{"id":30975,"date":"2019-12-17T08:54:05","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T08:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/?p=30975"},"modified":"2020-01-03T10:06:11","modified_gmt":"2020-01-03T10:06:11","slug":"top-five-technology-trends-to-impact-the-digital-infrastructure-landscape-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/2019\/12\/17\/top-five-technology-trends-to-impact-the-digital-infrastructure-landscape-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Top five technology trends to impact the digital infrastructure landscape in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>Equinix predicts hybrid multicloud, Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, data regulation and sustainability will be key factors influencing how organisations undergo Digital Transformation<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equinix,\nthe global&nbsp;interconnection&nbsp;and data centre company, has released its\ntop five technology trend predictions for 2020 which point toward the critical Digital\nTransformation that organisations are making to lead in the\nnew digital era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equinix\u2019s\nexpansive footprint across more than 50 global markets, and its position as a leading\nmeeting and interconnection point for ecosystems of networks, clouds, enterprises\nand nearly 10,000 customers, give it a holistic lens to view critical digital\ninfrastructure trends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Equinix\u2019s 2020 technology trend predictions include: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Distributed infrastructure and Edge Computing will accelerate hybrid multicloud adoption<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a\nseismic shift underway across many industries as businesses are embracing Edge\nComputing and hybrid multicloud architectures. Increasingly, businesses are\nmoving computing from centralised data centres to a distributed infrastructure\nand towards the Edge, where data exchange and interconnection between\nbusinesses and cloud services are growing at an exponential rate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The advent\nof Edge Computing has also become a foundational enabler for other emerging\ntechnologies such as 5G mobile communications, which will allow Internet of\nthings (IoT) and other Edge devices to take advantage of faster connectivity to\ndata and compute resources with single-digit-millisecond network latency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nto analyst firm IDC, by 2023, more than 50% of new enterprise infrastructure\ndeployments will be at the Edge rather than corporate data centres, up from\nless than 10% today. And by 2024, the number of apps at the Edge will increase\n800%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The IDC\nreport says to prepare, businesses must modernise IT to become virtualised, containerised\nand software-defined to support the Edge. And they should also consider new\ndata centre partners that can bolster Edge build-out and prioritise\ninfrastructure optimisation and application communication costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a\nresult, in 2020, Equinix anticipates Edge Computing as a key driver in accelerating\nhybrid multicloud adoption across every business segment worldwide. The third\nannual Global Interconnection Index (GXI), a market study published by Equinix,\nestimates that between 2018 and 2022, private interconnection between\nenterprises and cloud and IT service providers will grow annually by 112%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report\npredicts that traditional cloud computing architectures, which are highly centralised,\nwill shift as enterprises look to extend cloud computing to the Edge to solve\nfor challenges introduced by the highly distributed nature of modern digital\nbusiness applications. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The key\nchallenges that the combination of Edge Computing and hybrid multicloud\nadoption will solve include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Lower\nlatency and bandwidth savings <\/strong>&#8211; Proximate high-speed, low-latency connections (&lt;60 \u2013\n&lt;20 milliseconds) are necessary for companies to materially close the \u2018distance\ngap\u2019 between their application and data workloads and cloud service providers\n(CSPs). With agile and scalable cloud\nenvironments closer to the users at the\nEdge, data access and application response times\ncan be faster and cost savings from reduced data transport can be realised. <\/li><li><strong>Enterprise\nconsumption of hybrid multicloud <\/strong>&#8211; Enterprises generally determine\nwhich cloud platform to place their applications on by which CSP delivers the\nbest service for a specific workload. This freedom of choice&nbsp;makes it easy\nand practical for IT organisations to experiment with different cloud platforms to see which\ndelivers the best quality of service (QoS) at the best price. Additionally, more than ever before,\nenterprises require the flexibility of retaining control and securely running\nbusiness-critical applications in-house and want the flexibility of leveraging\nboth private and public hybrid cloud environments, depending on specific use\ncases.<\/li><li><strong>Political\nand regulatory factors <\/strong>&#8211; With more frequent and\ncomplex incidents of security and privacy breaches, many countries are\nregulating where and how data can be used. These privacy and data sovereignty compliance\nrequirements will lead to more distributed data centres and cloud services that keep data local to a\nspecific geographic region or country. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AI and IoT will drive new interconnection and data processing requirements\nat the Edge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equinix\npredicts that enterprises will accelerate the adoption of AI and Machine\nLearning (ML) for a broader set of use cases, requiring increasingly complex\nand more real-time-sensitive processing of large data sets originating from\nmultiple sources (sensors, IoT, wearables, etc.).\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An\nairplane with thousands of equipment sensors, an autonomous vehicle producing\ntelematics data, or a smart hospital monitoring patients\u2019 well-being can each generate\nseveral terabytes of data a day. About 75% of enterprise AI\/analytics\napplications will use 10 external data sources on average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To\nmeet the scale and agility requirements of the above, Equinix\nbelieves businesses will continue to leverage public cloud service providers,\nwhile most will likely find ways to use an optimal set of AI\/ML capabilities\nfrom multiple CSPs-effectively\ndeploying a distributed, hybrid architecture for their AI\/ML data processing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet\nEquinix believes for many use cases, an additional set of stringent requirements\nrelated to latency, performance, privacy and security will require that some of\nthe AI\/ML data and processing (both inference and model training) be proximate\nto data creation and consumption sources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equinix\npredicts this will create an impetus toward new architectures and the increased\nadoption of vendor-neutral, richly interconnected, multicloud-adjacent data centres\nat the Edge, which deliver improved control,\nauditability, compliance and security of AI\/ML data, and low-latency\nconnectivity to remote data and compute infrastructures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Furthermore,\nEquinix predicts that greater interconnection and data processing capabilities\nwill pave the way for new