Smarter, secure, decentralised infrastructure: IT in 2026

As organisations gear up for 2026, the IT sector is converging on smarter, more resilient infrastructure driven by hybrid cloud architectures, enhanced security strategies, unified data platforms, and expanded edge computing that supports real-time applications and automation.

As organisations prepare for 2026, the IT landscape is converging on a single objective: build infrastructure that is simultaneously smarter, more resilient and easier to operate. According to the original report, that will require a blend of hybrid cloud standardisation, tighter cyber posture, unified data platforms, pervasive automation and an expanded edge footprint to support real‑time use cases. ^[1]

Cloud modernisation will centre on hybrid and multi‑cloud architectures as the default operating model, with network as a service (NaaS) and container platforms forming the connective tissue between data centres, clouds and edge sites. The lead piece argues this approach will drive usage‑based pricing, centralised policy controls and faster legacy modernisation via APIs and microservices, while FinOps and automated governance become essential to rein in cost and complexity. ^[1][6]

Security strategies are tightening around zero trust as organisations aim for cyber resilience rather than simply perimeter defence. Industry forecasts suggest a slow but meaningful move to maturity: Gartner predicts only around 10% of large enterprises will have a mature, measurable zero‑trust programme by 2026, underscoring the gap between intent and implementation. The trend, the report adds, will be reinforced by broader adoption of continuous verification, identity‑first controls, MFA and passwordless approaches. ^[1][2]

Public‑sector guidance is already raising the bar for practical zero‑trust implementation. The NSA has issued detailed maturity guidance for both network and application/workload pillars, emphasising micro‑segmentation, data‑flow mapping and continuous visibility to reduce lateral movement and secure workloads. Meanwhile, CISA’s updated Zero Trust Maturity Model provides a graded roadmap agencies can use to advance incrementally toward optimisation. Together these documents give private and public organisations clearer, actionable targets for maturing zero trust across environments. ^[3][4][5][7]

Data strategy will focus on unified platforms that combine lakes and warehouses with integrated governance, lineage and quality controls to create a single source of truth. The result should be faster, real‑time pipelines and self‑service analytics so business teams can treat curated data as a product, improving trust and reuse across the organisation. This aligns with the lead analysis that elevates data management to a strategic priority underpinning automation, AI and operational decision‑making. ^[1]

Automation and modern IT operations will expand from routine scripting to full‑flight AIOps, IaC and GitOps patterns that accelerate provisioning, patching and incident response while reducing manual error. Advanced observability that correlates telemetry across distributed systems will be critical for faster root‑cause analysis and predictive remediation, helping preserve service reliability as environments become more distributed and dynamic. ^[1]

Bringing compute to the edge will unlock latency‑sensitive and IoT use cases across industrial, retail and city infrastructure, the report says, while standardised edge stacks will simplify secure device onboarding and local processing with synchronisation to cloud backends for aggregation and analytics. Vendors are already positioning products to accelerate this hybrid future, with announced innovations in virtualization, security and container platforms intended to simplify hybrid‑cloud operations. ^[1][6]

##Reference Map:

• ^[1] (Technology Decisions) – Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 6, Paragraph 7
• ^[6] (Hewlett Packard Enterprise press release) – Paragraph 2, Paragraph 7
• ^[2] (Gartner) – Paragraph 3
• ^[3] (NSA) – Paragraph 4
• ^[4] (NSA) – Paragraph 4
• ^[5] (CISA) – Paragraph 4
• ^[7] (Professional Services Council) – Paragraph 4

Source: Fuse Wire Services