Trends that will drive Intelligent Transformation in 2020
Feb 19, 2020, 13:37 IST
Two decades into the millennium and India’s technology landscape has evolved exponentially, with businesses reaching new heights in innovation and sustainable efficiency. We have witnessed how organisations from all sectors have recognized, adopted and implemented digital transformation strategies and solutions in response to the technical advancements that have changed every aspect of our lives – catalysed by ever-increasing smartphone usage and demands for app-based services, delivered at the speed of light.
However, 2020 could very well be the year that steers us towards a next phase of growth and transformation. While adoption of core data centre technologies will no doubt continue, we predict that 2020 will be a turning point for transformation where we will see more businesses set their sights on what’s next – looking beyond digital transformation to the promise of new opportunities, innovation and growth that the next wave of ‘intelligent transformation’ holds. Here are, what I think, will be some of the defining trends and technologies that businesses will be looking to in order to drive intelligent transformation in 2020:
Driving Efficiency with AR & MR
Augmented Reality (AR) is not a new concept, but its implementation will take a front seat when it comes to data centre management. AR enables real-time use of information in the form of graphics, texts, videos and other visualisations, integrated with real-world situations to enhance user experience. This will not only help to diagnose problems in a data centre, but also illustrate best practices to resolve issues. Mixed Reality (MR) takes these capabilities further by giving users the ability to interact with and manipulate surface objects though holograms. Use of AR-based, hands-free gesture controls and remote assistance also enables users to pin, interact and collaborate with 3D digital information in the real world, improving their contextual awareness and efficiency.
Hybrid Cloud
2019 has been the tipping point for hybrid cloud, as it has become the norm for big data and analytics deployments. As more enterprises benefit from software-defined infrastructure, security and scalability, the introduction of pay-per-use infrastructure models will make this technology more accessible to SMEs enabling more types of businesses to benefit from them.
Emergence of Edge Computing
We are seeing the emergence of edge computing in addition to cloud deployments, to support mission-critical activities that require minimal delay in processing. IoT infrastructures are beginning to transition to the edge. We also see the data centers evolving from the ‘core-centric’ data center of today to an ‘edge-to-core’ data center in the near future. This will have two key parts – distributed edge IT or where the ‘local’ work happens; and core IT where the majority of business operation work happens, which is not just limited to the data center but also encompasses how an IT organization leverages private, multi-and hybrid cloud. We also believe that eventually everything will become software-defined – including both in the edge and in the cloud.
Software Defined Data Centres
Rapid virtualization through the adoption of cloud and IoT networks is quickly pushing out the use of physical data centres. This is moving data centres towards a transformation that changes the infrastructure from hardware to a software platform, giving rise to software defined data centres (SDDC). SDDC brings faster, more flexible infrastructure reconfiguration from a single console, improving performance of workloads and network traffic management. Data centre automation will also ensure better and hyper-efficient management of data flow. As data continues to grow along with infrastructure costs, enterprises will no doubt look to adopt Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) for its more flexible and responsive data centre architecture.
Smart solutions
In order to derive maximum value from data, the next generation of smart integrated data solutions is emerging. At Lenovo, we are focusing heavily in this area with a focus on three core aspects of intelligent transformation: Smart IoT, Smart Infrastructure and Smart Verticals. Various industries have already adopted smart data centre solutions to collect, transfer and store their data volumes, but in 2020, we expect to see an increase in the rise of smart verticals in India – especially in industries like BFSI, healthcare, education and automotive.
The rise of hyper automation
Role of Practical Blockchain across Business Ecosystems
It is possible that data explosion can also have a negative impact on businesses. Enterprises in 2020 will look to increase their focus on blockchain to combat this threat. Blockchain as a technology creates a more secure and transparent environment to process and monitor information. As its adoption increases across varied sectors, we can expect to see more talent acquiring expertise in implementation of blockchain solutions.
Disclaimer: This article is written by Vivek Sharma, managing director India of Lenovo Data Centre Group. The opinions expressed are entirely that of the author.
