IT architecture is evolving to combine devices, edge computing, cloud computing, network and artificial intelligence, according to a new study by Lenovo.
IT architecture evolution will drive integration of existing hardware and data elements and fuel accelerated digitalisation across all industries. That’s according to the findings of a new Lenovo global research study of 500 chief technology officers (CTOs) which reveals perceptions on the future of technology.
Top findings from the survey include: The shift to hybrid work environment is elevating the importance of elements of IT architecture: CTOs generally have a positive perspective on their organisation’s technology architecture, with 43 per cent calling it “improved”, 39 per cent noting its “easy to use” and just 6 per cent characterising as “lacking.”
Elements surging in importance include Smart Devices (76 per cent), Smart IoT (70 per cent), and Scenario-Based Solutions (76 per cent).
Looking ahead, CTOs noted the importance of the cloud, software and computing as key components for the future of a hybrid work environment, with 84 per cent optimistic about the future of hybrid cloud.
Major challenges exist for CTOs relating to cybersecurity and accessibility in emerging tech: Respondents out of the United States (63 per cent), Brazil (61 per cent) and India (71 per cent) all cited cybersecurity as a top challenge they need to address within their organisations.
CTOs in the U.S. (64 per cent) and United Kingdom (67 per cent) also mentioned regulation/compliance as a top concern.
Compatibility issues in enterprise infrastructure and user experience are primary pain points when CTOs make purchasing, upgrading, migrating and retiring decisions of IT infrastructure for their organisations.
CTOs say there is potential to utilise technology even more extensively at work:
Across each of the five elements (Client – Edge – Cloud – Network – Intelligence), substantial portions of CTOs see opportunities for their companies to utilise dimensions of the IT infrastructure even more than they already are – including elements like 5G MEC (72 per cent), the public edge cloud (67 per cent), IoT Edge (65 per cent) and private edge cloud (58 per cent).
When looking to solve technological problems, most cite (82 per cent) third-party vendors as important to helping solve challenges relating to technological architecture.
Most CTOs believe that elements of edge computing (including Edge AI, Edge Security, and “Device-Edge-Cloud” Collaborative, etc.) will be important moving forward into the future.
Apart from these five components of new IT architecture (Client – Edge – Cloud – Network – Intelligence), CTOs named areas such as “R&D / Innovation” (9 per cent), “Data Management” (7 per cent) and “security” (6 per cent) as other components that will be important to shaping the future of technology architecture.
