Industry Experts Weigh-in on Cloud Computing and Data Analytics Benefits at IPC’s 2015 Philippine Cloud Summit

Local cloud computing and data center firm IPC (IP Converge Data Services, Inc.) pooled together industry experts at this year’s Philippine Cloud Summit to discuss the growing role of cloud technology and data analytics in the enterprise landscape. The annual industry event, held recently at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel, highlighted “The Enterprise Cloud Journey” that businesses must take to bolster success in light of the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community.

“Through the years, we witnessed an upward trend in terms of cloud adoption as more and more enterprises are beginning to appreciate its benefits. As CEOs and CIOs embrace digitization through software-as-a-service, employees stand to experience the ease and benefits of automation and real-time collaboration, instigating a significant boost in workplace productivity and operational efficiency,” said IPC President Rene Huergas.

“We believe that no business should be left behind. Leaders must be able to make calculated and well-informed business decisions on the fly. Cloud technology and data analytics go hand in hand to ensure that they are equipped in this area. And we at IPC, are ready to make that shift as effortless as possible,” Huergas added.

The morning session, targeted to business executives and entrepreneurs, outlined key aspects of the “Enterprise Cloud Journey.” Jonathan Defensor de Luzuriaga, President of the Philippine Software Industry Association, spoke about the process of transforming the Philippines into a digital economy through enterprise cloud applications. He touched on the vital role of software and mobility in business operations, as well as appreciating Philippine software industry trends.

De Luzuriaga quipped that the software industry, being a $15.5B industry, may be the “next OFW phenomenon.” He enumerated areas to focus on to be able to reach this status.

o Educate for a digital economy
o Expand access to high-speed affordable broadband
o Leverage ICT to enhance competitiveness
o Continue to develop ICT-driven industries like BPO
o Bring Philippine talent home
o Establish favorable environment for cloud computing
o Deploy Cloud for disaster resilience

A presentation on Elastic Infrastructure was headed by Robert Jenkins, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of CloudSigma. His talk highlighted the business benefits of cost-efficient and on-demand technology. He further touched on understanding supply and demand from an IT capacity standpoint, and how IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) can significantly improve a company’s financial health.

Jenkins also addressed the issue of security in the use of Cloud computing. According to him, there is no one golden setting that is going to protect a company from security threats. Security is tackled on (1) a requirement-basis and (2) a layered approach, including physical data centers and encryption, among others.

Adatos Managing Director Drew Perez concluded the morning session with a discussion on how data science can help open growth opportunities. He further shared how real-time information can be used to make sound business decisions faster, and how to unlock the business potential of stagnant data archives.

Perez highlighted the need to understand the Why and What Next of big data. He emphasized the importance of data scientists and analysts to be able to predict outcomes and influence behavior.

Two hands-on workshops for IT and technical leaders and officers were held in the afternoon. “Creating Secure AppDev Environments in the Cloud” and “Data Science 101: The Art of Analytics” were facilitated by Robert Jenkins and Drew Perez, respectively. The workshops covered the process of creating and configuring cloud servers, as well as data visualization techniques for analytics purposes.

“IPC will stand by our cloud-vocacy of acting as a catalyst for accelerated cloud adoption in the Philippines. With the trends we’re seeing now, we can only believe that cloud computing is the future for every enterprise, and will soon be considered the industry standard moving forward,“ said Huergas.