A Gartner survey of 2,600 CIOs worldwide found that CIOs are already spending 18 percent of their budget in support of digitalisation and that this number will increase to 28 percent by 2018.
Given the scale of this opportunity and the impact it will have on businesses of all types and sizes, NetApp hosted a panel session as part of its UK Backup as a Service (BaaS) launch. The discussion, alongside partners Daisy and Node4, focused on how customers’ digitisation needs are driving change in how IT services are delivered.
Opening the event and providing an overview of the topic at hand, digital transformation, Matt Watts, Director, Technology and Strategy EMEA, NetApp said: “We are seeing a pace of change that we have never seen before. Customers expect more from partners and vendors and we need to understand how we offer broader services that meet the needs of the market. Furthermore, data is now the only asset of lasting value for many companies. Data is the currency of the digital economy and NetApp is the company that manages and protects the world’s data.”
Nathan Marke, Chief Digital Officer, Daisy Group added: “Customers want to transform into digital businesses but find it hard to focus on innovation due to the complexity of the IT environments they run today. Demands for 24x7 operations, raised levels of cyber threats, the sheer pace of technology change and the need to do more with less add to the day to day challenges of running legacy systems and holding onto good skills. Customers need partners who can help to free them up from this complexity by delivering the digital foundations essential for their business to succeed. Our NetApp powered DRaaS solution is a great example of a solution that removes complexity and allows our customers more time to unleash their creative talents on figuring out digital.”
Discussing the impact of digitisation on SMEs, Steve Denby, Head of Solutions Sales, Node4 said: “The service-based delivery model removes a barrier for SMEs to becoming an enterprise. The digital agility through DevOps enables businesses to get products to market. This is where companies such as Uber and Air BnB have come from. We can now give smaller players the same tools as the multi-national corporations they are competing with, and we see what impact they can register on the market.”
Watts summarised the discussion with some closing remarks: “The channel is changing. We will continue to work with traditional resellers but also those partners who are becoming service providers in their own right. Customers have traditionally been builders and operators, but they want service providers that will be their broker of service to successfully deliver on the promises of digital transformation.”
