A Number of November Data Points
Like a traditional American Thanksgiving feast, this edition has a diversity of topics that span the IT stack. That's because modernizing IT requires a hard look at the full stack of technologies and business capabilities needed to thrive as a digital business.
It's also because everything is moving so fast right now. The pace of innovation out there is staggering at times, and it's hard for people who actually have to deliver things to take the time to learn. That's a common complaint - everyone agrees innovation is important, but no one has time for it. In some cases, ITDMs report that even if they had the time, they don't have the talent on staff.
I'm seeing low-code/no-code rising slowly but surely in response, because it can be force multiplier for innovation by eliminating a lot of toil associated with setting up new environments and learning new languages and frameworks and lets people experiment without a significant investment in time or money.
And what would you do if one of these newsletters didn't contain something about #cloud? Yeah, probably recognize I've been abducted by aliens and need help. Cloud is really kicking up a storm (pun intended) lately on all fronts (again, I meant that). Whether it's #security or costs or complexity, there's no conversation that cloud doesn't make itself a part of. It's kind of obnoxious like that.
Ope! Food's on! Get ready to feast!
The Numbers
Low-code/No-code
This first course comes to us to from WSO2 and Reprogramming the Enterprise, which surveyed more than 500 IT professionals, including IT decision-makers (ITDMs) and IT architects at organizations in the United States with 250 or more employees. They felt that was important enough to put in the report, so I'm sharing with you. This one really zeroed in on talent and innovation, noting that over half (51%) of ITDMs say the talent shortage of developers has had a negative impact on their business and nearly half (48%) reporting it has slowed the pace of innovation.
Have no fear! Low-code/no-code to the rescue! Among ITDMs whose teams use low-code or no-code tools, 69% implement new ideas within a few days or weeks. No word on the quality of those new ideas, but hey - at least they can also fail fast, right?
Cloud Security Maturity
Speaking of failing fast, a report from Ermetic on the State of Cloud Security Maturity 2022 found some disturbing trends. Like 80% of orgs do not have a dedicated cloud security team/lead. Who's in charge of cloud security? Thanks for asking. According to the data, 76% put IT/operations in charge of cloud security. Interestingly, in the entire list of roles managing cloud security, not one had security as part of their role/title.
Another troubling situation is the 52% suffering a lack of visibility. Not into traffic and attacks, but into the resources an identity can access and the permission level granted. That's a huge no-no if you want to actually adopt #ZeroTrust, which kind of requires you can identify resources and map access per identity.
Cloud Security
Not to be confused with cloud security maturity, Versa Networks produced its Cloud Security in 2022 report. I get that it's hard to name reports, but there are about a hundred gazillion "cloud security" reports out there at this point. There's got to be someone out there that doesn't let Google and SEO algorithms determine how they name things.
领英推荐
This one offers data points similar to those we've seen in the past so I'm not sharing them, but I will share this one as it's more relevant to today's macroeconomic conditions: nearly 60% of IT professionals said they have already noticed economic fluctuations having a large impact on budgets and staffing for cloud security, while 80% of them think organizations cut corners when it comes to protecting sensitive data that is stored in the cloud.?
Yeah, I just checked my digital wallet, too.
Network Observability
At least network visibility isn't nearly as problematic, according to an EMA report on Network Observability. It turns out the majority of NetOps are able to proactively detect at least 80% of problems before they impact the business, and about half of them are able to proactively remediate at least 80% of problems.?That's pretty good, huh? They must have some super tools at their disposal! Let's find out!
<scan scan scan> Uh, nope. Turns out NetOps must just be really good at what they do, because almost half (46%) believe the tools they're using have limited capabilities and less than half (47%) of the alerts network tools generate are actionable.?
Enterprise Architecture
Shout out to my architect readers! You can hide, but I know you're out there because SAP LeanIX found you earlier this year for its Enterprise Architects on IT Priorities in 2022 report.
Being somewhat fond of application delivery and security, which is always impacted by what's going on with apps and APIs, I found this data interesting, and not just because it validated my own opinions. Enterprise Architects identified addressing "technical debt" as their number one priority. So how are they going to address it?
What this confirms (as if it needed confirming) is that orgs don't always replace "monoliths" with "microservices." SaaS and just .. getting rid of it are both valid (and increasingly attractive) options.
That's a wrap!
And I do mean a wrap - like for the year. I traditionally take half of December off to discharge, recharge, and celebrate Christmas with my family and am doing so again this year. Which means between now and then there's isn't likely to be a lot of new research uncovered to share anyway. I know, I already had a great headline ready and December Data Dump just rolls of the tongue so nicely, but alas, it isn't meant to be.
So I'll see you in January, in the New Year, full of renewed snark and energy to dedicate to discovering and sharing all the data across the Internets.
Please, have safe and wonderful holidays and I wish you all the best in the new year to come and thanks so much for following along and reading!!