Ironically, there is too much focus on cloud strategies, and too little on the architecture requirements, to make the cloud investment worthwhile, says Teraco’s business development manager Michele McCann. “Very few enterprises are getting their architecture right, especially in the digital era where cloud computing can only impact it. There is a new strategy within this space as a result of the consumer-driven environment, and even enterprises need to embrace how they structure their architecture to offer access as if they too were a Facebook or Google.”

She believes there is significant pressure on the enterprise architect to evolve too quickly. “The local guys are having to catch up in four years what global organisations have had ten years or more to adapt to.” Not just that, IT is hesitant and fearful of these disruptive technologies, as they are being marketed to and driven by the consumer,and they don’t always integrate into existing infrastructures seamlessly, as advertised.