Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 64 | Page 19

TRENDING

HOW 5G , IOT , AI / ML AND REMOTE WORK WILL CONTINUE PUSHING DATA CENTRES FORWARD IN 2022

Remote working has single-handedly modernised the workspace for the foreseeable future as employees and employers alike adopt new technologies and approaches to keep things moving at the rate technology is progressing . Ehab Kanary , CommScope Infrastructure EMEA , Emerging Markets Sales VP , touches upon 5G , IoT , cloud migration , reliance on AI and ML , hybrid work and the move to 400 / 800 gigabit networks . We explore how these trends are impacting the data centre space .

In 2022 , we will see a continuation of last year ’ s trends impacting data centres , especially since the COVID pandemic and its consequences have continued to have a greater impact on our lives than we anticipated at the beginning of 2021 . All the trends we highlighted last year have taken place : we predicted that 5G rollouts would have an impact on the data centre – even as 4G investment remains relevant – and data centres have continued gearing up for the impact .

We also saw an acceleration in migration to the cloud , and more Edge data centres are being built . IoT and ‘ smart everything ’ is driving the move to the cloud , and IoT use will continue to skyrocket . Reliance on AI ramped up to process increasingly large amounts of data for latency-sensitive applications . Finally , adoption of single-mode fibre accelerated because of the need to process more data more quickly . and capability into 5G deployment plans . In terms of its impact on the data centre , 5G promises faster access to information and that will drive more Edge data centre buildouts . More and more data are latency-sensitive and requires faster access , therefore , what we ’ re seeing is the migration from large core , small Edge data centre architecture to smaller core , larger Edge architecture .
Cloud core 5G will expand data centre builds significantly in private companies . If you can build private 5G based on cloud architecture with local radios in the cloud , that ’ s a very data-intensive , latency-sensitive application and that will drive growth in data centres and Edge data centres as well . This trend will start in 2022 , but it will also rollout over several years as businesses work out getting the right to use 5G spectrum from carriers .
IoT will continue to skyrocket
Most people had expected to be back in hybrid work environments by mid-2021 , but we ’ re still largely using remote work styles . In fact , we may likely see remote work becoming a permanent work style for many .
Let ’ s look at these trends more closely .
5G will continue to ramp up
IoT growth shows no signs of slowing . In fact , according to Statista , the number of IoT devices worldwide will almost triple from 8.74 billion in 2020 to more than 25.4 billion in 2030 . We foresee ongoing strong business investments in IoT . Managers are looking more closely at how they can run their businesses better – optimising shipping , for example – and putting sensors in the right places can help with that effort .
Service providers and private companies will continue to evaluate the most pragmatic ways to add capacity
When it comes enabling the IoT and smart things , everything comes back to data . If you think about all
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