IDC, AWS & NTT DATA Executive Dinner
Future-Ready IT Foundation: Blueprint for Modernization Amid Changed Infrastructure Landscape
C-suites across verticals and company sizes are looking to architect a digital infrastructure foundation to meet their three core goals: innovation with AI, cost optimization, and ensuring resilience and control.
A well-architected hybrid cloud infrastructure is the backbone of organizations enabling them to meet these business objectives.
About 8 in every 10 organizations are running hybrid cloud environments combining primarily an on-premises estate and public cloud. But only 12% of organizations IDC surveyed in September 2025 (IDC Multicloud Strategies Survey, EMEA) identified themselves as having an infrastructure that is mature, optimized and tightly aligned to business value or innovation.
It is no surprise that IT modernization is consistently among top three areas where organizations are increasing IT budgets despite economic and geopolitical uncertainties, according to IDC research.
This is driven by how current hybrid cloud equation is changing with tectonic shifts in the landscape. The biggest shift includes how on-premises estates are becoming more expensive to maintain – a trend that is unlikely to change. This makes status quo a risky strategy. A combination of c-suite’s laser focus on value, pressure on application modernization and, tightening regulations around resilience requires future-ready action from IT and business leaders.
This executive dinner roundtable will focus on how customers are evaluating their on-premises estate and how the landscape shift is influencing their IT modernization strategies.
Hosted and moderated by IDC at Kimpton Fitzroy London on 9th December, this roundtable will bring together an exclusive group of IT, business and cloud decisionmakers alongside infrastructure and public cloud industry experts to discuss the imperatives, challenges and best practices in IT modernization.
The questions and discussions explored in this Chatham House style conversation will explore the topic holistically for actionable insights on addressing cost, risks and disruption-related challenges in on-premises transformation.
The event offers a unique opportunity to engage with industry experts, exchange perspectives, and, most importantly, share your own experiences and challenges for a confident way forward to meeting business objectives.
Agenda
IDC, AWS & NTT DATA Executive Dinner
One day event
Welcome & Champagne Reception
Welcome Address from IDC, AWS & NTT DATA
Archana Venkatraman
Senior Director Research, Cloud Data Management, IDC
Nic O’Brien
AWS Senior Migration Manager, AWS
Martin Blackburn
Senior Director – Cloud and Security, NTT DATA
Delegate Introductions
Starter Discussion Topic & Feedback – Assessing Present VM and Infrastructure Strategy and Business Drivers for Change
Main Course Discussion Topic & Feedback – Rolling up the Sleeves
Dessert Discussion Topic & Feedback – The Art of Possible and Best Practices
Coffee Served & Evaluation Forms Distributed
Thank You & Close from IDC, AWS & NTT DATA
Archana Venkatraman
Senior Director Research, Cloud Data Management, IDC
Nic O’Brien
AWS Senior Migration Manager, AWS
Martin Blackburn
Senior Director – Cloud and Security, NTT DATA
Event Close
Speakers
Archana Venkatraman
Senior Director Research, Cloud Data Management
IDC
Read Bio
Archana Venkatraman
Archana Venkatraman is a Senior Director for IDC’s European Datacenter Research. She covers datacenter technologies including software-defined infrastructures, storage and data management, virtualization, containers, hyperconverged infrastructure, infrastructure performance monitoring, systems management, application development, and cloud services.
Archana also leads IDC’s European thought leadership program on open source technologies. She also contributes to European Digital Transformation, DevOps, Blockchain and IoT research practices.
Before joining IDC, Venkatraman was the datacenter editor at Computer Weekly, the digital magazine and website for IT professionals based in London, where she focused on datacenters, server virtualization, storage, open source technologies, software-defined infrastructures, and cloud computing, liaising with enterprise CIOs and technology vendors to develop deeper insight into the enterprise IT industry. Venkatraman has a master’s degree in journalism from Mumbai University.
Event Sessions
Tuesday, December 9 2025 9:25 pm | Location:
Thank You & Close from IDC, AWS & NTT DATA
Tuesday, December 9 2025 7:00 pm | Location:
Welcome Address from IDC, AWS & NTT DATA
Nic O’Brien
AWS Senior Migration Manager
AWS
Read Bio
Nic O’Brien
Nic O’Brien is the Global Delivery Lead for the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP). He has been with AWS for 7 years, working exclusively on the MAP program since it started in 2017. Before joining AWS, his career began with a focus on economics, from University of London. He has extensive experience in the IT industry, having worked for various organizations including General Electric and a software business. He spent a significant part of his career in sales roles for large global systems integrators, concentrating on IT outsourcing. He also worked at Avanade, a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture, where he helped companies with their digital transformation. This experience led him to join AWS to launch the MAP program to partners in EMEA before moving into his current worldwide position.
Event Sessions
Tuesday, December 9 2025 9:25 pm | Location:
Thank You & Close from IDC, AWS & NTT DATA
Tuesday, December 9 2025 7:00 pm | Location:
Welcome Address from IDC, AWS & NTT DATA
Martin Blackburn
Senior Director – Cloud and Security
NTT DATA
Read Bio
Martin Blackburn
Event Sessions
Tuesday, December 9 2025 9:25 pm | Location:
Thank You & Close from IDC, AWS & NTT DATA
Tuesday, December 9 2025 7:00 pm | Location:
Welcome Address from IDC, AWS & NTT DATA
Partners
Sponsored By
AWS
NTT Data
NTT DATA – a part of NTT Group – is a trusted global innovator of IT and business services headquartered in Tokyo. We help clients transform through consulting, industry solutions, business process services, IT modernization and managed services. NTT DATA enables clients, as well as society, to move confidently into the digital future. We are committed to our clients’ long-term success and combine global reach with local client attention to serve them in over 50 countries.
