INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cloud
business process optimisation was a close
third with 46%. Realising these benefits
entails a combination of cloud, new app
architectures and IT automation.
Over half (57%) of respondents indicated
they are employing automation and
orchestration of IT because of digital
transformation. Almost half (48%) are
moving to deliver apps from a public cloud
and 48% are changing how they develop
those applications. A total of 43% said
digital transformation has prompted the
exploration of new app architectures
involving containers and microservices.
The multi-cloud challenge
According to SOAD 2018, 54% determine
which cloud is best for each application on a
case by case basis. This is fuelling an uptick
in multi-cloud environments, with 75% of
respondents claiming to use multiple cloud
providers. As ever, security remains a key
concern in the cloud. In EMEA, applying
consistent security policies across all
company applications was deemed to be
the ‘most challenging or frustrating’ aspect
of managing multi-cloud environments
(42%). A total of 39% believe the biggest
challenge is protecting applications from
existing and emerging threats. SOAD 2018
concludes that this has led to an increase
in organisations deploying Web Application
Firewalls (WAFs), with 61% now using the
technology to protect their applications.
“As applications drive business,
organisations make IT decisions based
on the needs of the app, leading many to
leverage multiple cloud platforms,” said
Borovick. “While multi-cloud environments
offer many benefits in terms of speed, scale,
and flexibility, challenges include providing
consistent security across clouds, protecting
apps from a variety of threats and gaining
visibility into application health.”
Application services are the
gateways to the future
On average, SOAD reported that
organisations in EMEA leverage 15 different
application services to keep their apps fast,
safe and available. Security is still regarded
as the most important application service in
EMEA (44%, compared to 39% globally).
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Cindy Borovick, Business Intelligence Director at F5
Interestingly, as IT organisations prepare for
the digital economy, gateway services are
starting to emerge as a ‘must-have’. The
top gateway services in EMEA relate to the
Internet of Things (34%), SDN (32%), API
(32%) and HTTP/2 (28%).
Key app service security challenges include
the increasing sophistication of attacks
AS EVER, SECURITY
REMAINS A KEY
CONCERN IN
THE CLOUD.
(42%), employees underestimating the
impact of not following security policies
(41%), the increasing complexity of security
solutions (29%), mobile app security (35%)
and lack of IT security skills (28%).
“By embracing modern application
architectures, cloud models and a wide
diversity of devices, EMEA organisations are
striving to capitalise on the digital economy,”
said Borovick. “The deployment plans for
gateways clearly show that respondents are
putting in place the technologies and tools
they need to confidently move forward into
an increasingly digital future.”
Automation and orchestration:
Full steam ahead
Across EMEA, IT departments are embracing
programmability and standardisation
within their automation and orchestration
environments. Three in four (75%) of
respondents declare the use of automation
in the operation of IT infrastructure to
be ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ important. The
majority (72%) are using automation to
realise leaner IT with the goal of reducing
OpEx, while nearly half (48%) are looking to
scale to meet demand.
“With pressure from Dev and Ops
mounting, thanks to increasing
use of containers and adoption of
cloud, traditional IT is embracing
programmability to enable the automation
and orchestration required to succeed,”
said Borovick. “However, organisations
seeking to optimise IT through automation
and orchestration need to standardise
before speeding ahead.” n
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