INDUSTRY

In this, the third update to Quocirca’s Grid Index, we can begin to see how trends across the world are building. This cycle also shows how companies that have the business and IT well aligned are better prepared for the future than those where the business takes a lesser role in IT decision making. Grid computing is firmly on the corporate radar, and both IT and the business are growing more aware of the difference approaches to Grid computing In earlier cycles, we have seen a growing awareness of Grid, either in the area of supercomputing or as an architectural approach within an infrastructure. We are now seeing organizations being able to differentiate between different styles of Grid computing – from discrete Grids through mainstream cluster Grids to hosted/utility and community Grids. The research indicates that this maturation of understanding will enable more rapid Grid implementations. The Grid indices have grown across the world In all theatres, the indices that are measured through the research show that organisations are better prepared for Grid computing, through foundation readiness, awareness and knowledge and adoption. Indeed, the adoption index is up by 30% on the previous cycle, showing a rapid growth in the usage of Grid environments. Knowledge and awareness has grown by 22% in the US, by 15% in Europe and 12% in APAC. Over 50% of respondents now see distributed Grid computing as “inevitable” or “very probable” The majority now see the utilization of Grid as an underlying architecture to support multiple different business processes as the way forwards. Less than 8% of respondents did not see Grid as a possibility within their organization. As in Cycle II, Adoption in North America is ahead of Europe, and the Asia Pacific region just behind Europe The overall Grid indices for North America, Europe and APAC were 5.8, 5.1 and 4.9 respectively. Foundation readiness remains highest overall in APAC, but is not being carried through into adoption of Grid technologies. At the adoption index level, North America leads Europe and APAC again, with scores of 3.9, 3.2 and 2.0 respectively. Organizations that acknowledge the need for a flexible, dependable infrastructure and who involve the business in IT decisions are strategically powerful Organizations where the business is fully involved with the IT decision making process are more satisfied with how IT supports their business, have a greater degree of IT spend on new projects, and have a much higher probability to be a growing company than those where the business is not involved. Whereas 68% of those with no business involvement in IT follow the standard rule where more than 75% of IT expenditure is being spent on maintenance, 42% of those with full business involvement have greater than 75% of IT expenditure being dedicated to new projects. Businesses see solid benefits in the utilisation of Grid technologies – and not just at a technology level 56% of respondents see Grid technologies as a definite enabler for IT to be more supportive of the business, with a further 34% seeing this as a possibility. 52% see the same technologies providing a means of removing the complexity of IT from the critical path in the business decision making process (with 34% seeing this as a possibility), so enabling the business to make faster, better decisions to react to market forces. 48% see Grid as definitely providing more robust systems (38% probably), with 47% seeing definite lower IT costs overall (31% probably). The road to Grid is there, but organisations still see hurdles ahead. 51% of respondents see the funding and ownership of Grids as a major or significant issue. 53% see identity management and authentication as a major or significant issue. 41% see the lack of maturity of Grid as a major issue. However, awareness of these issues is also leading organizations to seek to address them – and the vendor community must also help through education and through the provision of suitable solutions.