FEATURE : 2021 OUTLOOK services – all of which continue today . “ Hybrid cloud is the Fourth Platform and becoming ubiquitous – we ’ re seeing clients use about six different clouds for their business ,” he said .
Ratshefola said clients are realising business value advantage by adopting a consistent hybrid cloud platform approach versus a single public cloud . With that significant value advantage and deep investments in AI , IBM is positioned for long-term growth by bringing AI and emerging technologies like quantum and Blockchain to the hybrid cloud .
Ratshefola said if there is anything the COVID-19 pandemic has taught the IT industry , it ’ s the critical importance of technology solutions that enable speed , flexibility , insight and innovation . In fact , choosing which technology platforms power your business is the most consequential decision a business can make . Technology platforms are the basis for competitive advantage in the 21st century .
“ CIOs are looking to improve efficiencies in the midst of ever-increasing complexities . We believe that we have introduced solutions and services to help them navigate this year we will really be about expanding on this and helping them navigate new challenges and changing requirements ,” he said .
Ratshefola explained that CIOs are also looking to 5G and Edge Computing which can bring computation and data storage closer to where data is created and make it easier for companies to act on the insights it generates . and tools to play a greater role in software security . Ideally , those tools are best placed in their workflow , getting closer to their day-to-day activities until security is second-nature .”
For IBM , Ratshefola believes there is no point in companies evolving digitally without creating employment in the process . “ As such , challenges that
can be addressed more immediately relate to skills and creating a workforce equipped with skills for the future . For the better part of the last decade , a changing labour market and rising unemployment rates were heightened by ongoing concerns over the widening skills gap ,” he noted . “ The reality is that millions of workers will need to be retrained and reskilled as a result of AI in the next couple of years and this will be crucial for organisations of all sizes and across industries post-COVID-19 .” p
James Frost , Regional Director , MEA at Auth0
“ The challenge is to connect all of the different elements into a cohesive platform that enables agility and rapid delivery of new features and services . This is why we introduced new edge and telco network cloud solutions built on Red Hat Open Stack and Red Hat OpenShift . This now enable clients to run workloads anywhere – from any data centre to multiple clouds to the Edge ,” he said .
Matias Madou , co-founder and CTO , Secure Code Warrior , said : “ I believe that in 2021 and beyond , CIOs must focus on training people , rather than an over-reliance on security tools . Scanning tools and the like have their place in a DevSecOps process , for example , but security at speed is made possible by producing secure code in the first place . It ’ s kind of a “ humans vs . robots ” approach – the human element is often left out , when in fact automation is not getting the job done . Headlines uncovering new data breaches every other day are evidence of that .
“ We must get to a point where developers – those who touch code most – are given the knowledge
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