Navigating the Horizon of Digital Transformation in 2024

As the digital-first initiative continues to gain momentum globally, the realm of digital transformation (DX) is poised to carve deeper inroads into the fabric of businesses and industries by 2024. A recent forecast by IDC in Korea projects a significant uptick in DX investments, accounting for a 65% increase among all anticipated ICT investments by the year’s end.

This burgeoning era of digitalization sees companies positioning DX as a cornerstone of their strategic agenda, ushering in a wave of emerging digital trends. We are poised to delve into three pivotal digital trends identified by Equinix, shedding light on the critical definitions of DX/DT that are quintessential for steering the digital transformation narrative forward.

What is digital transformation?

Diving into what digital transformation really means, it’s more than just adding new technologies to the mix. Digital Transformation (DX/DT) reshapes a company’s business model, culture, and operations through digital tech. It’s about changing how an organization functions from the top down, as Isaac Sacolic highlights in ‘Driving Digital’. He defines it as leveraging digital innovation to rethink business strategies and boost revenue, not just about using new tech.

In essence, digital transformation is about making innovative changes that lead to better revenue and more efficient operations, alongside evolving business strategies. It’s an innovation-focused journey, enabling companies to stay competitive and continuously improve.

Digital Trends Forecast for 2024

Earlier, we briefly looked at the definition of DX. So what are the main trends in digital transformation associated with 2024? To find an answer, let’s take a closer look at three digital trends announced by Equinix below.

Private AI

The first digital trend to be introduced is private AI. Private AI refers to AI systems that companies independently operate and manage. It aims to create a customized environment for companies to make the most of AI’s potential. To maximize the value of AI models, reliable data sources, utilization of appropriate models, and protection from potential risks are essential. Therefore, companies are considering these factors by building a proprietary AI environment, Private AI.

In addition, private AI plays a very important role in data security and privacy. In particular, as companies greatly contribute to digital transformation (DX/DT) through AI technology, it is expected to continue to be introduced and spread.

XaaS(Anything as a Service)

The second digital trend to be introduced is XaaS (system as a service). XaaS means anything as a service. It refers to many products, tools, and technologies provided as services through the network (mainly the Internet). Among the various examples, the previously introduced cloud computing model (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS) is the most representative example of XaaS.

XaaS is simplifying the deployment and use of services to accelerate the implementation of digital services in an enterprise. Digital services quickly provide new capabilities in the XaaS ecosystem and can be quickly scaled up and contracted according to business needs. Thus, in such an environment, enterprises can benefit from cost savings and faster innovation. Meanwhile, an IDC report predicts that 65% of customers will use XaaS to leverage IT services and equipment by 2026. The adoption of XaaS is expected to continue to increase.

Compare cloud services, discover the differences between SaaS/PaaS/IaaS

liquid cooling technology

The last digital trend to introduce is liquid cooling technology. Liquid cooling technology is an innovative way to improve data center efficiency, rack density, and cooling performance, which can handle data center-generated heat much more effectively than traditional air cooling methods. According to a Gartner report, liquid cooling can effectively conduct more than 3000 times more heat with far less energy than air cooling.

In particular, water cooling is emerging as an alternative as advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computers reveal the limitations of traditional air-cooling methods. With the rise of Generative AI, GPU servers that require high power and high heat are operating on a large scale, and liquid cooling is emerging as a major challenge for data centers. Recently, Dell Technologies Korea signed a business agreement with SK Enmove to promote the data center liquid cooling business, and liquid cooling is expected to become the basic requirement when Nvidia releases next-generation GPUs, raising interest in water cooling methods.

In addition, liquid cooling, which is divided into direct-to-chip and backdoor heat exchange (RDHx), uses liquids to lower the temperature, but the equipment does not actually get wet. In contrast, immersion cooling, which really precipitates nonconductive liquids, is a trend that combines liquid cooling technologies to advance solutions. Therefore, the data center industry has recently been actively developing and testing water cooling technologies, including liquid cooling and immersion cooling.

Here’s a brief summary of three digital trends for 2024. As you can see, these emerging trends with the advancement of AI and cloud technology are driving the digital transformation. Therefore, companies planning digital transformation should actively consider introducing AI and cloud.

Aligning with the accelerating pace of digital transformation, Elice is at the forefront, offering a GPU cloud service designed to empower businesses on their digital transformation journey. Elice Cloud brings the power of GPUs, essential for AI education and research, into the cloud environment at competitive pricing. Additionally, Elice has developed a server farm capable of supporting over 1,000 users concurrently, providing access to some of the world’s leading GPUs.

For companies poised to integrate AI at the digital transformation (DT) level, Elice’s GPU cloud service offers a robust platform to kickstart AI research and development swiftly. Elice enables businesses to seamlessly incorporate AI and cloud technologies, key pillars of digitalization, into their strategies.

Easy and reliable Elice Cloud

We’ve explored the essence of digital transformation and highlighted three emerging digital trends. Extending this discussion, we’re excited to introduce the Elice GPU Cloud as a pivotal tool for achieving DT. The Elice Cloud offers an array of resources crucial for AI education, research, and service development, including machine learning APIs, R&D environment allocation, and access to high-performance GPUs/NPUs at an affordable cost. This platform is invaluable for anyone looking to engage in AI-driven digital transformation. For further details, please visit the link provided below.

AI project environment that starts right away, Elice project

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