Colt Technology
Services has released new research into enterprise plans for the next
wave of technology migration. The findings demonstrate a hunger for emerging
tech solutions, with 54 percent of respondents citing ‘technology evolution' as
a key enabler of their plans.
The
unique research, carried out by Censuswide, asked 400 senior IT decision-makers
from organizations with over 500 employees about their upcoming cloud projects.
The research embraced cloud decision-makers, as well as executives with C-level
responsibilities. The findings span geographies across Europe and Asia, as well
as numerous industry sectors.
With
the last 12 months having seen a surge in cloud migration, driven by COVID-19,
enterprises are now ready to take migration to the next level, engaging with a
new era of cloud possibilities and embracing a whole new generation of
cloud-centric compute and connectivity.
With
large budgets backing the next wave of cloud projects, there is evidence of a
renewed focus on overcoming barriers and delivering goals. Some 33 percent of
respondents are setting aside between £251,000 and £500,000 to fund their next
cloud move. There is also recognition of the importance of forging the right
partnerships to develop cloud plans and turn them into reality. Tried and
tested relationships with existing cloud service providers and network service
providers are especially valued.
With
legacy technologies increasingly unsuited to solving the complex challenges of
the multi-cloud era, enterprises are looking for newer solutions built with the
cloud in mind. Application programming interface (API) technology topped the
list of essential tools for meeting cloud goals, with 56 percent of respondents
citing it. Edge compute (47 percent), AI (43 percent), on-demand networking (40
percent), uCPE (34 percent) and SD WAN (32 percent) were also deemed critical,
with high confidence expressed in all.
The
study found that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) topped the list of
applications for the next phase of cloud migration. Improving the customer
experience and finding better ways to map the customer journey are clearly of
growing importance to enterprises, suggesting an intimate connection between
enterprise objectives for the cloud and a desire to improve customer experience
through effective transformation. Some 57 percent said CRM applications would
be the focus of their next cloud migration project while 54 percent said ERP.
Keri
Gilder, CEO of Colt said ""From our research last year, we
saw an increase in cloud migration projects. This new report deep dives into
what enterprises are moving, how they're doing it and why. It's no surprise
that tech evolution and emerging technologies are being increasingly used for
these projects. The connectivity that underpins them is critical. To ensure
cloud migrations happen smoothly, enterprises need to focus on flexible, high
bandwidth, low latency connectivity. To do that, they need the right partners.
They need an ecosystem of partners working together to deliver for them and
their end customers. At Colt, we work closely with the major cloud service
providers to deliver and enable cloud migrations for enterprises. Colt strives
to take what's always been in our DNA to create an environment of constant
transformation that puts enterprises in the best possible position to tackle
today's business challenges."
She
added: "The Colt IQ Network, a 100Gbps optimized intelligent network
distributed to more than 29,000 on net buildings, 900 data centers and hundreds
of data network connection points around the world is the perfect network to
help them achieve this."
The
full research report
is available to download.