CIONET and Hitachi Vantara research highlights how pioneering digital leaders are building the cloud-based foundations now for the digital business of the future.

Download the Executive Summary

We are entering a period of unprecedented change. If you think the pace of business and technology change is fast today, wait until you see what’s coming next. From data-led innovations to fast-changing customer requirements, digital leaders and their C-level colleagues must be prepared. Get your strategy right now and your business steals a march on its traditional rivals and keeps pace with digital natives. Get your approach wrong and your business risks being left behind forever.

That’s the key conclusion from research conducted by CIONET amongst its digital leadership community on behalf of Hitachi Vantara. The recently released research, entitled ‘Next Generation Infrastructure: Clouded in Uncertainty’, issues a clarion call to CIOs and CTOs, which suggests the starting point for embracing this period of unprecedented change must be the infrastructure upon which their organisation develops new business models.

The traditional IT infrastructure towers of yesterday are unfit for tomorrow’s data-rich digital economy. Decade-long arrangements, characterised by rigid outsourcing contracts, must be replaced by flexible cloud relationships that provide a modern platform to support digital business. Rather than virtual private networks and multiprotocol label switching, the research highlights how pioneering digital leaders are creating flexible IT architectures that use software-defined networks, microservices and cloud-based platforms.

The past two years have helped sow the seeds for lasting change. The challenges of the coronavirus pandemic emphasised how the cloud makes it much easier to support rapid changes in business operations and customer services. Right now, some companies are further along their journey to on-demand IT than others. Most organisations are moving towards a hybrid mix of on-premises, private and public cloud. Yet what’s increasingly clear across all organisations is that there’s no business strategy without a cloud strategy.

Our research suggests that CIOs and CTOs must plot the roadmap towards a next-generation infrastructure. We suggest there are seven key steps that digital leaders can take to help their organisations transition from an old world of legacy technologies and contracts to a new world of flexible services and partnerships.

Let’s be clear: making this seven-step journey to a next-generation infrastructure will not be easy. While the move to the cloud continues to quicken, strong ties between enterprises and traditional IT partners remain intransigent. Digital leaders must break these bonds, sunset heritage contracts and build new relationships with technology partners that can help their businesses embrace digital change with confidence.

Author: Roger Camrass