In a recent survey, Dell found that its customer-driven, compute-centric and software-defined data center vision is what business and IT leaders need most to meet their business objectives.

The computer tech company says that 8 out of 10 respondents believe a compute-centric approach to a data center solution development is key in driving innovation.

According to Dell here are other key findings:

• Eight out of 10 respondents agree that a compute-centric approach to data center solution development is key in driving innovation.
• More than eight in 10 of those surveyed agree that integrating hyper converged solutions is the first step in achieving a software-defined data center.
• Decision makers globally say a SDDC is the most important enabler of a digital transformation, more than any other factor asked.
• A hybrid cloud platform is seen as the best place for SDDCs to reside in the future
• Nearly nine in 10 global decision makers agree that open technology best supports data center trends toward application and data portability and broad data center-wide process management, compared to proprietary vendor hardware or solutions.
• The ability to address issues quickly is the top global concern for all respondents when it comes to managing the data center management.

Dell also says that in the past, business and IT leaders had varying levels of understanding of IT trends and technologies.

However, the computer tech company says that over time, perceptions of technology have evolved and more closely intertwined.

The Dell State of IT Trends 2016 global study indicates that IT and business leadership are better collaborating and having in-depth conversations how technology works.

Matt Baker, executive director of Enterprise Strategy at Dell, says that there is a lingering misperception that business leaders are disconnected during strategic IT discussions.

”This study reveals that there is an increasingly common understanding between business and IT decision makers on the key IT trends and the growth opportunities that IT can deliver,” says Baker.

According to the Dell State of IT Trends 2016 survey, increasing business productivity is the main IT consideration for ITDMs

• 88% of ITDMs say their organization is considering adopting a software-defined data center (SDDC), is in the process of transitioning, or has already completed the transition to one.
• By 2:1 margins, ITDMs say they will use more open data center technologies in the future.

The survey comprised of 1,200 online interviews between April 15 and May 4, 2016.