Fourth annual State of Application Delivery report shows rise of
multi-cloud architectures necessitating automation and
application-centric security approaches
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
F5
Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV)
today announced the results of its 2018 State
of Application Delivery report. The global customer survey shows
accelerating multi-cloud deployments are enabling organizations to
select the cloud platform that best meets the requirements of a specific
application. However, this also increases the challenges many companies
face in managing operations and security across multiple clouds as they
transform their application portfolio to compete in the digital economy.
“In this year’s report, respondents made clear they are heavily focused
on building the foundation necessary for application driven digital
transformation,” said Cindy Borovick, Business Intelligence Director at
F5. “As a result, many are moving toward multi-cloud environments that
will enable them to reinvent themselves as platforms for competitive
differentiation and innovation, helping create business success in the
digital economy.”
In its fourth year, the State
of Application Delivery report examines the vital role of
application services, enabling enterprises to deploy applications
faster, smarter, and safer. Over 3,000 IT, networking, application, and
security professionals from around the world weighed in on application
delivery topics ranging from public and private cloud and multi-cloud
adoption; to rising security challenges; to automation, orchestration,
and the future of enterprise application services.
Survey Highlights
Survey responses came from around the globe, spanning industries like
government, financial services, technology, and education. Respondents’
roles ranged from infrastructure, IT security, application development,
and DevOps to the executive suite. Key takeaways include:
-
Digital transformation inspires new architectures and IT
optimization initiatives: Optimizing IT infrastructure and
processes remains the primary driver for digital transformation
projects, according to 72 percent of respondents, while nearly half
said digital transformation is encouraging the delivery of
applications from the cloud (49 percent). Furthermore, 47 percent
stated that it is changing how they develop applications, and 41
percent reported exploring new application architectures such as
containers and microservices.
-
Multi-cloud enables the “best cloud for the app” strategy: Most
organizations pursue a best-of-breed strategy for each application
deployment, leading to multi-cloud architectures. Nearly nine in ten
respondents reported using multiple clouds (87 percent), with 56
percent saying cloud decisions are made on a per application basis.
-
Application services are the gateways to the future: On
average, organizations take advantage of 16 different application
services to keep their apps fast, safe, and available. Security is
still the most important application service, but gateway services
emerged as a critical need this year as IT organizations prepare for
the digital economy. Four of the top five services organizations plan
to deploy in the next 12 months are application gateway services,
including SDN, API, IoT and HTTP/2.
-
Security confidence falls as multi-cloud rises: Digital
transformation drives organizations to deliver more apps from the
cloud, yet organizational confidence to withstand an attack has taken
a hit due to lack of experience and expertise in securing applications
deployed in public clouds. In fact, this year 28 percent said
protecting applications is a top security challenge. This has led to
an increase in organizations deploying Web Application Firewalls
(WAFs), with 70 percent saying they have one deployed and another 19
percent planning to deploy in the next 12 months.
-
Automation and orchestration: Full steam ahead: IT is embracing
programmability—and standardizing on their automation and
orchestration environments—to realize leaner IT with the goal of
reducing OpEx. Nearly three in four (74 percent) of respondents
declare the use of automation in the operation of IT infrastructure to
be “somewhat” or “very” important. The majority (70 percent) are using
automation to realize leaner IT with the goal of reducing OpEx, while
over half (51 percent) are looking to scale to meet demand.
Additional Resources
About F5
F5 (NASDAQ:
FFIV) makes apps go faster, smarter, and safer for the world’s
largest businesses, service providers, governments, and consumer brands.
F5 delivers cloud and security solutions that enable organizations to
embrace the application infrastructure they choose without sacrificing
speed and control. For more information, go to f5.com.
You can also follow @f5networks on
Twitter or visit us on LinkedIn and Facebook for
more information about F5, its partners, and technologies.
F5 is a trademark or service mark of F5 Networks, Inc., in the U.S. and
other countries. All other product and company names herein may be
trademarks of their respective owners.
This press release may contain forward looking statements relating to
future events or future financial performance that involve risks and
uncertainties. Such statements can be identified by terminology such as
"may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes,"
"estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue," or the negative of
such terms or comparable terms. These statements are only predictions
and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in
these statements based upon a number of factors including those
identified in the company's filings with the SEC.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180116005302/en/
F5 Networks
Nathan Misner, 206-272-7494
n.misner@f5.com
or
WE
Communications
Holly Lancaster, 415-547-7054
hluka@we-worldwide.com
Source: F5 Networks