The year-on-year growth of Cloud Computing is showing no signs of slowdown in the near future. This trend is supported by more entities factoring the potential benefits of Cloud Based Solutions. Another vital catalyst for this growth is the increasing versatility of cloud services.
Also Read: How the Cloud is Reshaping End-User Computing?
We will kick off this blog with a few loaded stats to give you a true perspective of the present size of the Cloud Computing industry and some projections as well.
- In 2018, the size of public cloud services was an estimated $180 BN.
- For 2019, market size of the public cloud is expected to touch $215 BN.
- This will translate into a year-on-year growth of about 18%.
- A whopping 83% of enterprise workloads will be in the cloud by 2020.
- 41% of the total enterprise workload will run over public cloud platforms.
Let’s discuss a few major trends of the cloud computing industry over the year 2019. We will also try to paint a picture for what 2020 has in store for us.
Mobile Workforce
The features of multi device and location access make cloud solutions a perfect match for remote workers. The productivity remains unaffected, even if an employee does not physically show up for work. More cloud solutions mean that the ratio of remote workers will continue to increase in the next year as well.
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Few studies to this effect have also revealed that a mobile worker not only settles for a lesser remuneration, but motivation level is also higher. This factor has also been linked with better employee retention rates, which is becoming a challenge even for medium to large sized companies.
Hyper / Quantum Computing
Cloud Service Providers (CSP) have now started to fiercely compete on offering processing solutions as well. There are some processing intensive tasks for which the internal infrastructure of a company is just not enough. As CSPs improve their processing solutions over their cloud networks, more computing will shift to the cloud.
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Hyper to quantum computing will pave the way for many more innovative solutions. CSPs pack a lot of processing power in their data centers but the facility was not given priority before. We can expect processing solutions over the cloud to become far more affordable and accessible.
Blockchain Solutions Will Thrive
The cloud environment is highly conducive to blockchain infrastructures. The database is central but it can simultaneously be accessed over multiple end point devices. The cloud based blockchain solutions will be highly accurate, robust and validation will be virtually in real-time.
We can expect more blockchain solutions to be launched over the cloud. Some of the key areas of interest are crypto currencies, data security and crypto graphical analysis. The cloud based infrastructure will be ideal for more Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) over the upcoming year.
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Organizational Mobility
Cloud based solutions are a strong enabler for organizational mobility. A company can firstly engage the services of talented workforce over the cloud, even if they reside in a different country. Customers from different geographies can be served more effectively over a cloud based solution.
A cloud environment also enables other organizational stakeholders such as suppliers, vendors and whole sellers to seamlessly integrate their needs with the operations of an entity. To serve more diverse customers across various geographies, many organizations will opt for the convenience of cloud based solutions.
Edge Computing Made Easy
The idea behind edge computing is to process and analyze business critical data at the most localized level to enhance speed and efficiency. A cloud based solution serves as a point of convergence for data related to critical business processes. This data needs to be analyzed almost in real-time to deliver the desired results.
A relatively localized cloud based solution can greatly solve this challenge by collecting and processing data at the most efficient point, rather than central one. Merely selecting the right data sample and size can become a time consuming task if we consider a consolidated data collection point.
To deliver more efficient processing power, cloud solutions will gather and process the data for critical processes at a localized level, before relaying it to the CSPs central data repository. This trend will increase over the next year and result in further streamlining of organizational processes.
Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Solutions
Cloud based solutions and artificial intelligence (AI) are very complementary in nature. AI demands an immense amount of data. Cloud solutions naturally house data as centrally as feasible. The true capabilities of AI are unleashed in the form of machine learning, pattern recognition and much more.
Cloud solutions not only offer vast data in a condensed form, they also offer immense processing muscle. AI is expected not only to thrive in the upcoming year but unravel new possibilities for us. The outcomes of AI models depend largely on the quantity and quality of the underlying data sample.
Also Read: Alibaba Revealed AI Chip “Hanguang 800” For Cloud Computing
Integrated Enterprise Solutions
We will continue to see a lot of collaboration between mainstream CSPs and Enterprise Solution providers. This is a very promising development for the cloud and software solution providers. Instead of competing, they are collaborating which is expected to do wonders for the end user.
More cloud native applications and software will come pre-integrated with cloud solutions as turnkey projects. This will remove the integration related bottlenecks faced by many cloud employing entities. We will see further streamlining and efficiency in organizational processes.
Server less Computing
There were many integration and compatibility bottlenecks when it comes to productivity applications. A lot of software and enterprise solution providers have decided to take their solutions over to the cloud. This has given a lot of peace of mind to the end users in terms of efficiency and compatibility.
Instead of installing and configuring a software or application at each individual device, the solution resides over the data center of the software provider and users perform their work over the cloud. Given the positive feedback from such initiatives, we will see more productivity and enterprise solutions shift entirely on the cloud.
Cross Integration of Data Centers
More organizations are moving towards hybrid cloud solutions. At times, this is a necessity and in certain cases, it is done purely for organizational efficiency. We should soon see a cohesive eco-system of data centers develop over the cloud, without prejudice to the cloud service provider.
These data centers, following certain protocols, will interact with each other and may even share data. This will enable the delivery of process critical data beyond cloud provider boundaries and result in efficiency we can just dream about currently. We should see more progress towards cross-integration of data centers.
Reverse Mentoring
The younger workforce being recruited in organizations is very well versed with latest tech gadgets such as smartphones and tablets. Most of them are also very active over social media platforms. Given their comfort level with technology, it comes as no surprise that their transition to the cloud is virtually unnoticeable.
However, the same is not true for the relatively more experienced buy older workforce. This creates a certain frustration and reluctance on their part to adopt technology like their younger counterparts. Whether someone likes it or not, things like cloud solutions and social media are a necessity now.
We should see and hope for a working environment in which the younger and tech savvy employees lend their older coworkers a hand in adapting to the cloud environment. The older employees in turn should embrace the cloud openly instead of feeling intimated and frustrated.
Conclusion
The cloud computing industry is far from the point of saturation and is likely to exhibit robust growth over the next few years. If the specific needs of an organization warrant a cloud based solution, it should not waste precious time by reigniting the debate for the very need of such a solution.
