Cloud Computing continues to shape the landscape for software development and delivery. The flexibility, features and tools have enabled new technologies to be delivered more efficiently and faster than ever before. Gartner forecasts that Cloud revenues will continue to rise, moving from $175B in 2018 to over $200B in 2019. Adoption is helping these numbers grow, but so are trends and features. The following outline will evaluate the top 5 Trends within Cloud Computing for 2019.
The Next Generation of Hybrid Cloud Solutions
It is often discussed what Cloud platform is best when developing a Cloud Computing roadmap. Many experts agree that a Hybrid Cloud solutions make the process of switching to cloud based infrastructure less challenging and less risky for those interested in cloud computing. Think of it as getting the best of both worlds, where you can enjoy benefits from both Public and Private infrastructure.
Many organizations have already shifted from traditional cloud-computing to hybrid-cloud in attempt to reduce transition risks and overall costs. The benefit is that they have visibility and data to help them architect the most efficient system for their needs. This will make the IT operation more efficient while lowering the costs of doing business. Plus, centralized management and security across platforms has enabled more control and flexibility.
Because competition is rising day by day, (in both small business and large-scale enterprises), the cloud operator that is the most flexible will also be the most successful. If implemented correctly, their Coud operation will have advantages in business velocity, operational costs and the overall efficiencies of building a dynamic business.
Base on a recent survey from Cisco, we are expecting to see cloud data storage expand exponentially, growing from 663 EB in 2016 to 2.6 ZB by 2021 (4X). With more businesses producing data and leveraging Cloud computing, data in the cloud at an exponential rate, there have to be ways to manage these systems as a single network. Cloud storage is one of the most simple examples of a Hybrid Cloud, and it continues to be a major component in the evolution of IT operations.
The Future of Security and Compliance Measures
Recently, Europe has dictated new practices to help protect user data, it is called GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). California has also followed in step and is enforcing their own version called CCPS (California Consumer Privacy Act). Both of these measures are forcing cloud services to be more responsible with the data that they collect and store for their clients.
Security and risk are a huge roadblock for people who want to adopt cloud services and infrastructure. Often, businesses that are developing a product to generate revenue do not take the appropriate measures to comply. It’s only after they mature that they have to step back and reconsider specific security and documentation processes.
With GDPR and CCSP in place, security will continue to generate hurdles for cloud technology, and security compliance. All companies must comply and will have to invest money into security products and hire competent engineers to power them. Cloud service providers should expect to produce an annual audit to show that they are making efforts. To ensure that the data practices fully comply with the GDPR and other compliance requirements companies will have a lot of work ahead of them.
The first steps would be to identity access management, network security groups, gateway network firewalls, and data encryption. Contemporary computational models will accompany more advanced practices such as containers and server-less computing and they will also have to be secured. 3rd party applications that can map entire infrastructure deployments across platforms and service providers will be required to generate validated reporting.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Most people think of the Cloud as someone else’s computer (Cloud Servers) or a network of storage (Cloud Storage) where you can store your files, pictures and music. That may be true as a simple explanation, but the Cloud ecosystem has developed some very sophisticated features that are helping businesses revolutionize the technology landscape. One of the most exciting component of this is Artificial Intelligence, also known as AI.
Adoption of AI in businesses will be driven by the tools available within Cloud service providers, exactly what drove the adoption of the Cloud computing. Cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform and Microsoft Azure have created a number of machine and deep learning API’s and microservices, all of which will make it easy for businesses to deploy AI and elevate the intelligence of their application.
In order to stay competitive in 2019, companies that build cloud software will have to make their code smarter. Developers from these companies will need to incorporate large data sets and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their solutions. Luckly, Cloud platforms such as AWS, GCP, and Azure already have these tools available. These solutions have exceptional value as are cost effective, easy to setup and quick to deploy. This enables businesses to adopt more easily and not depends on high demand, high priced engineers.
As AI becomes more available and adopted, we expect that every application and service will incorporate some level of AI. There will be two main characteristics; intelligent apps that could not exist without AI and those that may not seem obvious, but have AI running behind the scenes to deliver a service. This new wave of intelligent apps create a dynamic layer between people and systems that lays a foundation to transform the way that we communicate, work and even live.
Rolling Out Automation Across the Board
As Cloud adoption grows at unprecedented levels, organizations will have to manage a more sophisticated network running on diverse platforms and serving different business units. If this was run the way a traditional IT operation has traditionally run, a team of system administrators would be scrambling around all day putting out fires and manually managing tasks. Luckily, Cloud platforms deliver automation tools that allow engineers to embrace fresh way of thinking so they can manage their cloud architecture with automated processes. By reinventing the operation with automation, cloud administrators’ jobs will be simplified by having a majority of the processes scheduled to happen automatically.
Automation is increasingly valuable as Cloud technology is rapidly growing and that requires more systems and data to manage. If automation is not embraced, and the appropriate steps put in place to create a foundation, the IT operation will suffer greatly and cause more problems as they scale. Best practices must be followed as they will impact the way the company grows, how they manage data and how the network is secured. Experienced engineers will have to come up with a blueprint that supports their business at inception and the future - the Cloud services have the tools and the documentation to help.
It was recently reported that 4 out of 5 developers lack the know how or experience to successfully implement advanced automation practices to the application that they are developing. This is creating bottlenecks within their operations and slowing down releases. Companies wishing to get this right should have DevOps managers and Site Reliability Engineers on staff to insure that the appropriate steps are taken. The responsibility of these roles are designed to build bridges between operations, development and system management.
The Continuing Evolution of Cloud Services and Solutions
As the notion of Cloud computing departing from being traditional Cloud Servers/Cloud Storage, it is morphing into an ecosystem of valuable tools that are defining a new way to power an IT operation. The following will highlight some of the more important services that are being leveraged by the most sophisticated Cloud companies.
Microservices: The traditional means of building enterprise applications has been problematic, especially at scale. To circumvent these issues, teams are using microservices to develop their architecture. The structure of this is best described as a large series of loosely compiled components that all work together to provide software architecture that is easily updated, changed and shared across different teams. The value here is there’s no slow down waiting for approvals and version/releases can be made in minutes instead of weeks.
Containers: Running Containers in the Cloud has become a valuable practice, especially for application developers. Containers would likely be leveraged to successfully run microservices as they help manage components of the infrastructure, enable agile development and deliver cross-platform Cloud mobility. Other benefits include: Standardized Processes, Application Consistency and improved delivery. Every Cloud has their own Container service, but most are interchangeable across the various platforms. For instance, Google’s Kubernetes can run on AWS.
Serverless Computing: Serverless computing is a development platform that gives the developer a back-end system that they can build code around using APIs instead of traditional server Operating Systems. The value is a greatly reduced complexity, engineering lead time, and a reduction in overall operational costs. Without an OS, developers do not need to worry about managing that layer, providing patches and monitoring the system. Instead, their advanced development skills will replace legacy operations and deliver a flexible and scalable infrastructure of code.
Conclusion
Cloud Computing continues to evolve and the tools that are associated with that are driving innovation at a pace never before seen. As much as the Cloud seems to making life easier, the overall complexity of it requires expert engineering to deliver a scalable solution that is secure and compliant.
Mindcentric is a San Diego based Managed Services Provider that works with technology driven organizations to streamline IT operations and secure the network with the most advanced tools available. With offices in Southern California, Las Vegas, and New York, we equipped to deliver solutions, practices and management to help grow your business.