The pandemic has fast-tracked the world’s reliance on digital technologies and the importance of digital experiences. Every business realised the importance of being able to operate ‘anywhere’ and having an IT architecture that can take full advantage of applications and data, no matter where they reside. We have seen governments and businesses under immense pressure to accelerate their move to cloud, innovate and digitally transform.
According to a recent study by IBM Institute of Business that surveyed more than thirty eight hundred C-Suite executives in 20 countries, including the UAE, and 22 industries – 66% of surveyed organisations said they have completed digital transformation initiatives that previously met resistance.
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But as businesses map out these transformations, Mahmoud El Kordy, business unit executive for IBM Systems – Middle East, Saudi and Pakistan reflects on how some of the most critical challenges around application mobility, global data access and data resiliency can be overcome through advanced, cloud-ready data storage.
The journey to hybrid cloud and AI
Indeed, when embarking on the hybrid cloud and AI journey, it is wise to include data storage in the conversation, yet the challenge lies in meeting not just traditional data centre needs, but also the need for cloud-based technology, services and intelligence that provide compelling growth opportunities.
Today, IBM’s advanced storage systems and software are modernised to integrate seamlessly within hybrid cloud environments and to serve as the data nerve centre for all things AI.Â
Application modernisation also serves as a springboard for AI. As the AI adoption rate continues to climb, so does its reliance on the hybrid cloud and cloud-ready storage, which provides scalability and availability to necessary datasets, quickly, easily and securely. In other words, the greater the access to available data from across an enterprise, the more accurate the AI outcomes and predictions.
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Resiliency, the ability to recover quickly from disruptions and outages, natural or manmade, took on new meaning during the pandemic as distributed work environments due to WFH (work from home) movements flourished.
Storage: Today and beyond
The challenges facing businesses in 2021 – from the continued disruptions of the pandemic to the ever-expanding digital universe, to the constant stream of sophisticated cyber threats – are considerable.
The pandemic itself may have brought economies to a standstill at times, but the technical winds have remained strong, filling the sails of business for long-term performance and success. Consider for a moment how the pandemic has heightened the need for global data awareness and access to support greater collaboration, among other functions and processes. In this new world, where most are still working from home, we need the ability to share data and to be able to access it from anywhere.
