Asia Pacific will continue to be a hotbed for the adoption and use of technology as markets expand on increasing demand and modernization in the new year, finds an Ovum research.
In an analysis, the firm noted that trends such as lack of skilled IT talents, continuing consumerization of IT, a shift in security responsibility, and the adoption of cloud computing will carry on into 2011.
The shortage of skilled IT manpower continues to plague companies in the region. The research firm believes that while the push for IT projects to improve business capabilities will continue to increase, the lack of talents may put stress on the pace of these developments.
"Ovum expects technology vendors to invest heavily in efforts to drive educational capabilities that align with the technology they provide", said senior analyst Adam Jura. "This is expected to include closer partnerships with tertiary education providers, certification programmes, and direct educational facilities."
It observed that an increasing number of global delivery networks are focused on increasing asset utilization to promote overall productivity and "reduce reliance on labor".
Vertical-specific projects will continue to drive significant investments in IT across the region, creating demand for business-fluent technology vendors, the analysis found. "Projects such as smart grid in the utilities industry, e-health in the healthcare industry, constituent engagement in government, and transportation infrastructure projects will combine to form a significant portion of IT investment across the region," added Jura.
Cisco's S+CC solution will be "increasingly demanded as individual industry participants look to recoup significant project costs from other aligned industries," according to Ovum.
The increasing adoption of smartphone usage for work "will force IT departments to move away from a traditional centralized approach of 'command and control' to a more flexible architecture that supports a wider variety of non-standard devices," Ovum commented. However, with this convenience comes the increased risk of loss of data, together with a widespread use of social media, mobile devices and the "enterprise app store" that will continue to disrupt IT strategies.
In terms of security, the research firm believes the shift of accountability away from IT departments to technology and end-users may happen. As such, IT executives will continue to be "more reactive than proactive" when it comes to areas such as securing end-points.
Cloud adoption to reach new heights
"In that sense, IT departments will increasingly need to be able to live with a degree of uncertainty in their IT security, particularly as alternative delivery models such as public cloud computing are adopted with increasing fervor," advised Adam Jura.
With this, Ovum advised that vendors will continue to push out better offerings toward specific clientele.
"A focus on the location of data centers providing public cloud offerings will be critical, particularly for those vendors targeting government and financial clients. Private cloud will remain the top priority," the analysis stated.
As enterprises better understand the impact of cloud computing technology on their businesses, the firm believes that "breakthrough" partnerships will emerge. "Risk and change management for cloud engagements will continue to be demanded as enterprises make the transition from onsite to cloud solutions," commented principal analyst Jens Butler.
In a latest research commissioned by Fujitsu, early adopters of cloud technology have had a mostly positive experience. CIOs and IT managers said they observed an average of 24 to 40 percent cost savings, while 71 percent of those that achieved savings said it met or exceeded their expectations.
The research also highlighted that organizations have invested in private cloud ownership. But to get the twin advantages such as pay-as-you-go flexibility, organizations are using shared community clouds.
