Enterprises and IT executives are increasingly shifting their focus to the cloud as a lucrative means of accomplishing business objectives. The cloud is no longer being looked at solely as a tool. With the advent of cloud computing, organizations are able to incorporate significant changes in their processes, transferring, storing and retrieving extensive information to the cloud. The benefits of cloud services which include speed of connectivity, mobility, cost-effectiveness, streamlined collaboration and increased efficiency, are greatly overshadowing security concerns also associated with it. Some important cloud computing trends that businesses should be prepared for and strategically incorporate into their ventures are:
What you'll find in this article
1. Vulnerabilities and risks associated with cloud security
Cloud services, like any other technology, are no exception to security breaches. Cyber-attacks are on the rise and the IT industry will increasingly face greater threats in the future. Recently, Equifax, a credit reporting agency, was a casualty of a data breach exposing sensitive personal information of millions of individuals including names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, driver’s license numbers, and credit card numbers. Cyber attackers are becoming more sophisticated in their hacking skills, which is why IT professionals and security analysts must also stay abreast and deploy sophisticated, comprehensive strategies and operating models to prevent attacks in the future. Tools such as security information and event management (SIEM) and malware detection systems can safeguard cloud security and businesses must realize the need to invest in these tools. Learn about the 11 cloud security threats you should prepare for here.
2. Growth in cloud services & solutions
With growth in cloud computing, it is naturally expected that cloud services and solutions will also thrive. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) has invited businesses and consumers to seek early cloud services as a financially attractive option. As per reports by Bain & Company, SaaS will grow at an 18% CAGR by 2020. Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is also predicted to reach 56% adoption in 2020, allowing customers to develop, launch, and manage apps easily. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions are also set to increase. Businesses looking to simplify operations for themselves and their customers will progress more aggressively toward integrating cloud services into their business processes.
3. Cloud storage
The coming year will see exponential growth in data storage as cloud services are increasingly becoming a de facto business component. With competition increasing among cloud service providers, cloud storage is becoming more affordable. Cloud storage can be crowd-sourced where sharing storage space will become common practice. Crowd-sourced storage platforms will be used in creating and maintaining large-scale applications. Organizations like Google and Amazon are distributing cloud storage for free to crowd-source data for big data analytics and artificial intelligence applications. Increased cloud storage will benefit businesses working with larger data, providing a platform to perform data analytics and reap valuable insights into areas of customer behaviour and strategic financial investments, among others. On the other hand, small businesses can capitalize on customized storage options at economical prices.
4. The Internet of Things (IoT)
In previous years, IoT and Artificial Intelligence have played a significant role in the tech community. The functioning of most IoT devices largely depends on the cloud, especially with connected devices working together. Today, people use mobile devices to access the internet for daily activities. Mobile devices such as household appliances, cars, and electronics that are connected to the IoT have a cloud-based back end as a means to communicate and store information. The cloud supports these devices, and as we see more IoT devices being made and sold, cloud usage will continue to increase as a result.
5. Serverless cloud computing
Serverless cloud computing will increase cloud usage and cloud use cases. It allows developers to build and run applications and services without worrying about managing servers. Moreover, serverless cloud computing allows developers to connect and spread cloud services to easily address their applications and multiple use cases, thereby improving the overall efficiency, reducing time and effort, and simplifying the process of releasing new updates.
The adoption of cloud computing services is undoubtedly going to intensify in the coming years. While most segments of the market will face strong growth, the same cannot be predicted for the enterprise segment owing to security issues being the prime concern. Nonetheless, the cloud technology will globalize and organizations will actively involve themselves in adopting, developing and improving existing practices. Learn more about the essential skills required for successful cloud implementation here.
