12 Reasons IT Infrastructure Still Matters in the Cloud Age

Cloud infrastructure

IT Infrastructure Investments Over Next 12 Months

Investments in IT infrastructure may finally be on the rise. Of the 67% that will increase spending, 37% report they will increase spending 5% to 10%.

Top Technology Drivers of IT Investments

Many organizations now have a better handle on the true cost of enterprise computing: 33% want to reduce operational costs while 29% cited faster application development.

Top Business Benefits of IT Infrastructure Investments

IT infrastructure investments clearly go beyond being just another commodity. While 41% cited the ability to optimize profit and revenue, 30% said infrastructure was a key business strategy enabler.

Top Areas of IT Investments

IT infrastructure fundamentals remain in place. Security, servers and storage topped the list—each with a third of the respondents citing it as a top investment area.

Where Application Workloads Run Today

More than half don’t know where those workloads will run in three to five years. Roughly 80% of all workloads still run on-premise versus 20% in the cloud.

Level of Cloud Computing Preparation

The vast majority of IT organizations still have a foggy notion of cloud computing. Only 31% report they are prepared or fully prepared to support cloud computing.

Level of Mobile Computing Preparation

IT organizations are only slightly more prepared for mobile than cloud computing. Almost 40% said they are either prepared or fully prepared.

Level of Big Data Preparation

Big data requires major investments in IT infrastructure. Only 38% reported that they are prepared.

Level of Social Media Preparation

Social media drives a need for IT infrastructure that can dynamically scale. Only 38% say they are prepared or fully prepared.

Top Security Threats

Of the 43% who cited security as a major concern, insider threats are the most lethal. Being compromised by a rogue administrator or privileged insider (48%) is the top concern, followed by social media, at 41%.

Major IT Infrastructure Challenges

Data management on a global scale has become a major problem. Nearly half (46%) consider the ability to efficiently and securely move data from one region to another a major impediment.

Effectiveness of Collaborating With the Business

Only 30% said they are collaborating effectively with the business. That would suggest another 70% see room for improvement.