INTELLIGENT SOFTWARE BUSINESS
Software defined
infrastructure the crux of
digital transformation
With a software-defined infrastructure in place, an IT team can drive innovation
and overcome the pressures of the digital economy with greater agility, flexibility
and reduced costs says Paul Abi-Chahine, Regional Director, EEMEA, SUSE.
T
oday’s increasingly mobile,
always-on environment is driving
a fundamental shift in our digital
culture. With an estimated two billion
smartphone users across the globe and
with mobile technology accelerating
at an unprecedented pace, this digital
transformation will continue for years
to come. In fact, the number of mobile
phone users worldwide is expected to pass
the five billion mark by 2019.
The challenge: Adapting IT for
the digital business
Today’s digital transformation is placing
growing demands on IT. The enterprise
IT department is now required to meet
business needs with agility and flexibility
while maintaining data privacy and
security for regulatory compliance. As
large numbers of consumers expect
reliable, leading-edge, on-the-go
digital services, IT must provide an
infrastructure that enables the business
to deliver new and updated services with
faster time-to-market. Unfortunately, in
an era where IT innovation is hampered
by manual tasks that do little more than
‘keep the lights on’, this is a tall order.
IT must also meet the needs of
business users who buy public cloud
services on their own without regard for
security or regulatory compliance. This
‘shadow IT’ effect has the potential to put
the business and the privacy of consumer
data at risk.
Moreover, these challenges are
not limited to technology companies.
Businesses in every industry are
experiencing explosive data growth
from the digital transformation. Data is
generated by mobile technologies like
the Internet of Things (IoT) wearables
and sensors, digital health apps, online
banking and more. IT departments in
all organisations must effectively store,
manage and protect this data without
incurring additional costs. According to
Gartner, enterprise IT budgets are flat or
increasing only slightly. This requires IT
to meet the storage, processing and
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