FINAL WORD
Human capital needs basic services
to thrive in an organisation. So too
do applications, for example traffic
management, bot protection and
access management.
F
5 Networks has urged businesses
in the Middle East to fully embrace
the potential of ‘application
capital’ in order to unlock new
levels of profit and innovation.
Speaking to an audience of customers,
partners and industry experts at the F5
Forum in Abu Dhabi, Tabrez Surve, F5
Director for Gulf, Levant and Turkey, said:
“The true value of the modern enterprise
undeniably resides in its applications
and data.
“Human capital once dominated the
business realm but times have changed.
Today, application capital is the primary
driver for differentiation and value creation.”
Optimising application capital with
application services
According to Surve, true Digital
Transformation can only occur if enterprises
put more focus on modernising application
portfolios and associated infrastructures.
“Human capital needs basic services
to thrive in an organisation. So too
do applications, for example traffic
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS
INTELLIGENT
TECH CHANNELS
Issue 24
management, bot protection and access
management,” he explained.
“This is why it is more important than ever
for enterprises to embrace infrastructures,
application development and management
tools, as well as processes that balance
effective controls with innovative freedom.”
Application services emerged from the
disaggregation of capabilities formerly
integrated into devices such as Application
Delivery Controllers (ADCs).
In the modern world they are
software-defined, loosely coupled and
easily consumed. It is possible to attach
individual services to applications based on
specific needs. It is also possible to achieve
consistent quality and security across entire
application portfolios.
“Consistent service quality means there
is an additional layer of security, availability
and reliability that is enforced independently
of whether the applications have such
capabilities built-in or not,” said Surve.
“This is critical at a time where much
of the user experience is digital in nature,
delivered via the cloud and increasingly
built by developer teams outside of the
IT organisation.”
Application-first strategies and
the rise of multi-cloud
According to F5’s recently published State
of Application Services report, almost nine
out of 10 businesses surveyed globally have
multi-cloud architectures in place, largely
driven by application-first methodologies.
The biggest cited challenge is to enforce
consistent security and ensure reliable
performance. Nearly half of all organisations
(48%) undergoing a Digital Transformation
initiative reported difficulties of this nature
when applications are distributed across
multiple cloud platforms.
As a result, F5 is rapidly adapting and
innovating to help businesses cope with
today’s most pressing multi-cloud issues,
while also anticipating future shifts and
deployment roadblocks.
“F5 is no longer just an application
delivery controller company. We are the
leader in multi-cloud application services,”
said Surve.
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