IT industry today faces same issues that aggravated 1990s manufacturing: How can we take a cue from history?
Until the late 1990s, manufacturing reigned as the lifeblood of the global economy -- leading in productivity, employment, growth, and investments across all points of the world. However, once we neared the close of the 20th century, manufacturing found its Achilles heel in the compounded complexity accrued from outdated processes, an over-reliance on human labor that simply couldn’t meet its extreme needs, supply chain disruptions, and rising costs.
I fear that today, the information technology industry finds itself at all-too-familiar cross-roads. Why is this?
Despite the rapid emergence of generative AI and hybrid cloud, helping to drive innovation across a variety of business processes -- from customer care, to HR, Marketing and Sales -- these very same innovations are inadvertently introducing large-scale complexity that can diminish some, or all, of that new value. And if we look closely, the industry is exhibiting the same “symptoms” that manufacturing did a quarter century ago -- enterprises are concerned by complexity that is incrementally rising amid over-reliance on manual work, persisting skills shortages and a lack of visibility into steadily rising costs.
On top of this, we are seeing a massive surge in AI and cloud applications. Generative AI is projected to witness 1B applications by 2028, and public and private cloud services are projected to reach a staggering $219.3 billion by 2027 -- with on-prem/other investments accounting for another 30 percent. For perspective, enterprises typically use around 1,000 applications, each with multiple dependencies, and pulling in new data sources, to run their business and keep their employees and customers engaged and updated.
So, if you look closely, you’ll quickly realize that history is about to repeat itself.
But here’s the irony: this time around, the very component that is exacerbating complexity might be the key to solving it. Automation resuscitated the manufacturing industry once, and now AI capabilities will supercharge it to correct-course for IT. AI-driven automation can provide enterprises with a 360-degree view of IT resources -- anticipating downtime and correcting issues before they occur, driving more efficiency and reducing costs.
AI-driven automation technologies also enable leaders at organizations to manage their apps and data, and simplify their hybrid, multi-cloud environments. Today, over 80 percent of businesses use AI in operations -- and I believe this number is only going to grow in 2025 and beyond. Future success depends on how well leaders can address new problems and bring efficiency back to their IT operations and to their business.
The proof? Automation ended up saving the manufacturing industry. The manufacturing industry we’re witnessing today has doubled in value to $44.8 trillion -- a comeback story largely attributable to relentless commitment to automation and digital transformation. Manufacturers persistently searched for efficiency and focused on building resilience, opting for a “smart factory approach,” which uses capabilities like AI, automation and visual inspection.
We can use this as a roadmap to succeed in the future in IT. The worldwide interconnected nature of our industry can follow a similar path and use automation to drive efficiency, improve productivity and decrease costs.
Image Credit: Pop Nukoonrat / Dreamstime.com
Bill Lobig is Vice President, Product Management, IBM Automation.