As the need for data not only has increased exponentially but also has become more complex, it is critical that the applications being used to collect such data and the infrastructure in place to support these applications are able to meet such demands.
In relation to this, organizations are building infrastructure that supports data needs both within and outside the organization, ranging from data centers to public clouds and the edge. As a result, IT infrastructure is becoming more decentralized which has its advantages but also poses a new set of challenges as well.
Given the current landscape, IT leaders must carefully consider how to place application workloads in a manner that will ensure efficiency and performance while not putting a strain on any part of the company’s IT infrastructure. As such, it is crucial to take note of five key trends that will reshape IT infrastructure plans this year and beyond.
1. Intentionality as the defining trait of multi-cloud strategies.
With organizations overseeing an ecosystem that might include data centers, public clouds, and edge locations, the IT landscape has become more complicated than before, creating a messy multi-cloud environment. Organizations need to rethink their multi-cloud topology to account for existing and future workloads based on design. This entails placing workloads where they make the most sense for desired outcomes.
2. Edge computing as a central focus for leading organizations
A growing number of businesses are using edge computing technology as it provides the critical data intelligence that they need. More and more businesses are setting up sensors, actuators, and IoT gateways with data analytics capabilities As it is estimated that more than 50% of enterprise data will be created and processed outside the data center or cloud by 2025, edge computing holds the key for leaders to generate business insights in real-time and be able to derive the needed value in the process.
3. AI and machine learning serve the new era of data-hungry applications
Businesses want to become smarter and run on systems of insight rather than systems of record. This has accelerated the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning across every industry, which Forrester Research and Deloitte believe will become foundational in enterprises in 2023. Importantly, edge devices are increasingly incorporating AI/ML capabilities as industries strive to move beyond data persistence—where data resides—to data activation—harnessing information to drive insights.
4. HPC goes mainstream
For a long time, the use of high-performance computing (HPC) devices was confined to specific industries such as healthcare, government, and life sciences since these industries face advanced computational problems that require supercomputers and computing clusters to solve as well as help make predictions. But as technology has evolved, many businesses in the mainstream industries are finding themselves facing more complex problems that require HPC solutions. Many employ AI/ML capabilities in addition to traditional simulation and modeling, and HPC provides the computational power to generate, process, and analyze modern workloads.
5. Cloud-native development fueling modern applications in the multi-cloud
As IT shifts toward a distributed model, there is an increasing number of organizations that are building cloud-native regardless of where they’re currently running. Many are taking advantage of managed or open-source Kubernetes to help them deploy containerized apps at scale. An API-led, composable microservices model allows for repeatability, as well as the ability to quickly shift development as business priorities change, which in turn helps pave the way for innovation.
How to take advantage of these trends?
It is critical that it already has in place a multi-cloud structure that will ensure the right outcomes when putting these trends into practice. In particular, it is important to have the necessary infrastructure (in particular, edge technology) at the right locations where the data will be processed.
Of course, not all businesses have the capability to set up such infrastructure. But if these resource-strapped organizations are keen on improving their data capabilities and achieving growth in the process, there are service consumption models available that allows them to pay for what they need when they need. The infrastructure can be managed by the businesses themselves or can be entrusted to a third party they may get in touch with, depending on the needs and capabilities of the business.
Whatever option that is chosen, establishing the infrastructure early on and capitalizing on the trends surrounding it will ensure the business’ competitiveness in the long run.