Is your company ready for the quantum revolution? Take you company’s IT infrastructure to the next level with hybrid cloud services

Share this post:

As digitalization accelerates, we will next be facing a quantum revolution. Is your business prepared for the increasing pace of technological innovation? Data is plentiful, but how can you fully benefit from it? How can hybrid cloud services help you get the most from your data? These were some of the topics covered in the virtual Hybrid Intelligence – Technologies to Support your Business broadcast, a featured event by the Talouselämä and Kauppalehti magazines.

The world is becoming digital at a dizzying pace, and technology is playing a key role in this development. Cloud services are a hot topic, and they are becoming increasingly popular in both the private and public sectors.

One of the speakers for the virtual event, Mikko Rusama is the City of Helsinki Chief Digital Officer, and he aspires to make Helsinki the world’s most functional and efficiently digitalized city. Rusama lists the top three things to consider for digitalization projects:

1. Define the core mission of your business
   Think business first, technology second. Don’t become enamored with technology for its own sake, but focus on the issues that need to be solved.
2. In-depth understanding of technology
   If your business lacks a sufficient understanding of a technology, it can be difficult to identify the challenges the technology can help resolve, and the new business opportunities it can create.
3. Make sure that decision making is supported by budgeting and sufficient resources
   Implementing change doesn’t happen on its own—it requires resource planning.

Technology to support business operations

Innovation is at the core of IBM’s operations. IBM was the recipient of the highest number of patents granted in the US last year. The granted patents were related to hybrid cloud services, AI, information security and quantum computing in particular. 2020 was the 28th consecutive year IBM was the leading patent recipient.

Hybrid cloud services open new opportunities for businesses.

Hybrid cloud services comprise two or more separate cloud infrastructures. The options include public, private and community cloud services. As individual units, the different cloud components are connected in the hybrid mode to allow the transfer of data between different units.

“The world is a complex place, and businesses merge and are split up every day. In our discussions with our clients, the emphasis is increasingly on complex customer needs, and how we are expected to offer suitable solutions for different functions. At the heart of all this is the idea of a hybrid cloud. Hybrid cloud services give us the freedom to shift workloads and intelligent processing capacity to where our data is stored and generated, instead of transferring data from one cloud system to another,” says IBM Finland’s Chief Technology Officer Pekko Päivärinta.

This in turn allows for scalable and flexible business operations.

Read more about IBM’s smart hybrid cloud services.

Quantum computing makes the impossible possible

The current trend of digitalization impacting all business sectors is based on the increased processing power of computers. The next step in further enhancing processing speed is quantum computing, a technological advance equivalent to that from an abacus to a computer.

The CEO of the Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT), Antti Vasara, points out that quantum computing is not a distant fantasy, but tomorrow’s reality. Vasara lists three industries in Finland where quantum technology is already relevant:

1. Manufacturing
   Quantum technology will impact and enhance processes in material production and chemical industry. This should already be considered when making long-term hardware investments.
2. Information technology
   There are companies already operating in Finland that manufacture quantum computers or their components.
3. Information security
   Quantum technology also enables faster computing for cyber criminals. In the future, we must ensure that information security systems can provide sufficient protection against attacks using quantum computers.

IBM is a pioneer in quantum technology. IBM has researched and developed quantum technologies for 40 years, and around 5 years ago, IBM launched the world’s first commercial quantum computing solution. VTT and Aalto University are currently in the process of acquiring Finland’s first quantum computer.

“I believe that quantum computing will become more common during the 2020s, and that we will soon witness its first commercial applications. The golden years of quantum technology will not arrive until the 2030s,” Vasara predicts.

The Hybrid Intelligence – Technologies to Support your Business virtual event was broadcast on Tuesday, February 16, 2021 as a featured event by the Talouselämä and Kauppalehti magazines. Participating in the event were Mikko Rusama, Jukka Melanen from Kela, Tommi Hippeläinen from Hypercell, Antti Vasara from VTT, and Mervi Airaksinen, Pekko Päivärinta, Ville-Matti Alho and Teppo Seesto from IBM Finland.

Watch event recording here (Finnish):