SECTION 2
SECURING AND SAFEGUARDING THE ZETTABYTE FUTURE :
The previous section highlights just a few of the many possibilities of a Zettabyte future . But all of the above is dependent on securing and strengthening our IT infrastructure .
Think of it like a leaky pipe hidden in an apartment wall — you may not notice it , save for a dripping noise here or a musty smell there . If you miss the warning signs , you won ’ t fix the leak until the pipe bursts and you ’ re ankle-deep in water .
So what happens if we ignore the “ leaky pipe ” of inadequate data infrastructure ? Well , for the Zettabyte world , failure doesn ’ t look like a flood , or a catastrophic meltdown . Instead , it looks like stagnation .
Imagine the pace of innovation slowing to a crawl , the momentum for digital transformation ebbing away . Think of it in terms of opportunities lost : If innovation had all but ceased in 2005 , we would have missed out on smartphones , cloud storage , 4G LTE , and a 100X increase in computer processing power .
If we let the flywheel of innovation and development grind to a halt , what breakthroughs will we miss in the next 15 years ? And how much effort would it take to get that momentum back ?
We must come together to make smart investments in infrastructure now . In the next few pages , we ’ ll identify six absolutely crucial areas of development .
© 2020 Dell Inc . The Zettabyte World 12