Paul Barlow
Well, here we are at the tail end of 2024, and what a year it’s been. Since joining the Advania family in June, we’ve seen tremendous growth, and, through the integration work we’ve undertaken over the last few months, we’re well-positioned to continue this into 2025. More on that later. First, let’s tackle some of the biggest talking points I’m seeing across our industry.
The balancing act of AI and sustainability
Something that’s caught my attention is the interesting relationship developing between AI adoption and environmental sustainability. It’s no revelation that AI workloads are incredibly compute-intensive, demanding significant power for both processing and cooling. Consequently, it’s creating a challenge for organisations that are looking to embrace AI while pursuing their environmental commitments.
ESG considerations are now fundamental to every major business decision, including IT infrastructure choices. We’re seeing some customers ask us about exploring private cloud options for their AI initiatives as it could offer more control over their environmental impact. The command over the technology, deployed alongside control of power management systems and green energy initiatives, are piquing their interest. When businesses control their own infrastructure, they’re better positioned to implement these measures at their discretion.
Rebalancing cloud strategy
Servium won’t be alone in seeing a shift in how businesses are approaching their cloud strategy. The observations I made earlier this year about rebalancing workloads haven’t gone away, and overall, I feel the industry is moving toward a more measured approach to cloud strategy. Even Microsoft – arguably the front runner for public cloud – recognises the role of private cloud with their Azure Stack offering. The evidence suggests public cloud isn’t always the answer.
Interestingly, in the narrative Dell is sharing with the market, ‘cloud’ is increasingly not mentioned in their strategy. Clearly, this is because they want workloads running on-premises, but it further illustrates the rebalancing trend that is clearly shaping up in the market and looks set to continue as a key battleground amongst vendors and decision pivot for customers as they decide on their cloud strategy.
Exceeding targets and growing together
I’m pleased to say that our annual Customer Satisfaction Survey has recently been completed. It showed that 81% of our customers are “very satisfied” with our service – a figure that builds on last year’s 80% (which is great!) but still tells me there is room for improvement. We’re always pushing to do better for our customers, and we’ll be looking closely at where we can create customer “wins” over the next 12 months, especially with the strength of Advania behind us. If you’re interested in the key takeaways from this year’s suvery, our infographic explores the headline results.
As some side commentary, the survey also revealed several key priorities among our customers. Cybersecurity, asset management, and AI implementations are topping the list of project priorities for 2025, with data centre refresh projects following closely behind. It’s particularly interesting to note this last point, as it appears to support the cloud rebalancing trend we’re observing, mentioned earlier in this blog. I’m keen to understand the driving forces behind these refresh projects as we engage with our customers in the new year.
Insights from Microsoft Ignite
While I was not able to attend personally, the team at Advania were stateside for the recent Microsoft Ignite conference. Several significant announcements were made, including that 70% of Fortune 500 companies are now using Microsoft 365 Copilot —highlighting significant enterprise take-up. New agents like SharePoint and Teams Interpreter show how Copilot is increasingly getting embedded across Microsoft apps.
The Azure AI Foundry (formerly Azure AI Studio) particularly caught my eye, offering unified access to all AI services and tools in Azure through a powerful visual interface. It’s set to accelerate how developers explore and deploy AI models in the future.
Meanwhile, the announcement of Windows 365 Link – a thin client device for cloud PC access – is a bold move, especially with many businesses facing big device strategy decisions as a result of Windows 11. Set to launch in April 2025, I’m keen to see how this solution might enhance our existing desktop virtualisation offering.
Breaking new ground in 2025
Recently, I received a book called “Break the Mold” by Tim Roberts. I’m looking forward to putting my feet up over the festive break and getting stuck into it – I have a feeling it will perfectly embody what we’re striving for with Advania in 2025.
For sure, we’re on the cusp of some tectonic changes in our industry that will impact the way we all do things. But, Servium’s commitment to being a trusted advisor who helps navigate these changes remains constant. Whether it’s balancing AI with ESG goals, finding the right mix of cloud services, or tackling whatever else comes your way 2025, we’re here to help chart the course.
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous New Year. See you in 2025!
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The CEO Edit: September 2024
Servium CEO, Paul Barlow, gives his view from the top on recent happenings at Servium and across the industry.
