“I&O leaders must inventory all current virtualization implementations and any related interdependencies,” said Hewitt. “Evaluate alternative paths including hypervisors, hyperconvergence, distributed cloud, containerization, private cloud and devirtualization. Identify existing I&O skills and how those need to evolve to support top choices.”

Trend No. 2: Security Behavior and Culture Programs

As the sophistication and variety of attacks increases, security programs must evolve to address behavior and culture to optimize their effectiveness. Security behavior and culture programs (SBCPs) are enterprisewide approaches to minimize cybersecurity incidents associated with employee behavior.

SBCP programs result in improved employee adoption of security controls and reductions in behavior not considered secure. They enable I&O to help support the more effective use of cybersecurity resources by employees.

Trend No. 3: Cyberstorage

Cyberstorage solutions utilize a data harbor made up of data that is fragmented and distributed across multiple storage locations. The fragmented data can be instantly reassembled for use when needed.

Cyberstorage can be a dedicated solution with comprehensive features, a platform-native service offering with integrated solutions, or a collection of stand-alone products that augment storage vendors with cyberprotection capabilities.

“For cyberstorage to be successful, I&O leaders should identify the risks of costly and disruptive storage threats, combined with increasing regulatory and insurance expenses to build a business case for cyberstorage adoption,” said Hewitt.

Trend No. 4: Liquid-cooled Infrastructure

Liquid-cooled infrastructure consists of rear-door heat exchange, immersion and direct-to-chip. It enables I&O to support new chip generations, density and AI requirements, while also providing I&O opportunities to flexibly place infrastructure to support edge use cases.

“Liquid cooling has evolved to move from cooling the broader data center environment to getting closer and even within the infrastructure,” said Hewitt. “Liquid-cooled infrastructure remains niche today in terms of use cases but will become more predominant as next generations of GPUs and CPUs increase in power consumption and heat production.”

Trend No. 5: Intelligent Applications

Generative AI has revealed applications’ potential to operate intelligently, which has created the expectation for intelligent applications. Intelligent applications adapt to their user’s context and intent, thereby reducing digital friction. It can interoperate in pursuit of their own, as well as their users’ intents, by marshaling the appropriate interfaces to external APIs and connected data.

Ultimately, intelligent applications reduce required intervention and interactions on the part of I&O. It also optimizes processes and utilization while reducing resource overhead.

Trend No. 6: Optimal Infrastructure

Optimal infrastructure is when I&O teams place a highly significant emphasis on the best infrastructure choices for a given use case across a range of deployment styles. This approach utilizes a business-based focus so that executives outside of IT can understand why infrastructure choices are made from their perspectives.

“These choices are ultimately aligned with platform engineering adoption,” said Hewitt. “They allow I&O to align infrastructure choices with the business objectives of the overall organization. They also facilitate the support and approval of business unit leaders and C-level executives.”