduring adoption         turn structured/unstructured data into findable and
of hybrid work models by a majority of G2000               actionable knowledge.
organizations, supported by broad adoption of              Prediction 4: By 2023, digital transformation (DX)
automation and artificial intelligence and machine         and business volatility will drive 70% of G2000
learning (AI/ML) technologies.                             organizations to deploy remote or hybrid-first work
                                                           models, redefining work processes and engaging
To keep pace with accelerating digital transformation      diverse talent pools.
initiatives and the realities of global health, climate,   Prediction 5: 70% of enterprise businesses will have
and social challenges, organizations must adopt            extensively invested in diversity, equality, and inclusion
more dynamic and hybrid ways of working. Workers           data, tools, and benchmarking by 2024 to define
must redefine themselves as members of dynamic             recruitment and human capital strategies.
and reconfigurable teams that can adapt quickly to         Prediction 6: By 2023, 60% of G2000 businesses will
business demands and new market requirements –             deploy AI- and ML-enabled platforms to support the
anytime, anywhere, and from any physical location.         entire employee life-cycle experience from onboarding
Driven by senior executives and executive boards,          through retirement.
Future of Work initiatives will be enterprise-wide         Prediction 7: DX-related IT skills shortages will affect
imperatives. Rapid adoption of more automated,             90% of organizations by 2025, costing over $6.5
cloud-based, and AI-enabled work practices will            trillion globally through 2025 due to delayed product
improve work productivity and introduce new, more          releases, reduced customer satisfaction, and loss of
agile ways of working. The insights gained from these      business.

  The Future of Work predictions from International Data Corporation (IDC)
  signal an enduring adoption of hybrid work models by a majority of G2000
  organizations, supported by broad adoption of automation and artificial
  intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) technologies

                                              COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD     l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM   15
THE ANALYST

                 Prediction 8: By 2025, 90% of new commercial                   IDC expects future investment initiatives to focus on
                 constructions/renovations will deploy smart facility           eliminating physical infrastructure silos, adopting a
                 technology supporting flexible workplaces and                  greener and more cloud-centric roadmap, improving
                 sustainably improving occupant experiences and                 workforce productivity, and ensuring more resilient
                 operational performance.                                       operations.»
                 Prediction 9: By 2023, 70% of connected workers in
                 task-based roles will use intelligence embedded in             IDC’s Future of Connectedness 2022
                 adaptive digital workspaces from anywhere to engage            top 10 predictions are:
                 clients/colleagues and drive enterprise productivity.          Prediction 1: By 2023, mid-sized to large
                 Prediction 10: G1000 firms will use intelligent digital        enterprises will transition 50 percent of IT staff driving
                 workspaces with augmented visual technologies                  connectedness from tactical legacy network support
                 (hardware/software) in 8:10 regularly scheduled                operations towards strategic business outcomes,
                 meetings by 2024 to enable high-performance                    technology innovation, and service delivery.
                 distributed global teams.                                      Prediction 2: By 2024, 45% of contact centers
                                                                                supporting finance, retail, and hospitality industries
                 Top 10 predictions for the Future of Connectedness             adopt Branch of One architectures, enabling efficient
                 International Data Corporation (IDC) has announced             and secure enterprise-class work-from-anywhere
                 its Future of Connectedness predictions for 2022               experiences.
                 and beyond. Over the past 18 months, organizations             Prediction 3: In 2024, wireless-first becomes
                 have had to adapt to a new normal, where employees             mainstream for wide area connectivity, accelerating
                 require anywhere-anytime access to mission critical            65 percent of enterprise, industrial, and public
                 systems and processes; customers are more digitally            sector organization investments to «untether» their
                 guided; and business leaders must align technology,            operations.
                 policy, and operations to drive agility and revenue.           Prediction 4: By 2025, G2000 organizations are still
                 IDC defines the Future of Connectedness as enabling            experiencing two to three systemic service provider
                 the timely movement of data across people, things,             network outages per year, showcasing the importance
                 applications, and processes to create seamless digital         of added investments in connectivity redundancy and
                 experiences. The technology path to connectedness              service resiliency.
                 requires seamless connectivity across networks,                Prediction 5: By 2024, 20% of organizations will use
                 IT systems, and the cloud to keep data moving. As              a joint telco/cloud provider sovereign cloud running
                 employees, businesses, and consumers increasingly              on local infrastructure to ensure compliance and
                 seek digital experiences that are supported by                 limit extraterritorial connectivity, access, and data
                 ubiquitous, reliable, and robust connectivity,                 movement.
                 organizations will make connectivity an investment             Prediction 6: By 2023, 60% of enterprises will
                 priority.                                                      implement hybrid, intelligent connectivity that links
                 “Businesses have been forced to adapt to more                  physical marketplaces to digital storefronts and supply
                 distributed operations in addition to their workforces,        chains to facilitate seamless commerce transactions.
                 highlighting the importance of a robust strategy in            Prediction 7: By 2023, 75% of enterprises will expect
                 place that embraces a wireless-first and cloud-enabled         sustainability goals to be addressed in RFI responses,
                 connectivity architecture,” said Paul Hughes, research         demonstrating responsible supply chain principles
                 director, Future of Connectedness at IDC. «As the              and secure IT asset disposition capabilities.
                 future enterprise transforms to become more agile,             Prediction 8: By 2024, 80% of enterprises will

