IT resilience
Now more than ever, organisations rely on their IT systems. More and more organisations are moving their on-premises systems to the cloud and engaging in digital transformation projects.
With the ever-increasing reliance on technology, organisations are progressively developing an IT resilience strategy to ensure they are protected while digitally transforming and modernising.
What is an IT resilience strategy?
An IT resilience strategy helps organisations withstand IT disruptions, and gives them the confidence to safely adopt new technologies, without causing disruptions when they are implemented and rolled-out. There are two main drivers for creating an IT resilience strategy:
1. Moving systems from on-premises to the cloud
2. Digital transformation.
Moving systems from on-premises to the cloud
Rightscale 2019 states that 84% of organisations have a multi-cloud strategy and 58% have a hybrid cloud strategy – combining the benefits of on-premises IT and the flexibility of the public cloud with its up-to-date software, scalability and possibilities for innovation.
The cloud has been increasing in popularity for many years now. However, Covid-19 and the impact of staff being forced to work from home, and in many cases, rely on access to on-premises applications, has been a catalyst for creating increased interest in cloud technologies. Many organisations have realised the challenges in quickly enabling large-scale remote working and access to critical applications, that often reside on-premises.
Gartner’s Craig Lowery, Vice President Analyst, says “The effort to maintain operations during the Covid-19 pandemic puts cloud computing at centre stage for many organisations. The resilience of the cloud is on display like never before. In general, the move that we’ve made as an industry toward more cloud-based services with an emphasis on scalability, reliability, distribution across zones and regions – that value proposition is really shining.”
Most organisations are planning or in the middle of a digital transformation project. IDC predicts that direct digital transformation investment spending will approach $1.97 trillion in 2022.
Digital transformation improves business efficiency, enables new business models for driving revenue growth, and helps organisations to maintain a competitive edge. At the same time, society and workers are expecting more and more from digital technology, forcing organisations to innovate further, adopt cloud technology and increase the speed to market of new applications.
Adopting the cloud technology that is the foundation of digital transformation comes with its own challenges.
What are the challenges created from cloud migration and digital transformation?
Migrating to the cloud and digital transformation both involve cloud adoption, which can create disruptions and IT downtime. For example, applications may not run on the new system, or an operator error can lead to application issues. Migrations can also be time-consuming and create outages that negatively affect critical applications and systems.
An IDG study confirmed that for more than a quarter of organisations, migrations took between 25 and 100 hours, while one-sixth reported experiencing migrations that took more than 100 hours. Moreover, 44% of these organisations reported outright migration failures, most often due to applications that did not run on the new system.
The value of IT resilience
These drivers show the potential for disruption if an organisation doesn’t have a robust IT resilience strategy in place that protects core systems and applications and prevents issues before they occur. From pandemics and natural disasters to cyber-attacks and cloud migration challenges, it’s critical to develop an IT resilience approach to maintain always-on systems and protect your organisation’s data.
If you would like to understand more about your options for enabling robust IT resilience, read our Azure disaster recovery guide, and discover how you can help your organisation to act and react to unforeseen IT events. Alternatively, visit our business continuity hub, where you can access a wide range of helpful resources.