4 Cloud Computing Trends for 2021
A few years ago, in 2015, cloud computing was still a new concept in everyone’s vocabulary and few had the courage to see beyond and invest more in this technology. Compared to 2015, when the general cloud budget was 2.8$ billion, 2020 has seen a massive surge in cloud budget, specifically more than 330$billion. Nothing is more exciting than being part of the change and witnessing technology growth. Let’s check out a few of the cloud computing trends that 2021 will bring.
Multi-Cloud and Breakdown of barriers between Cloud Providers
Cloud computing is the backbone of the data-driven and app-based tech ecosystems that have helped us manage change and development. Many providers of cloud services have promoted their platforms as a one-stop-shop for all cloud-related services.
In 2021, seeing that many organizations need to integrate their entire ecosystems, multi-cloud or hybrid cloud solutions could be a great option to consider, according to various industry experts. Multi-cloud means that businesses can integrate platforms from different providers, thus making it easier to communicate and share data with partners in the supply chain, regardless of their applications or data standards. However, there is one challenge: providers lose the ability to upsell higher cloud capacity as well as additional services. In this scenario, estimates show that by 2023, cloud spending would reach 500$billion, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 22.3%.
AI in Cloud Computing
AI has clearly reached unforeseen peaks and has helped technology revolutionize business processes. Pairing AI and cloud computing, could not only help organizations be more effective, strategic, and insight-driven but also help them achieve cost savings and agility that is essential in the cloud. In addition to this, AI could have a huge impact on the value of several industries. McKinsey estimates that the value added by AI in cloud computing could be as high as 15.4$ billion.
In the case of IT Infrastructures, AI streamlines workloads and automates repetitive tasks. As technology evolves, AI can be used to create better processes that are extensively independent. Moreover, it can help with data management by monitoring, analyzing, and categorizing it appropriately and on a deeper level. As stated earlier, AI can also help organizations lower their costs. A recent report by IDC forecasts that, by 2021, the total expenditure of organizations on AI will grow to $52.2 billion
Security in the era of Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Cloud
As companies leverage a multi-cloud strategy to improve IT operations, they need to consider the implications for security. According to a recent survey conducted by A10 Networks and Business Process Innovation Network(BPI) showed that strong security across clouds, networks, applications, and data is critical to realize the full advantages of a multi-cloud environment.
According to the same report, centralized visibility and analytics into security and performance, and automated tools to speed response times and reduce costs are the top capabilities for improving multi-cloud securities. However, securing a multi-cloud environment is much easier said than done.
First, organizations need to consider the importance of centralized authentication to help maintain control over the users, admins, and systems allowed to access various resources across multiple cloud platforms. Secondly, organizations need to have in place high-value defenses such as robust web application firewalls and DDoS protections.
Among the many solutions, synchronizing security policies and settings across providers, using different security policies for different applications, and monitoring and centralizing different threats are key to securing your multi-cloud or hybrid environment. In addition to this, periodical security awareness trainings held by the company help employees know better what and what not to do to stay safe in the online environment. Furthermore, companies need to understand that most of their security efforts are in vain because employees tend to overlook simple rules when accessing a secure IT infrastructure.
Data containers and Kubernetes
For years, data containers have been the standard for application development in the cloud. For now, the rise of Kubernetes has extensively increased the use of containers in a private cloud as well. According to a recent report by IDC, 95% of the new-micro services will be deployed in the containers by 2021. In addition to this, according to Gartner, by 2023, most organizations will use more than two centralized applications. This can be possible only if organizations improve work efficiency, save money, and speed up application development. This can be done with the help of data containers, as the orchestration tool automates management, deployment, scaling, and networking
Conclusion
2021 will continue the digital transformation,a trend many companies are aiming to adopt. With the emergence of 5G, adoption of multi-cloud computing IT infrastructure, and increased usage of AI and ML in the day to day business operations, organizations are getting ready for being part of the next revolution.
There are many things to keep an eye out for in 2021, but we look forward to receiving your thoughts on this. Let us know in the comments below.
