The explosion of cloud computing has massively changed how organisations do business, and its popularity is showing no sign of abating. According to Cisco, by 2021 cloud-based datacentres are expected to process in excess of 90% of all workloads. Here are some of the emerging trends.
1: Multi and hybrid cloud environments
More organisations are recognising that a key advantage of the Cloud is freedom of choice, and that cloud data management can be optimised by choosing the best solution for each particular job. They are feeling less obliged to stick with a single vendor and are more open to ‘multi-cloud’ solutions or hybrid cloud/non-cloud integrations. This diversification sometimes delivers better expertise, lower prices and solutions better tailored to the customer’s unique requirements.
2: Tackling compliance and security
Data privacy and security concerns are often given as reasons for delaying cloud adoption. The counter-argument is that Cloud integrations can simplify your security concerns and provide you with specialist expertise at a lower cost. Working on documents and data resources centralised in the Cloud usually eliminates many of the weak points in your process flows from which sensitive information can leak or bad actors gain access to your network. SaaS solutions can help you reduce the blind spots and bottlenecks while boosting the visibility throughout your entire environment. As a result, it becomes easier to protect sensitive data and, equally important, demonstrate the steps you have taken to achieve compliance.
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3: Cost management
When cloud services first appeared, many organisations rushed to be early adopters in order to steal a march on competitors. As a result, some threw large amounts of money into rapid cloud transitions. Now that many organisations have completed their Cloud based restructuring there will be a more sober focus on cost control. Cloud services will continue to grow but we expect to see both customers and providers streamlining their services, eliminating duplicate and superfluous features. The post-COVID economic climate will accelerate this trend.
Different providers offer different pricing and billing structures so it is often difficult to compare them like-for-like. Some ‘standard’ packages are more inclusive than others, while the charges for additional features vary considerably. Since being able to predict costs accurately is a vital concern for all businesses we think price-transparency will give some vendors an advantage. Consequently, control panels will evolve to provide customers with detailed insight and real-time cost management.
4: Solution-focused partners
As organisations continue to switch their infrastructure to PaaS, SaaS, and IaaS, and cloud costs become better controlled (and reduced), more organisations will have money to invest in solutions for specific industry challenges. External partners who focus on achieving the best solutions for specific organisational needs will see their markets grow considerably.
Big cloud companies provide the cloud infrastructure for things like storage, but it is third-party vendors who can offer specialised solutions for things like data-mining, warehousing, artificial intelligence, machine-learning and IoT automation. Providers are looking for ways to market innovative solutions with low learning curves for a wider audience, allowing more organisations to reap the benefits of these cutting-edge technologies. These vendors will make ‘tech-on-demand’ available to SMEs who never expected to be able to afford them.
The Cloud offers organisations of all sizes the chance to save money, compete with larger rivals, boost productivity, and improve their product offerings. The kinds of infrastructure that can be built using the Cloud would have been far beyond the budgets and capabilities of the vast majority of organisations without it.
Going forward into 2021 and beyond, we expect more and more organisations to realise they can get ahead of the curve by adopting cloud security and compliance solutions, and the even-more adventurous will be looking for partnerships with innovative external tech companies on a project-by-project basis.
If you are looking for advice or need help planing your cloud strategy then give Cloudworks a call. We are specialists in cloud technologies, cyber-security and support. In addition, we continuously monitor our clients IT cloud infrastructure to ensure they are secure and protected against the latest threats. Give us a call to find out more and we will find the best strategy and solution to fit your business.
Call Cloudworks on 0115 824 8244 or email info@cloudworks.co.uk