Enterprises are accelerate information technology (IT) advancements to harness generative artificial intelligence ( GenAI)’s power, a study said Thursday.
According to F5’s latest 2024 Digital Enterprise Maturity Index report, enterprises are pushing ahead on digital transformation efforts: 29 percent of organizations participating in the study are considered “doers,” scoring among leaders in areas such as infrastructure, app delivery, security, data, and automation.
This is a huge improvement from last year’s report, when only 4 percent were considered “doers.”
According to the study, GenAI is fundamentally changing digital operations, significantly enhancing automation and data management.
Organizations that integrate AI technologies show higher levels of digital maturity across multiple categories.
The study also showed 82 percent of “doers” operate hybrid applications, indicating advanced digital readiness and effective AI integration.
Meanwhile, 97 percent of digitally mature organizations have adopted or plan to adopt site reliability engineering (SRE) practices, essential for scaling AI-driven operations and maintaining performance.
With the increasing reliance on AI, 92 percent of mature organizations have adopted zero trust principles, reflecting a higher confidence level in their security frameworks.
Advanced organizations manage an average of 468 application programming interface (APIs), showcasing a sophisticated digital infrastructure prepared for AI integration.
Organizations whose automation maturity is “automated” saw the biggest benefits: 53 percent enjoy greater consistency, 71 percent saw cost savings, and 80 percent report greater operational efficiencies.
“The rapid evolution of generative AI is not just a technological advancement; it’s a transformative force that is reshaping the entire landscape of digital business,
“Organizations that embrace this change and modernize their enterprise architectures to integrate AI-driven automation and data management will not only stay competitive but will also lead their industries into a new era of efficiency and innovation,” said Lori MacVittie, Chief Evangelist and Distinguished Engineer at F5.
The report also emphasizes the importance of a flexible and adaptable enterprise architecture to keep pace with rapid technological advancements.
It noted that organizations need an infrastructure that can seamlessly integrate new technologies as they emerge.
Meanwhile, the ability to distribute and secure applications across various environments—core, cloud, and edge—is critical.
The report highlighted that 40 percent of organizations have automated app and API security functions, but only 23% have automated app delivery, indicating a significant area for improvement.
Data governance and full-stack observability are essential for digital maturity, according to the report.
The report noted that 58 percent of “doers” face challenges with data silos, emphasizing the need for robust data strategies to enable comprehensive observability and drive automation.
The report also delved into the operational hurdles organizations face, such as budget constraints, complexity of tools, and skillset gaps.
For instance, 49 percent of “doers” cite a lack of interoperability and the presence of too many tools and APIs as significant blockers to automation.
F5 is a multicloud application security and delivery company.
The firm analyzed 713 responses selected from its annual State of Application Strategy research based on completeness of answers to the key questions that make up its digital maturity model.
Respondents represent a global sample, with just about a third from each major region: North America, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific, China, and Japan (APCJ).
Similarly, grouping by annual revenue nets a fairly even distribution across large (27 percent), medium (32 percent), and smaller enterprises (32 percent).