IBM is one of the oldest companies in the IT industry, and they have become pioneers in the field. As pioneers, they are always leading the market towards huge transformations and revolutionary trends. IBM will introduce a glimpse of the next transformational era: the cognitive era. Cognitive technology means the ability of IT infrastructure to understand data, learn from it, and deliver insights almost instantly. This technology is empowering businesses to become innovators and disruptors, while also making IT leaders the architects of the future. According to a recent survey by the premier global provider of market intelligence, IDC, 41% of line-of-business leaders see IT as an innovation-focused department. However, when asked, 41% of IT leaders saw themselves as operators, rather than innovators. But I know, from speaking to them in person, that they want to be the latter. And they're expected to be. IT leaders' role goes beyond simply managing operations and keeping systems online. In the cognitive era, they have the ability to think in new ways, disrupt current client business models to solve their problems, and exploit opportunities to drive the business forward. According to IDC, Egypt is increasingly being exposed to a new wave of disruptive technologies that present incredible opportunities to drive innovation and value creation across all facets of the organisation. The single most important competency required to thrive in this new digital economy is the ability to rapidly respond to changing conditions within the ecosystem in which the organisation resides. The ultimate aim must be to deliver a compelling customer experience that seamlessly blends the digital and the physical worlds. A key enabler for digital transformation is cognitive technology which is enabling the IT department to act with more intelligence, agility, and efficiency when creating critical business applications and services. Ultimately, IT leaders are the architects of the way businesses now need to serve customers, but they need the right tools, which IBM does efficiently. To become a cognitive business, you need IT infrastructure that combines two company strengths: its growing business in intelligent analytics and its mature position in powerful computing hardware. And to make this happen, your business must think differently about how systems are designed, built, and delivered.
So what does cognitive-centric infrastructure look like? It should be built through collaborative innovation, whereby a team works together to share ideas and create the best outcome faster than an individual mind could. Collaboration has already shown itself to be the most effective way to accelerate breakthroughs in technology. Cognitive infrastructure is also designed to capture the largest volume and variety of data, and efficiently locate data and applications in the right place. What's more, the infrastructure is accessed on the cloud where you can maximise the worth of data and systems. Teams can log in remotely and collaborate in one single space. Existing infrastructure can also be integrated with the new ecosystem to create a hybrid platform that makes use of past investments. There's more to cognitive infrastructure, but these elements are at its core. What you now need to find out is whether your organisation is prepared to become cognitive, IBM will help you transform your business towards reaching the cognitive era. Cognitive is more than a passing trend. It is a new era for enterprises. With it, you can be the architect of your organisation's future, and transform the business into an intelligent machine that never stops thinking, learning, and advancing. Miguel Vega is vice president of hardware sales at IBM Systems for the Middle East and Africa