digital data marketplaces, where data providers and\nbuyers can transact easily and securely at scale within vendor-neutral data centres\nat the Edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The rise in cybersecurity threats will require new data management capabilities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The World Economic Forum has ranked breaches in cybersecurity as one of the top risks facing our global community. No company or individual is immune to the cybersecurity challenges we face today or will face in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The financial loss attributed to cyberattacks continues to impact economies worldwide and is estimated to cost US$ 6 trillion annually by 2021, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/cybersecurityventures.com\/cybercrime-damages-6-trillion-by-2021\/\">Cybersecurity Ventures<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With the increase in cybersecurity attacks and data\nprivacy and protection regulations, most companies are now moving toward\naccessing cloud services over private networks and storing their encryption\nkeys in a cloud-based&nbsp;Hardware Security Module&nbsp;(HSM) at a location that is separate from where their data\nresides. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This HSM-as-a-Service model allows them to increase\nthe level of control over their data, to strengthen resiliency of operations\nand to support of a hybrid technology architecture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2020,&nbsp;Equinix predicts that&nbsp;new\ndata processing capabilities such as multiparty secure computation, fully homomorphic\nencryption (operating on encrypted data) and&nbsp;secure&nbsp;enclaves (where\neven cloud operators cannot peer into the code being executed by a cloud\nconsumer)&nbsp;will move towards the mainstream and&nbsp;will&nbsp;allow\nenterprises to run their computation in a secure manner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Data\nregulation will influence enterprise IT strategies<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, many enterprises buy and sell data in\norder to get a competitive advantage, but these enterprises must adhere to\ngovernment regulations for personal data privacy and protection.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What started with the European Union\u2019s General\nData Protection Regulation (GDPR) is now transcending into other local\nregulatory frameworks such as&nbsp;the&nbsp;California\nConsumer Privacy Act (CCPA)&nbsp;among many others and is putting more\npressure on enterprises to ensure data compliance.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, there are 121 countries that have\neither already announced or are in the process of formulating data sovereignty\nlaws that prevent the movement of their citizens\u2019 personal data outside the\ncountry\u2019s boundaries. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2020, Equinix believes we will see\nfurther&nbsp;complexity in protecting personal data as global trends toward stricter or new data\nprivacy regulations continue to gain momentum,&nbsp;making it more difficult\nfor global companies distributed across multiple markets to navigate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a&nbsp;recent&nbsp;survey commissioned by Equinix of over\n2,450 IT decision-makers across the world, 69% of the global respondents listed\n\u2018complying with data protection regulations\u2019 as a top priority for their\nbusiness, while 43% of them reported \u2018changing regulatory requirements around\ndata privacy\u2019 as a threat to their company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2020, Equinix predicts IT strategies will increasingly focus on data privacy, with\ncontinued application of the secure discovery, classification and encryption of\npersonally identifiable information (PII). Equinix believes HSMs will be an\nintegral part of a data security architecture and strategy for encrypting PII\nand providing an exceptionally high level of security for safeguarding data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Digital Transformation will provide a foundation for a more sustainable world &nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According\nto an Equinix Survey, 42% of IT decision-makers agree that the \u2018greenness\u2019\nof a company\u2019s suppliers has a direct impact on their buying decisions. Equinix\nanticipates that with increasing pressures on the world\u2019s resources and the increasing\ndesire by many companies to cut emissions, Digital Transformation could begin\nto set the world\u2019s economy on a progressively sustainable footing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In\n2020, sustainability will likely be an initiative for world-class organisations as stakeholders increasingly look to digital businesses\nto lead and innovate in areas of environmental responsibility and\nsustainability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Equinix\nfurther predicts that digital and technology innovations will provide\ncompanies with the opportunity to overcome barriers, such as the geographic\ndispersion of supply chains to the complexity of materials and deconstructing\nproducts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Machine-to-machine and data analytics enable companies\nto match the supply and demand for underused assets and products. The cloud, in\ncombination with mobile, can <a>dematerialise <\/a>products\nor even entire industries. Equinix anticipates that&nbsp;as businesses depend on data centre resources to connect with customers and run\nmany aspects of their operations, they will look to vendor-neutral colocation\ndata centre providers who are committed, vocal and proven champions for advancing\nenvironmental sustainability.<strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Justin Dustzadeh, Chief\nTechnology Officer, Equinix, said: \u201cWe are at an exciting inflection point in\nthe history of interconnection, as the pace of Digital Transformation continues\nto accelerate and as cloud-native distributed infrastructure\nand&nbsp;hybrid&nbsp;multicloud deployments become the de facto\narchitecture&nbsp;of choice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe ability to securely manage\nand process data at the Edge, while having direct, secure and low-latency\nconnectivity to partners and cloud ecosystems, is ushering new opportunities for\norganisations to create greater value to users and customers, and benefit society\nin new ways.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Equinix predicts hybrid multicloud, Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, data regulation and sustainability will be key factors influencing how organisations undergo Digital Transformation. Equinix, the global&nbsp;interconnection&nbsp;and data centre company, has released its top five technology trend predictions for 2020 which point toward the critical Digital Transformation that organisations are making to lead in the new digital era. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":31190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4950,46,13],"tags":[917,386,388,12055,389,459,7366,2384,12056,48,1955],"class_list":["post-30975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-data-centres","category-top-stories","tag-917","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-cybersecurity","tag-data-regulation","tag-digital-transformation","tag-edge","tag-edge-computing","tag-equinix","tag-hybrid-multicloud","tag-infrastructure","tag-sustainability"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30975"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31188,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30975\/revisions\/31188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}