Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 26 | Page 50

CIO OPINION But it’s important to understand what that really means. The narrative that cloud and traditional storage are at direct odds, while compelling, is oversimplified. Within today’s landscape, there are more options than just public cloud and traditional on-premise. Software-as-a- Service (SaaS) has exploded, while private cloud has also seen significant increase in relevancy. A strategy that deploys some combination of these options is referred to as hybrid cloud. This is a route that most enterprises in the Middle East are opting to go down as evidenced by findings of the survey where 69% of businesses say they will increase their public cloud usage in the next 18-24 months. In parallel, private cloud (57%) and SaaS (56%) usage is also expected to grow in the same timeframe. In my conversations with more than 70 CIOs, VPs of Infrastructure and technology leaders over the past several months, the general consensus is two-fold: 50 INTELLIGENTCIO “ FOR A GREAT MANY CIOS I’VE SPOKEN WITH, IS COMPLIANCE, SOMETHING THAT IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT IN THE MIDDLE EAST. • Organisations that aren’t using public cloud in some capacity are likely missing out • Public cloud is part of a strategy – but it’s not the strategy Strategic infrastructure is key to optimising for the new reality of digital business – and that means building a hybrid cloud. Today, major retail brands – which were previously never considered technology companies – are generating more data than high tech firms did a decade ago. Car companies like Mercedes and Tesla, outfit cars with sometimes hundreds of sensors, which constantly pour critical performance data back into organisational databases. 90% of all data ever generated has been generated in the last five years. Analysts forecast that by 2025, we will generate 180 zettabytes – or 180 trillion gigabytes – of data annually. To gain advantage from that data, maintain a modern pace of innovation and improve operational efficiency, organisations must be highly analytical and strategic about which workloads and applications live where. Analytics and business intelligence are two of the top focus areas for CIOs with 74% of respondents to the survey reporting that they see more demand in the business for real-time analytics and interactive simulations than a year ago. To effectively www.intelligentcio.com