Intelligent CIO North America Issue 27 | Page 10

NEWS

Global business leaders say hybrid cloud is critical to modernization yet concerns impede success

manage their hybrid cloud environments holistically – which can create blind spots and put data at risk .
The IBM Transformation Index : State of Cloud , commissioned by IBM and conducted by The Harris Poll , was created to help organizations map their cloud transformation and empower them to self-classify their progress .
Built on a foundation that leverages insights from experienced cloud professionals , enterprises can use the Index to gain measurable metrics that can help quantify their progress and uncover areas of opportunity .

Global market research from IBM has revealed that more than 77 % of respondents have adopted a hybrid cloud approach which can help drive Digital Transformation – yet the majority of responding organizations are struggling with the complexity to make all their cloud environments work together .

As organizations face skills gaps , security challenges and compliance obstacles , less than one-quarter of respondents across the globe
The Index consisted of more than 3,000 business and technology decision-makers from 12 countries and across 15 industries including financial services , manufacturing , government , telecommunications and healthcare , to understand where organizations are advancing , or merely emerging , on their transformation journeys .
The Index points to a strong correlation between hybrid cloud adoption and progress in Digital Transformation . In fact , 71 % of those surveyed think it ’ s difficult to realize the full potential of a Digital Transformation without having a solid hybrid cloud strategy in place .

Metro Edge Development Partners secures land in Chicago for 21MW data center

Metro Edge Development Partners , a commercial real estate investment firm and Minority Business Enterprise ( MBE ), has announced that the company has executed a 75-year ground lease on a 1.97-acre parcel in the Illinois Medical District ( IMD ) that includes exclusivity to build and operate a high-performance data center .

Metro Edge has begun planning and permitting for a 21 Megawatt ( MW ), five-story data center comprising approximately 191,000 square feet . The greenfield data center will be located two miles west of the Loop in Chicago in the IMD , which represents the largest concentration of healthcare institutions , biotech hubs and tech incubators in the state . The IMD is the second largest medical district in the country serving over 80,000 visitors daily , including 29,000 employees .
“ Metro Edge was founded with the intention of building data centers in underserved urban locations ,” said Craig Huffman , CEO of Metro Edge . “ These infill locations are typically overlooked by traditional institutional owners but offer a unique opportunity to facilitate meaningful change in a community with a thoughtful , integrated development .”
A healthcare-anchored data center in the IMD can positively impact low-income and medically vulnerable communities on the West Side of Chicago while addressing the urgent need for many of the IMD ’ s anchor healthcare institutions to upgrade their outdated data center infrastructure . The Metro Edge site possesses robust access and low-latency proximity to the utilities , fiber and power required for a world-class data center .
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