In 2023, organizations have confronted an unprecedented stage of stress to digitally remodel with the rise of generative AI in addition to imperatives corresponding to sustainability, labor productiveness and safety. The “Cloud Transformation Report,” a brand new international survey from the IBM Institute for Enterprise Worth (IBV), discovered that many main enterprises share a standard basis to digital transformation—a transparent hybrid cloud technique.¹ These companies cite a number of key advantages to utilizing a hybrid cloud strategy to gasoline enterprise transformation, together with modernization, agility, safety, sustainability and the power unlock the ability of generative AI.
Right here’s a have a look at the important thing drivers that impacted cloud transformation over the previous 12 months and what they imply for firms on their cloud modernization journey:
Concerns for adopting generative AI
This 12 months, generative AI captured the eye of enterprise leaders—but it surely additionally raised questions together with what’s the precise basis to speed up and scale influence? For a lot of organizations, the reply is a hybrid cloud strategy. The brand new examine discovered that 68% of hybrid cloud adopters have already established formal, organization-wide insurance policies to direct their strategy to generative AI.
With the rise of generative AI comes an inflow of information. Whereas this may gasoline great enterprise improvements, it additionally requires strategic concerns. When executing an AI technique, enterprises want to contemplate their present compute capability, the place information resides—within the cloud, on premises, on the edge—how information is accessed, vital safety controls, and the way to use current expertise investments successfully. Along with serving to ship enhanced reliability and efficiency, a hybrid cloud strategy can allow elevated agility with the power to attach cloud and on-premises environments, eradicating obstacles to versatile AI workflows.
Addressing safety and compliance issues
In terms of generative AI, enterprises are additionally involved concerning the potential publicity of delicate information. For instance, 45% of cloud leaders cited issues about cybersecurity or privateness and confidentiality of information and knowledge as the important thing impediment of their push to implement generative AI. The findings point out that extremely regulated industries are more and more weighing dangers, corresponding to safety, when contemplating the expertise. These organizations are much less more likely to have a proper strategy to AI than another industries, however they’re displaying progress: 57% of banks and monetary markets organizations, 54% of insurers and 54% of life sciences/pharma establishments have adopted a proper strategy to the expertise up to now.
For extremely regulated industries which are tasked with safeguarding important information, there’s quite a bit on the road. To keep away from blind spots, a holistic safety technique that gives visibility throughout a complete hybrid cloud infrastructure is significant to mitigate threat.
Overcoming abilities challenges
The report additionally exhibits persistent obstacles to extra widespread cloud adoption — maybe none as nice as the continued abilities hole. For instance, 58% of worldwide choice makers say that cloud abilities stay a substantial problem and 72% of organizations have created new positions to meet the necessity for cloud abilities. Inside particular person industries, this deficiency is even better: 79% in extremely regulated industries corresponding to banking and monetary markets, in addition to 81% in transportation and journey, and 79% in chemical compounds and petroleum.
Placing sustainability initiatives within the highlight
Not too long ago, sustainability has been tied to broader enterprise objectives and change into a bigger precedence for expertise investments for organizations throughout industries. But as generative AI grows, the rise in information processing required for AI workloads does too. This will current new challenges for organizations that need to cut back their greenhouse gasoline (GHG) emissions.
With the precise instruments in place, cloud may help enterprises observe, handle and report on sustainability objectives — together with for companions and third events. In actual fact, our findings decided that 42% of worldwide choice makers affirm they’re already utilizing the cloud to assist deploy, observe and handle sustainability objectives internally.
Seeking to the long run
With extra enterprises embarking on their AI journeys, it’ll change into important for these organizations to make sure they’ve the precise infrastructure and expertise in place to help these initiatives. Organizations that shift to an agile, safe information construction with a hybrid cloud structure will probably be the winners of tomorrow — armed with a robust basis from which to compete sooner or later AI-driven panorama.
View the complete IBM Institute for Enterprise Worth findings. Excited by getting began in your transformation journey? Listed below are some assets:
[1] This examine was performed in partnership with Harris Ballot, an impartial analysis agency.
