The use of hybrid multi-cloud models in Singapore is forecast to triple over the next one to three years as IT decision makers are facing new pressures to modernise IT infrastructures because of drivers like AI, security, and sustainability, according to Nutanix.
The latest Enterprise Cloud Index report from Nutanix found that security and innovation were the top drivers for moving applications from one environment to another over the past year.
Vanson Bourne conducted research on behalf of Nutanix in December 2023, surveying 1,500 IT and DevOps/Platform Engineering decision-makers across North and South America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA); and the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region.
As AI takes centre stage for businesses, Singapore respondents identified increasing investments to support AI strategy as their No. 1 priority. This is aligned with the top priority of global ECI respondents, as well as the Singapore government’s efforts to turn the nation into a global AI hub.
“Organisations around the world are facing ever-increasing pressure to modernise their IT infrastructure quickly, and Singapore is no exception,” said Ho Chye Soon, Nutanix country manager in Singapore.
Ho said data management remains a challenge across the nation, particularly as enterprises seek to leverage AI, improve cybersecurity, and achieve sustainability goals.
“This year’s ECI underscores the pivotal role of hybrid multi-cloud in addressing the diverse needs of modern Singapore organisations, and we expect more enterprises to transition towards this infrastructure model for greater flexibility and improved performance,” he added.
Findings for Singapore also show that hybrid multi-cloud infrastructure deployments will become an infrastructure standard.
Almost all (99%) of Singapore organisations are taking a “cloud smart” approach to their infrastructure strategy — leveraging the best environment (such as data centre, public cloud, edge) for each of their applications. This is higher than an already significant global average of 90%.
Among Singapore respondents, 83% believe their organisation benefits most from a hybrid environment encompassing both public and private clouds. As a result, this is now becoming an executive priority, with nearly half of respondents noting that implementing hybrid IT is a top priority for their CIO.
Also, AI is a key driver of infrastructure modernisation, as Singapore organisations look to manage modern applications and data growth. A significantly higher number of Singapore organisations (60%) cited implementing AI strategies as a top priority for their CIO, compared to APJ (48%) or global respondents (45%). 89% of Singapore organisations plan to increase investment in this area.
However, important challenges remain to be addressed — more than two-fifths of Singapore respondents believe that running AI applications (40%) as well as managing applications and data (43%) on their current IT infrastructure will be a significant challenge.
Ransomware protection is also top of mind for both CXOs and practitioners but most Singapore organisations continue to struggle in the wake of attacks.
Nearly all Singapore organisations (97%) recognise that they could improve their ransomware protection stance, with 33% planning to significantly increase investment in this area throughout this year.
As Singapore organisations seek equilibrium driven by security and innovation, application and data movement remains a complex challenge.
Security and innovation are the top drivers for this movement in Singapore, similar to APJ and globally. Firms face significant roadblocks when it comes to executing complex application migrations, with 41% of Singapore organisations saying workload and application migration is a significant challenge given their current IT infrastructure — higher than the global average of 35%.
Further, local IT teams aren’t just planning their sustainability programs, they are actively implementing them. In Singapore, 92% of firms agree that sustainability is a priority for their organisation, much higher than the global average of 88%.
Moving forward, 76% of Singapore respondents plan to increase investments in sustainability efforts and technologies this year.
