IDG Study: Focus on cloud computing

Decision makers in the DACH region have recognised how important their IT infrastructure is to business success. This is one of the findings of the IDG Study entitled “IT Modernisation 2021: The Environments are Being Updated” (German language version only). The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the contribution that a robust and flexible infrastructure can make to a company’s resilience. At the same time the study confirms a trend which became apparent in the IT Infrastructure Study published by Datwyler back in 2020: businesses are focusing increasingly on cloud computing.

According to the IDG Study around 60 percent of German companies see cloud computing as an answer to the challenges they are facing. Managing directors in particular want to move at least some applications and infrastructure services to the cloud. This trend will be accelerated by the fact that management has actually recognised the need for IT modernisation. However, the study also shows that they still take too narrow a view of the benefits and added value of IT modernisation: for 40 percent of decision makers it is primarily a matter of cutting costs.

More agile and more competitive
Not enough attention is paid to the fact that a flexible IT environment plays a crucial role in becoming more agile and competitive. Platform-as-a-Service offerings not only help to cut costs. They also result in businesses being able to set up development and test environments more rapidly, thus speeding up project implementation.

The pandemic confirms the critical role played by a reliable technology base in the success of a business and its processes. “Businesses should persist in continuing to implement their digital infrastructures, processes and business models,” says Johannes Müller, CEO of Datwyler IT Infra. “We anticipate that they will move their investments further towards cloud computing and hybrid cloud, but that, as before, great importance will be attached to data centre renewal.” For the existing IT systems must also meet the requirements of digital business models.

Modernisation means that businesses therefore need partners who can offer them comprehensive IT infrastructure solutions comprising hardware, software and services, so as to support them with tailor-made solutions along each step of the way.