As we head into 2025, the technology landscape will undergo the most thrilling transformation yet. But with these advances come new challenges for business leaders. From runaway IT costs to the urgent need for a comprehensive AI strategy to drive sustainable business impact, executives must be prepared to navigate a complex and evolving environment.
Here, we take a deep dive into the top five trends that will define 2025 and provide insights on how to strategically manage these changes and drive success. We take a deep dive into the top five trends that will define 2025 and provide insights on how to strategically manage these changes and drive success.
Balancing cost and modernization – the tipping point
South African businesses are under tremendous pressure to manage and reduce IT costs, and business leaders find themselves in a tough position. Enterprises must balance these upward cost pressures with the urgent need for modernization while reducing operational complexity. These pressures are expected to reach a tipping point in 2025 due to unexpected cost increases and advances in generative AI. As a result, many companies are seriously considering their long-term IT strategy to address the rising costs of virtualized workloads, support both current and future needs, and manage IT operations in increasingly complex environments. I'm trying to find ways to streamline it. .
As we enter the new year, more organizations in South Africa are considering integrated management solutions like HPE VM Essentials. These enable you to manage kernel-based virtual machines (KVM) and VMware-based virtual machines from a single interface, reducing complexity and cost through efficient resource utilization and flexible consumption models.
Redefining the “why” behind cloud migration
Cloud repatriation will take center stage in 2025 as enterprises reevaluate their public cloud strategies. Rising costs and the need for better budget management are driving this trend. Many organizations are now choosing to strategically mix private and public cloud solutions to balance expenses and effectively manage resources. As a result, FinOps is becoming essential. The rapidly growing cloud FinOps market, predicted to reach nearly $40 billion by 2034, highlights the need for skills and resources in this space.
A key trend driving a return to the cloud is the increased focus on regulatory compliance, particularly in areas such as financial services. Around 42% of South African CEOs believe government regulation will reshape their businesses over the next three years. Concerns over recent public cloud outages and ransomware attacks have made businesses more conscious of the location and management of their data. Public cloud scenarios require organizations to rely on providers to recover data during outages, highlighting the need for greater control over data.
AI moves from conversations to clear use cases
A recent PwC survey revealed that more than half of South African CEOs interviewed expect generative AI to have a significant impact on their businesses within the next three years. However, nearly two-thirds believe it has not become widespread in the past year. This disconnect is causing frustration because while discussions about AI are happening in boardrooms, practical and impactful use cases are still lacking.
Identifying clear use cases and demonstrating tangible benefits to business units is essential to implementing AI more broadly within an organization. Without concrete evidence of how an AI project will improve revenue and revenue over the long term, it will be difficult to get the support needed from stakeholders who can champion the initiative.
As 2025 approaches, businesses need to focus on use cases that deliver tangible, sustainable results. For example, chatbots are a great way to improve customer experience and achieve rapid success. Similarly, AI-driven visibility and automation in IT operations provides organizations with the insights they need to speed up tasks and increase efficiency.
To accelerate adoption, companies will also look to pre-built AI systems that allow them to begin AI deployments without starting from scratch.
AI fuels edge computing boom
International Data Corporation predicts that global spending on edge computing will steadily increase and reach nearly $378 billion by 2028. This boom correlates with the rapid adoption of AI solutions, as certain applications require instant data analysis from IoT devices. For example, mining operations require critical decisions such as safety measures to be made quickly and based on real-time data. Processing this data at the edge is critical to avoid latency and performance issues, especially when the mine is located in the Kimberley and the headquarters is in Johannesburg. This trend toward edge computing will continue to grow as the need for instant insights increases.
Focus shifts to high-performance computing
The exascale era is here, and the supercomputer market is expected to grow by nearly 10% annually from 2024 to 2030. As data underpins most digital processes and applications, there is a growing need for powerful computing capabilities that can handle large amounts of data. . High performance computing (HPC) systems enable businesses to leverage their data for more advanced and complex workloads, gain new insights, and enable new applications to stay competitive. You can.
From a broader perspective, the increased development and use of AI models requires dedicated, highly efficient systems that enable a more sustainable approach. This technology has the potential to drive significant economic growth in markets like South Africa, but companies are not in a position to invest, and serious political will and investment in the strong infrastructure needed is needed. It will be required.
A good example is the UK's £300m investment in the Isambard-AI supercomputer, making the UK a leader in AI. This top-level supercomputer gives researchers access to the same advanced AI resources as the world's best supercomputers, paving the way for the next wave of scientific breakthroughs.
At the start of this new year, public and private sector leaders need to jump on the opportunities presented by cloud regression, high-performance computing, and edge computing to stay ahead of the curve. By investing in advanced technology and smart cloud management, you can drive innovation, increase operational efficiency, and stay competitive in a rapidly changing digital world.
From President Ntuli, Managing Director, HPE South Africa.
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