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EMEA Q4 Research

Proving business value, lack of technological infrastructure and shortage of skilled talent listed as top three challenges to implementing AI across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the next 12 months

LONDON, UK – December 12, 2023 – Pervasive AI will have the most positive impact on the business landscape than any other industry and external factors according to 63% of EMEA businesses. However, businesses will struggle to implement the technology due to challenges surrounding proving its value (42%).

The findings come from 2024 IT Outlook Report, a new research report by Rackspace Technology® (NASDAQ: RXT), a leading end-to-end, hybrid multicloud technology solutions company, in association with VMware. Other challenges with implementing AI were reported to be the lack of technological infrastructure to support it (40%) and the shortage of skilled talent (30%).

Generative AI is creeping further into business processes with 22% of organisations claiming that the technology will be fully integrated into all processes within the next 12 months.

The report also underscores a continued evolution in cloud technology. When asked about the makeup of their organisation’s IT infrastructure currently, and how it will evolve over the next 12 months, edge computing, private cloud and public cloud all increased as a percentage of workloads, while data centres, colocation facilities and on mainframes declined.

In terms of cloud environments, hybrid cloud technology is the most prevalent across EMEA with three-quarters (75%) of businesses utilising both private and public cloud environments for their infrastructure, with improved security (47%) and reduced costs (46%) being key drivers. However, data integration is the biggest challenge for adopting a hybrid cloud environment (42%).  

Simon Bennett, Global CTO for Private Cloud at Rackspace Technology, said: “The EMEA business technology narrative is evolving with AI taking real strides in terms of adoption across the board including both public and private cloud environments. However, hurdles to implementation cannot be overcome without the right management and expertise. The evolution of the cloud becoming omnipresent has encouraged businesses to think smartly around costs and security, both of which are realised with the hybrid cloud model. It’s exciting to see how these technologies will be used in practice in the coming year.”

Click here to review the comprehensive 2024 IT Outlook Whitepaper and Infographic with the breakdown of survey findings.

Survey Methodology

The survey was conducted by Coleman Parkes in October and November 2023 and targeted 1,420 senior IT decision makers across multiple key sectors in the USA, LATAM, EMEA (520) and APAC. 

Coleman Parkes is a full-service B2B market research agency specializing in IT/technology studies, targeting senior decision makers in SMB to large and enterprises across multiple sectors globally.

About Rackspace Technology

Rackspace Technology is a leading end-to-end multicloud technology services company. We can design, build and operate our customers’ cloud environments across all major technology platforms, irrespective of technology stack or deployment model. We partner with our customers at every stage of their cloud journey, enabling them to modernize applications, build new products and adopt innovative technologies.

About VMware

VMware is a leading provider of multi-cloud services for all applications, enabling digital innovation with enterprise control. As a trusted foundation to accelerate innovation, VMware software gives businesses the flexibility and choice they need to build the future. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to building a better future through the company’s 2030 Agenda. For more information, please visit www.vmware.com/company.

Media Contact: Devika Mistry publicrelations@rackspace.com

About Rackspace Technology

Rackspace Technology® (NASDAQ: RXT) is the operator of the full enterprise AI stack from governed private cloud to AI inference and agents in production. With an Outcomes-as-a-Service model built on secure infrastructure, data foundations, and forward-deployed engineering, Rackspace delivers business results for regulated and mission-critical industries where governance, sovereignty, and uptime are non-negotiable. Learn more at www.rackspace.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events and can be identified by terminology such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “potentially,” “estimate,” “continues,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “would,” “project,” “plan,” “expect,” “is putting,” “designed to,” or the negative of such terms or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words.

 These statements include, but are not limited to, Rackspace Technology’s relationship with NVIDIA and the NVIDIA Cloud Partner Program, its Enterprise AI Cloud strategy, the anticipated capabilities, benefits and timing of its Institutional Sovereign Pod architecture, Rackspace’s outlook on the AI industry and its ability to deliver, operate, and scale AI infrastructure and solutions for regulated, institutional and sovereign enterprises. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including, without limitation: Rackspace's ability to realize the anticipated benefits of its relationship with NVIDIA and the NCP program; the availability, cost, and timing of deployment of NVIDIA and other third-party technology; Rackspace's ability to develop, market, and scale the Institutional Sovereign Pod and related offerings on the anticipated timeline or at all; market acceptance of and demand for sovereign and governed AI infrastructure solutions; competition in the AI infrastructure and cloud services markets; capital expenditure requirements associated with AI infrastructure buildout; availability of financing for the AI infrastructure buildout on terms acceptable to Rackspace; Rackspace’s reliance on a limited number of technology partners, including NVIDIA; cybersecurity, data privacy, and regulatory compliance risks associated with serving regulated and sovereign customers; general economic and industry conditions; and other risks and uncertainties described in Rackspace's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Rackspace undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.