16   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM    l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD
THE ANALYST

need to transform their networks and processes to          faster compared to those that focus more on internal
deliver more personalized and interactive online rich      projects.
media experiences that meet and satisfy customer           Prediction 3: To help alleviate the developer skills
expectations.                                              shortage, 55% of organizations will use cloud
Prediction 9: By 2025, 60% of mid-sized to large           marketplaces and tech startup acquisitions as their
enterprises will adopt network as a service (NaaS) to      most important approaches to software sourcing by
enable operational agility, service customization, and     2024.
flexible consumption models that support complex           Prediction 4: By 2024, companies that have already
network and multi-cloud environments.                      invested in building a developer ecosystem will
Prediction 10: In 2022, more than 30% of                   expand their customer base by 25%.
organizations will prioritize connectivity resiliency to   Prediction 5: Securing the software supply chain will
ensure business continuity, resulting in uninterrupted     be a core competency embraced by 75% of large
digital engagement for customers, employees, and           digital innovators by 2023.
partners.                                                  Prediction 6: By 2023, traditional distribution models
                                                           crumble as 20% of businesses in some sectors
                                                           use technology to go direct to customers, seeking
Top 10 predictions for the Future of                       to improve customer satisfaction and product
Innovation                                                 development.
Delivering innovative digital products can help            Prediction 7: By 2026, 30% of software development
businesses satisfy customers and create stronger           teams will be focused on turning traditional products
competitive differentiation. Organizations that can        into outcomes as a service.
then take the next step and transform their software
innovation to into value engines will spawn additional
business value, such as data monetization, new
partnerships, or entrance into new markets. As
business leaders consider ways to leverage software
innovation and transform their businesses into digital
innovation factories, International Data Corporation
(IDC) offers its top 10 predictions for the Future of
Digital Innovation.

Profitable digital innovation requires alignment across
the organization, combined with a strategic selection
and application of proprietary or community source
tools. Most of all, digital innovation requires a clear
understanding of what customers want, as well as the
ability to anticipate what they will need – even before
they do.

“One notable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is
that many enterprises now recognize that their ability     Prediction 8: Half of the Global 500 will have
to build innovative digital products and services          insourced software development significantly by
will determine whether they succeed or fail in the         2025, exacerbating the software engineering skills
market,” said Nancy Gohring, research director, Future     shortage and fueling interest in software development
of Digital Innovation at IDC. «The imperative to           efficiencies.
develop innovative digital offerings is influencing an     Prediction 9: By 2024, 55% of successful digitally
array of strategic decision making in the enterprise,      innovative products will be built by teams that include
including significant changes to business models,          people with creative, critical thinking, analysis, and
organizational models, distribution models, and            automation skills, as well as software engineers.
revenue streams.»                                          Prediction 10: By 2025, 75% of newly developed
                                                           applications will include some automatically generated
IDC’s top 10 predictions for the Future of Digital         code, freeing up humans to focus on development
Innovation address topics related to shifting              tasks that are not easily automated.
business requirements and enabling more efficient          Top 10 predictions for the Future of
software development:                                      Intelligence
Prediction 1: By 2026, enterprises that successfully       Results from the International Data Corporation (IDC)
generate digital innovation will derive over 25%           Future of Intelligence survey reveal a significant
of revenue from digital products, services, and/or         positive correlation between enterprise intelligence
experiences.                                               and better business outcomes. By investing in
Prediction 2: By 2022, organizations that allocate         enterprise intelligence, organizations can achieve
50+% of their software development projects to             first-order benefits – improved decision-making, higher
customer-facing initiatives will see revenue grow 15%      knowledge, and more efficiency – which in turn result

