“Normally, we wouldn’t think of tablets as life-saving equipment, but when emergency hospitals needed to be built during the Covid-19 outbreak, these devices and innovative infrastructure played a critical role,” says Yuanqing.
“In tough times, like the pandemic, it was new IT that kept us connected, productive, and engaged.“ He continues, “The public cloud became more popular by providing the flexibility, scalability, and on-demand accessibility that we needed at the time. But, many enterprise applications and data are still running and stored in private cloud or on-prem data centers. In fact, we will continue to see the co-existence of private, public, and hybrid cloud for compute, storage, and network needs.”
The identical Lenovo examine discovered that cloud, software program, and computing are key elements for the way forward for a hybrid work atmosphere, with 84% of respondents optimistic about the way forward for hybrid cloud.
5G networks allow innovation and suppleness: Connecting the important elements of a brand new IT structure requires quick, environment friendly, and customizable networking. The reply: 5G—the subsequent era of cell wi-fi voice and knowledge communication expertise. The 2022 Lenovo examine additionally discovered that 72% of CTOs see alternatives for his or her firms to make use of 5G multiaccess edge computing (MEC) much more with the demand for hybrid choices dominating the office. “The popular hybrid work model that many companies have adopted over the last three years is only possible with a high-speed network,” says Yuanqing.
AI instruments mimic human intelligence to resolve issues: By combining knowledge, computing energy, and complex algorithms, AI can deal with way more knowledge a lot quicker than a human employee, might be adjusted by customers to accommodate change, can assist customers be taught higher processes, and can assist anticipate dangers akin to price overruns, accidents, and upkeep wants. Using a number of AI applied sciences and optimized algorithms, Lenovo Research created new processes for its manufacturing facility that dramatically improved manufacturing planning processes, with some six-hour processes lower to 90 seconds. Lenovo estimates the AI answer improved order achievement by 20% and productiveness by 18%.
Consider {that a} single PC order will launch a sequence of complicated duties throughout a number of manufacturing traces, and requires alignment of hundreds of parameters, akin to worker schedules, supplies, manufacturing processes, and tools statuses. Lenovo’s largest manufacturing base for PCs, LCFC Electronics, processes as much as 690,000 orders per 12 months. While accounting for these large-scale calculations is a problem for folks, an AI engine can simply carry them out, and may flexibly make real-time changes for broad or granular aims. The AI answer’s autonomous studying capacity additionally means the extra it operates, the smarter it turns into. “This smart solution has also improved energy efficiency and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by thousands of tons a year,” says Yuanqing.
A glance to the long run
Technologies akin to sensible units, edge computing, cloud computing, 5G, and AI are facilitating a shift from info expertise to clever transformation. “New IT is shaping the future in many innovative ways,” says Yuanqing. “In the future, the objects you work on, the colleagues you work with, the environment you work in, and the outcome you deliver might all be real or virtual, ranging from AI assistants and digital twins to the metaverse.”
As all the time, whereas change surges forward, expertise executives should fastidiously contemplate the real-life outcomes of deploying new IT infrastructure. Security, compliance, and value requirements should nonetheless be upheld. “Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals must be a major consideration,” says Yuanqing. “In the future, every element of new IT architecture must incorporate ESG. When you assess the returns on innovation, it’s not just financial payback but also social impact.”
Learn extra about Lenovo’s Global CTO Study right here.
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