Findings show ongoing need for modernization based on comprehensive content governance and hybrid IT/cloud environments
ASG Technologies, a leading provider of solutions for the information-powered enterprise, unveiled a new report, What’s Slowing Modernization? Barriers Hindering Enterprise IT Systems and Content Management. Based on findings from a survey of approximately 250 professionals who manage content and enterprise IT systems, the report highlights the importance of a clear path toward modernization that prioritizes content governance and hybrid infrastructure that supports digital acceleration.
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While we live in a modern age, surprisingly few enterprises have completely modernized their technology infrastructure. Many have taken on digital transformation projects or leveraged leading-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, however much of their content management and IT systems still operate on decades-old principles. Increasing remote work and the complexities of an ever-changing regulatory environment now demand modernization of information rich processes and the systems they run upon. Organizations can accelerate their modernization efforts by prioritizing content governance and hybrid infrastructures spanning mainframe to cloud.
The key findings of the report show:
The Value of Content Remains Unrealized – Organizations today know that information is their most valuable asset, but the majority – 56% – are struggling to realize the full value of their content. Much of this has to do with the amount of unstructured data organizations own – three-quarters (75%) of survey respondents stated that at least some of their organization’s data is unstructured, with 44% responding that unstructured data makes up half or more of their organization’s information.
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Thirty percent of respondents note that most, if not all, of their data is “dark,” which means that it has been collected, processed and stored, but not classified and contextualized for use. Only 26% of respondents noted that their content is managed in a repository, while 32% reported that content still exists in paper files.
Content Governance Will be a Key to Success – Despite the importance of realizing the full value of information, two-thirds (66%) of respondents reported that their organization does not have modern content governance processes. With the move to remote work, modern content governance has become even more important for organizations, but is often a struggle to put into practice, as showcased by the top barriers to implementation, which include employees saving content on shared/personal drives (41%) and migrating to the cloud (38%).
The accelerated shift to remote work exacerbated many of the issues organizations were facing, with more than one-third struggling with storing content for too long (37%), limiting control and access to the right people (35%) and retaining redundant/unnecessary information (35%).
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Three in ten respondents identified risk of non-compliance with industry regulations and 26% identified risk of non-compliance with privacy regulations as a key concern related to content governance.
The Mainframe is Still Modern – While many organizations are prioritizing cloud, the mainframe is still the backbone of many industries, with 49% of respondents noting that most, if not all, of their core business functions still run on the mainframe. As such, modernizing the mainframe is critical – and many have already begun the process.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents say that their organization has already adopted DevOps on the mainframe, and another 30% want to.
Thirty-five percent of respondents believe the biggest challenge with their mainframe performance/optimization is increasing workloads on the mainframe due to increased engagement from distributed and cloud systems, while more than one-quarter (27%) of respondents say the skills gap is the biggest challenge with their mainframe performance.
Hybrid Infrastructure Becomes Mainstream – Mainframe is still at the core of many organizations’ core business functions, but hybrid cloud has emerged as the IT infrastructure of the future, with 67% of respondents noting that they have a hybrid cloud infrastructure. Fifty-two percent of respondents say their organizations have a hybrid cloud ecosystem that includes the mainframe, and another 34% want one that does.
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Hybrid cloud has allowed more than two-thirds (68%) of organizations to move most, if not all, of their commodity workloads and applications from the mainframe to the cloud, while keeping systems of records that provide a competitive advantage – like customer data and business IP – on the mainframe.
Seventy-five percent of respondents replied that capacity flexibility is the reason they are moving workloads to the cloud, while other respondents note that it is because the cloud offers better performance for certain workloads that aren’t as mission-critical (70%) or better access with remote work (43%).
“The COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst for digital transformation for many enterprises,” said Kyle McNabb, senior vice president, product marketing at ASG. “Organizations were forced to quickly invest in tools that would allow them to enable and support remote teams, which sped up investments in solutions like hybrid cloud and team collaboration by years. The unintended consequence is it also introduced new business and technology challenges and risks that cannot be overlooked. Leaders of firms, and CIOs in particular, must accelerate their modernization efforts to embrace new ways of working, complex privacy and regulatory demands, and infrastructures spanning mainframe to cloud.”
For more details on these findings, please download the complete What’s Slowing Modernization? Barriers Hindering Enterprise IT Systems and Content Management survey here. You can also check out this video, which highlights key data points.
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