                                              COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD    l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM   17
THE ANALYST

                 in improved financial outcomes, employee outcomes,             Prediction 8: By 2025, to reduce reputational risks,
                 customer outcomes, and offering outcomes.                      40% of G2000 companies will be forced to redesign
                                                                                their approaches to algorithmic decision making,
                 Enterprise intelligence is a key driver for growth for         providing better human oversight and explainability.
                 organizations of all sizes, across all industries and          Prediction 9: By 2026, advances in computing will
                 geographies. IDC’s research shows that 60% of                  enable 10% of previously unsurmountable problems
                 organizations that scored highest in its enterprise            faced by F100 organizations to be solved by super-
                 intelligence index scale saw major improvements in             exponential advances in complex analytics.
                 decision making compared to 1% of organizations                Prediction 10: By 2025, three-fourths of large
                 with poor enterprise intelligence. Also, 47%                   enterprises will face blind spots due to a lack of
                 of organizations that scored well in enterprise                intelligent knowledge networks and the harmonization
                 intelligence increased customer acquisition by 10%             they provide between localized and centralized
                 or more, compared with 10% of those with poor                  intelligence.
                 enterprise intelligence.
                                                                                Top 10 predictions for the Future of
                 “IDC FutureScape predictions highlight key trends that         Digital Infrastructure
                 will occur over the next five years,” said Chandana            International Data Corporation’s (IDC) top 10
                 Gopal, research director, Future of Intelligence. “These       predictions for the Future of Digital Infrastructure
                 predictions will help guide business leaders as they           point to a digital infrastructure strategy that addresses
                 strive to improve enterprise intelligence to become            resiliency and trust; data-driven operational
                 leaders in their markets and outpace their peers.”             complexity; and business outcomes-driven sourcing
                                                                                and autonomous operations. Organizations must
                 IDC’s Future of Intelligence top 10 predictions                invest in and foster a digital-first culture that leverages
                 impact the four pillars of enterprise intelligence:            trusted industry ecosystems, generates profitable
                  The ability to synthesize information                        revenue growth, provides empathetic customer
                  e capacity to learn from the information                     experiences, and demonstrates an ability to adapt
                  The ability to apply those insights at scale                 operating models to complex customer requirements.
                  A data-driven culture built on a foundation of               In the coming years, organizations will deploy,
                 technology that enables all of the above                       operate, and scale digital infrastructure to ensure
                                                                                consistent security, performance, and compliance
                 Prediction 1: By 2025, 10% of F500 companies                   across all resources, regardless of where and how
                 will incorporate scientific methods and systematic             they are deployed. These organizations will invest in
                 experimentation at scale, resulting in a 50% increase          more intelligent, autonomous operations and take
                 in product development and business planning                   advantage of flexible consumption and strategic
                 projects – outpacing peers.                                    vendor partnerships to promote agility and ensure
                 Prediction 2: By 2023, 70% of F1000 enterprises                that the business, and its digital infrastructure, can
                 will be involved in intercompany intelligence sharing          continue to perform in the face of a wide range of
                 based on common standards, values, and goals,                  unexpected scenarios – social, geopolitical, economic,
                 strengthening mutualism in ecosystem relationships             climate, or business related.
                 by 50%.
                 Prediction 3: 40% of the G2000 will double the use             “Digital infrastructure spans compute, storage,
                 of intelligent automation in knowledge retention,              network, and infrastructure software, including
                 dissemination, and information synthesis by 2026,              virtualization and containers, and the automation,
                 filling the skills vacuum in the data to insights life         AI/ML analytics, and security software and cloud
                 cycle.                                                         services needed to maintain and optimize both legacy
                 Prediction 4: By 2026, 30% of organizations will use           and modern applications and data,” explained Mary
                 forms of behavioral economics and AI/ML-driven                 Johnston Turner, research vice president, Future of
                 insights to nudge employees’ actions, leading to a             Digital Infrastructure. “IDC’s 2022 predictions for the
                 60% increase in desired outcomes.                              future of digital infrastructure identify critical shifts in
                 Prediction 5: A lack of meritocracy-based data culture         governance, operations, architecture, and sourcing
                 will erode trust in management, reducing employee              that need to be factored into enterprise digital
                 satisfaction and increasing turnover in two-thirds of          transformation strategies going forward.”
                 mid-size to large enterprises by 2024, exacerbating
                 skills gaps.                                                   The top 10 predictions from the Worldwide Future
                 Prediction 6: By 2023, 60% of enterprise intelligence          of Digital Infrastructure 2022 report are:
                 initiatives will be business specific, purpose built for       Prediction 1: By 2023, G2000 leaders will prioritize
                 business, shortening the data to decisions time frame          business objectives over infrastructure choice,
                 by 30%, driving higher agility and resiliency.                 deploying 50% of new strategic workloads using
                 Prediction 7: By 2024, 30% of the G2000 will leverage          vendor-specific APIs that add value but reduce
                 post-pandemic automation initiatives, with the role of         workload portability.
                 the middle manager evolving to that of a visionary,            Prediction 2: In 2023, over 80% of the G2000 will cite
                 curator, and connector, driving collective intelligence.       business resiliency to drive verifiable infrastructure

18   WWW.DIGITALISATIONWORLD.COM    l   ISSUE IX 2021   l   COPYRIGHT DIGITALISATION WORLD
You can also read