Transformative tech
Insights from a global technology commentator
Ben Kepes, the internationally-recognised tech commentator, recently spoke at an ITP event about the future; what that looks like, how it relates to organisations and how technology is supporting it.
The key drivers of change for organisations Kepes identified were:
- Pressure to reduce spending and increase revenue
- Innovate with less budget
- Shorten development cycles
- Mobility
- Generational changes
What’s shaping today?
In the business of technology, and the technology of business, Kepes declares, “The revolution has begun! From the big having all the power, to the small looking big. From the monolithic organisations, to the distributed ones.” Kepes cites the mega trends driving the revolution as:
- Cloud computing
- 3D printing
- Genomics
- Nanotechnology
- Collaboration Tools
- Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning
- Internet of Things
Cloud computing is one of the key enablers Kepes identified above. Since the concept was introduced in 2000, it is being implemented at an accelerated pace - the first on-demand cloud computing was launched in 2006 by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Cloud continues to gain momentum with a minefield of options such as; Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, IBM SmartCloud, Redhat’s OpenStack and Oracle Cloud etc.
Forrester Research’s Dave Bartoletti told CIO magazine that the adoption of cloud computing is fast-tracking as enterprise organisations recognise the need to scale their computer resources so they are better able to serve their customers. In one of their survey’s, ‘38 percent of enterprise decision-makers said they are building private clouds, 32 percent procuring public cloud services and the remaining 20 percent planning to implement some form of cloud technology this year. The hybrid cloud is also heating up, with 59 percent of respondents saying they are adopting the model.’
What does the future look like?
For some organisations, settling on a single cloud model or provider has meant that they have needed to make compromises. As such, the major trend in cloud technology is fast becoming ‘multi-cloud’. Nearly a third of organisations are now working with four or more cloud vendors to support different applications and workloads by using the solution best suited to their needs, according to a recent study by Microsoft and 451 Research.
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