The month of October means one thing for us at Lynchpin Media, and for many in the IT space: GITEX. As this major Middle East technology event draws closer, we prepare to discuss industry trends, product launches and IT developments with regional executives and decision-makers from some of the most influential companies on the planet.
GITEX is an opportunity for us to help spread messages more widely and ensure tech leaders are better able to communicate with their intended audience, as well as their industry peers. Whether it’s via roundtable discussions, in-person interviews or catching up over a coffee, we hear from those who are paving the way for innovation and contributing to Digital Transformation initiatives.
In collaboration with the event, we have produced a market research report to better understand technology investment and the regional landscape. To obtain these key insights, we surveyed 150 C-level executives to explore digital technology strategies and future priorities.
‘Infrastructure’ is one of the three chapters underpinning the report and the results of the survey enabled us to gain a more comprehensive understanding of long-term infrastructure plans, as well as how respondents prioritise infrastructure partners. The results showed a significant reliance on traditional infrastructure models, with 38% still using legacy or on-site client server setups.
As part of the survey, we were curious to find out more about infrastructure investment in the long-term. The findings revealed that the majority of C-level contributors will be investing in hybrid, whilst there was a balance between multi-cloud (32%) and on-premise investment (32%).
Security and governance concerns proved to be the biggest inhibitor to infrastructure modernisation – with 20% of votes – while closely followed was management buy-in (19%). Cost/budget constraints, however, received 0% of the vote which is a positive result.
The most important considerations for selecting an infrastructure partner, according to those surveyed, revealed an industry trend prioritising technical competence over cost – as technology skills and number of skilled resources received a combined total of 42% of the vote. This suggests long-term resiliency and expertise are key considerations when selecting an infrastructure partner.
Aside from the report, we are also planning the return of our awards evening – Intelligent ICT Awards Middle East – which we’re bringing back to the stage for a second year. The event aims to recognise the most transformative and defining companies and individuals in IT and I’m particularly looking forward to welcoming data centre innovators to hear how they are shaping the future of the Middle East data centre market.
