TRENDING
On top of that , two-thirds were using at least two methods to create modern workloads ( the combination of traditional and modern app components that result from modernisation ). Of the respondents claiming to use only one method , 44 %, said that they were enabling modern interfaces , either via APIs or components such as containers . A mere 11 %, mainly technology organisations , are exclusively refactoring applications .
Another Edge use case highlighted by the SOAS report is the distribution of modern workers . More than a third ( 42 %) will support a fully remote workforce for the foreseeable future . Only 15 % plan to require all employees to return to the office .
Organisations have data but lack insights and skills
Lori MacVittie , Principal Technical Evangelist ,
Office of the CTO at F5
Architectural trends and shifts
The vast majority of organisations will continue to manage both traditional and modern applications and architectures . This expectation is supported by the 87 % of survey respondents claiming that they now juggle both – an 11 % increase over 2020 . Nearly half of all organisations – 30 % more than last year – said they are managing at least five different architectures . More than two-thirds of respondents ( 68 %) are now hosting at least some of their application security and delivery technologies in the cloud . Simultaneously , organisations are positioning themselves to address the architectural complexity that results from adding SaaS and edge solutions , maintaining on-premises and multi-cloud environments and modernising applications .
Application security and delivery solutions were also in the SOAS spotlight . The critical roles these enabling technologies play in customer experience and service level agreements ( SLAs ) are now recognised by nearly four out of five respondents . SaaS-based security was identified as organisations ’ top overall strategic focus over the next two to five years .
Growing ambitions at the Edge
Edge Computing is also set to attract plenty of attention in 2021 . As many as 76 % of organisations surveyed say they have implemented or are actively planning Edge deployments , with improving application performance and collecting data / enabling analytics as the primary drivers . Moreover , 39 % believe that Edge Computing will be strategically important in the coming years and 15 % are already hosting application security and delivery technology at the Edge .
“ Organisations are definitely starting to look at the Edge with more purpose ,” MacVittie explained . “ Cloud data centres , while supporting ubiquitous access , are only slightly more distributed than on-premises data centres . By contrast , the Edge enables organisations to deliver applications closer to users . In many ways , the Edge is just the next step outward in an expanding universe of distributed applications , with benefits – and drawbacks – aligned with those of multi-cloud strategies . Data analytics represents a key edge use case , enabling the insights required for Digital Transformation initiatives .”
More than half of SOAS respondents believe they already have the tools they need to report on the health of high-priority applications . Nevertheless , an alarming 95 % say they are missing insights from their existing monitoring and analytics solutions .
Respondents agreed that the data collected by their tools is primarily used for troubleshooting , followed by early warnings about performance problems . Worryingly , a mere 12 % report the data back to business units , whereas fewer than 24 % of organisations use data and insights to watch for potential performance degradations . By contrast , when it comes to monitoring components that modernise apps , nearly two-thirds of respondents ( 62 %) are measuring performance in terms of response time .
Conscious of a need to do better , over 80 % of respondents said that data and telemetry are ‘ very important ’ to their security plans and over half are ‘ looking forward ’ to the beneficial impacts of AI .
Survey respondents also flagged platforms that combine Big Data and Machine Learning ( also known as AIOps ) as the second most strategic trend in the next two to five years . At the same time , that enthusiasm could be blunted by a lack of emerging , relevant skillsets in the market . This is particularly true for those identifying AIOps as their top strategic trend . Half of those respondents cited a paucity of skilled professionals as their number one challenge .
The road ahead
“ Only organisations with the right combination of insights and automation will be able to sort through overwhelming data , recognise looming availability and performance issues before they occur and act quickly enough to prevent them ,” MacVittie added .
“ Until then , many won ’ t be able to take full advantage of their progress in Digital Transformation or generate additional speed toward AI-enabled businesses . Ultimately , this will require an application strategy that includes application security and delivery technology solutions that follow the apps , even as deployments continue to be spread among multiple environments positioned nearer to users and at the Edge .” p
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