All industries will change fundamentally in the next five years. Cybersecurity will become even more important due to evolving threats, while automation and AI will become increasingly embedded in operations. In addition, the continuing trends towards sustainability, distributed compute and inference at the edge will place further pressure on IT infrastructure.
In response, infrastructure clearly needs to become more flexible, interoperable and intelligent. Colt’s latest IT Priorities Research , surveying over 1,200 IT leaders across 13 countries, highlights how organisations planning to invest in AI – the “future investors” – are shaping the next phase of IT infrastructure. These businesses are prioritising automation (37%), while also focusing on cybersecurity (35%) and enhancing customer experience (33%). The findings underscore the growing expectation that digital infrastructure must be adaptable and intelligent, capable of supporting emerging technologies and evolving business needs across diverse markets.
Modernising infrastructure involves a laser-like focus on the investments that will enable business value. Already, IT organisations manage a vast range of technologies, including siloed systems and platforms for AI, cloud, ecommerce, security, identity, authentication and more. As these areas of activity intersect, deciding on modernisation priorities becomes increasingly complex. However, avoiding these decisions is not an option, precisely because stakeholders inside the business – and beyond – have such high expectations of emerging technologies.
IDC recommends a three-tiered approach to technology transformation. This includes:
- People – having the skills and experience that IT leaders can call upon to make the right decisions and execute correctly. Attracting and retaining talent of this kind is harder than ever. For example, demand for AI application developers in Europe is expected to triple between 2020 and 2027.
- Priorities – defining goals in the short and long term is perhaps the most challenging aspect of modernisation. Every modernisation initiative needs to be underpinned by measurable business outcomes and defined as either must-have, should-have or nice-to-have.
- Partners – having trusted IT services partners can address skills deficits and provide organisational insights. Most of all, they have substantial experience in simplifying operations so that their clients can concentrate on what they do best: leveraging competitive advantage to generate profit.
Matthew Partridge, director of Strategic Solutions at Colt, suggests a further reason for capitalising on the partners’ knowledge and experience. “Once upon a time, in network and IT infrastructure, everyone bought similar hardware, the engineers understood it, and it worked,” he says. “Today, it’s different: the sheer volume of vendors, platforms and hardware means that the market is far more complex – and contains a wider range of possibilities. Increasingly, technology insight is one of the most important qualities we bring to engagements with clients.”
Colt helps its customers ease the pressure on IT teams by providing the right expertise and solutions across their digital infrastructure. By simplifying complex decisions and supporting intelligent, flexible systems, Colt enables businesses to focus on innovation and growth. To find out more, visit colt.net/solutions