Speak to any CIO or CTO and if they are technically minded (not all are, perhaps to the surprise of some readers) common threads swiftly emerge: There’s desire to free software from custom hardware, ending “lock-in” often via the containerisation of applications and the use of Kubernetes; “a powerful way to create virtual data centers quickly and efficiently” and improving the efficiency of data centres (think PUE through to FinOps.)
There's the shift to break software up; moving from monoliths to microservices, with enterprises containerising more and more of their applications, then creating platform engineering teams to serve reusable components and platform resources to the developers delivering them.
There’s the move to create more API-centric ways of connecting systems, including for greater visibility into AI use and control over its costs; there’s the drive to consolidate the tools that developers, security teams and non-technical staff alike use; to make greater use of data stuck in “siloes” (technical: think spreadsheets, databases, or paper; or organisational: lines of business hogging datasets over privacy or other concerns).
Then, of course, there's the top-level pressure to drive organisational innovation whilst using tech to help take out cost in a volatile world.