Advertisement
However, 2020 could very well be the year that steers us towards a next phase of growth and transformation. While adoption of core data centre technologies will no doubt continue, we predict that 2020 will be a turning point for transformation where we will see more businesses set their sights on what’s next – looking beyond digital transformation to the promise of new opportunities, innovation and growth that the next wave of ‘intelligent transformation’ holds. Here are, what I think, will be some of the defining trends and technologies that businesses will be looking to in order to drive intelligent transformation in 2020:
Driving Efficiency with AR & MR
Augmented Reality (AR) is not a new concept, but its implementation will take a front seat when it comes to data centre management. AR enables real-time use of information in the form of graphics, texts, videos and other visualisations, integrated with real-world situations to enhance user experience. This will not only help to diagnose problems in a data centre, but also illustrate best practices to resolve issues. Mixed Reality (MR) takes these capabilities further by giving users the ability to interact with and manipulate surface objects though holograms. Use of AR-based, hands-free gesture controls and remote assistance also enables users to pin, interact and collaborate with 3D digital information in the real world, improving their contextual awareness and efficiency.
Hybrid Cloud
2019 has been the tipping point for hybrid cloud, as it has become the norm for big data and analytics deployments. As more enterprises benefit from software-defined infrastructure, security and scalability, the introduction of pay-per-use infrastructure models will make this technology more accessible to SMEs enabling more types of businesses to benefit from them.
Advertisement
We are seeing the emergence of edge computing in addition to cloud deployments, to support mission-critical activities that require minimal delay in processing. IoT infrastructures are beginning to transition to the edge. We also see the data centers evolving from the ‘core-centric’ data center of today to an ‘edge-to-core’ data center in the near future. This will have two key parts – distributed edge IT or where the ‘local’ work happens; and core IT where the majority of business operation work happens, which is not just limited to the data center but also encompasses how an IT organization leverages private, multi-and hybrid cloud. We also believe that eventually everything will become software-defined – including both in the edge and in the cloud.
Software Defined Data Centres
Rapid virtualization through the adoption of cloud and IoT networks is quickly pushing out the use of physical data centres. This is moving data centres towards a transformation that changes the infrastructure from hardware to a software platform, giving rise to software defined data centres (SDDC). SDDC brings faster, more flexible infrastructure reconfiguration from a single console, improving performance of workloads and network traffic management. Data centre automation will also ensure better and hyper-efficient management of data flow. As data continues to grow along with infrastructure costs, enterprises will no doubt look to adopt Software Defined Infrastructure (SDI) for its more flexible and responsive data centre architecture.
Smart solutions
In order to derive maximum value from data, the next generation of smart integrated data solutions is emerging. At Lenovo, we are focusing heavily in this area with a focus on three core aspects of intelligent transformation: Smart IoT, Smart Infrastructure and Smart Verticals. Various industries have already adopted smart data centre solutions to collect, transfer and store their data volumes, but in 2020, we expect to see an increase in the rise of smart verticals in India – especially in industries like BFSI, healthcare, education and automotive.
The rise of hyper automation
Advertisement
2019 has seen the rising adoption of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) across various industries like automotive, BFSI, healthcare and more. Intelligence infused in automation through data science and analytics is leading to an era of hyper automation that will enable optimisation and modernisation. However, though this is cost effective, it does pose new challenges and risks and in 2020, we expect to see more enterprises evaluating the risks and control mechanisms associated with hyper automation.Role of Practical Blockchain across Business Ecosystems
It is possible that data explosion can also have a negative impact on businesses. Enterprises in 2020 will look to increase their focus on blockchain to combat this threat. Blockchain as a technology creates a more secure and transparent environment to process and monitor information. As its adoption increases across varied sectors, we can expect to see more talent acquiring expertise in implementation of blockchain solutions.
Disclaimer: This article is written by Vivek Sharma, managing director India of Lenovo Data Centre Group. The opinions expressed are entirely that of the author.