Enterprises are preparing for recovery in 2022 but the pandemic's lingering effects and the threat of the latest Omicron variant loom in the background. Business leaders will be looking to scale up for greater business agility than ever before in the face of an uncertain economic landscape.

Technology will be critical in making this possible but digitisation will no longer suffice as a competitive differentiator. Organisations will instead need to think strategically about how they will use technology to drive innovation and agility at scale and speed. Especially with the recent shift in emphasis toward improving remote working capabilities, access to cloud infrastructure, and data security.

The seismic shifts from traditional business models and workplaces to digital-first have widened a large skills gap. To offset job displacement caused by digitalisation, sustained investment in digital skills will be critical to economic recovery and long-term growth. Hence, investing in people will be just as important as investing in technology.

Furthermore, it is likely that businesses will want more control over their data in the coming year, with a greater emphasis on the ability to facilitate portability and seamless response to changing future demands.

What’s certain is that hybrid and multi-cloud models are here to stay. The flexibility they offer is becoming essential for the effective running of a modern, agile, data-driven business. With the year 2022 quickly approaching and promising exponential growth in the data protection industry, you may be wondering what comes next.

In this issue, DSA has compiled various insights from leading vendors, IT enterprises, and experts about the anticipated development and innovations in data storage in 2022.

We hope that this Special Focus will provide you with insight into what you can expect to see in the enterprise data, storage, IT and digital transformation space in the year to come.