What 2022 May Have in Store

With the new year looming, we took a look into our crystal ball to see what 2022 may have in store:

• “The Great Resignation” spells more trouble for IT organizations as the biggest rise in quitting is among mid-career people aged 30-45 and the largest number of resignations is in tech. This has worsened the IT skills gap and increased the importance of having partners you can trust to fill the needs and keep the business running. Having one multi-vendor services provider be able to diagnose exactly what’s wrong and coordinate remote or in-person maintenance, regardless of hardware type, will become more universally essential for IT leaders in 2022. 

• Supply chain issues will continue through 2022.  This will impact the timely availability of new storage, server, and network infrastructure for data centers.  Enterprise organizations will see the extension of project timelines and will require maintenance and support for existing infrastructure for longer than expected or budgeted for.

• The rise of the metaverse will take place over time, but its potential will start to impact forward-thinking CIOs in 2022 as they rethink the role of data centers they control vs. increasing reliance on cloud hyperscalers. Extending the useful life of their existing infrastructure will take on new importance as they grapple with strategic evolution. 

• The greening of IT is another long-term proposition but progress will ramp up significantly in 2022. Microsoft is committing to a 95% reduction in water use in its data centers by 2024.  Waste reduction is a focus for CDS and we help customers ensure that less than 1% of waste goes to landfill sites during consolidation and decommissioning of data center assets.  At CDS HQ, we generate 75% of our own electricity through our solar panels.  

• Organizations will need to pivot from focusing on remote working and workforce enablement back to wider modernization initiatives. While IT budgets are likely to increase for the first time in years, organizations will be constrained by talent availability.     

• OEMs -- the leading storage, server and networking vendors -- will increasingly conclude that the counter-productive business practices of third-party maintenance providers (TPMs) work against their long-term interests. IBM’s Kyndryl spinoff is the latest major move to regain account control and extend customer relationships. Unlike the TPM industry, CDS has staked a future in partnership with these OEMs on true multi-vendor services that serve the best interests of customers and the innovators whose technology populates their data centers.