Cloud computing has grown exponentially since the early 2000s when it was still a mysterious concept to the general public. The past decade has witnessed strong growth. Gartner projects global public cloud revenue to grow from $214.3 billion in 2019 to $249.8 billion in 2020. This figure is expected to come close to $500 billion by 2023.
Top 6 Cloud Trends to Watch in 2020 and Beyond
Cloud computing today is a complex ecosystem of innovative technologies, products, and associated services. Though it has various growing segments, there are three key cloud computing types. These are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), software as a Service (SaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). The following trends will stand out in 2020:
1. Open Source Software Will Keep Growing
More enterprises are embracing open-source software, including Fortune 500
companies. The same is true for cloud computing. Open-source software has been receiving significant support from volunteer developers as well as established corporations such as Google. In 2020, Kubernetes will keep dominating the deployment of distributed containerized applications.
It’s a favorite on AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and private clouds. If you’re running a scalable application, Kubernetes is an efficient deployment solution. It’s useful in managing the ecosystem of software, hardware, and network devices required to run a cloud application successfully.
Its features include load balancing, automated rollbacks, self-healing containers, and flexible storage options. Other open-source container virtualization tools include Docker, Istio, Envoy, Apache Zipkin, Prometheus, Jaeger, and Helm.
2. Serverless Computing
Popularized by AWS Lambda, serverless computing has revolutionized the Function as a Service (FaaS) segment. It allows developers to concentrate on their code without worrying about maintaining servers. You’re only charged for the computing power utilized when certain events trigger the code to run.
Such events include online shoppers moving products to an eCommerce cart and car requests on ride-hailing apps. Alternatives to AWS’s serverless computing solution include Google Functions, IBM OpenWhisk, and Microsoft’s Azure Functions. Given the growing popularity of IoT devices, demand for serverless computing will also keep growing in 2020.
3. Adoption of Multi-Cloud Architecture
While most enterprises use the cloud for some of their applications, there’s still a lot of room for growth. The biggest adopters of cloud computing include banking and financial services, entertainment, retail, education, and healthcare.
Most enterprises use separate cloud vendors for diverse products such as PaaS, IaaS, and SaaS. You may also use more than one provider for the same service depending on the workload, or as a backup option.
The benefits of this approach include flexibility, reducing reliance on one provider, and cost-effectiveness. If you provide services over a large geographic area, you might be forced to reduce latency by using multi-cloud. No matter how good a single cloud vendor is, they can’t provide premium service that satisfies all your needs.
4. Hybrid Computing
A hybrid cloud combines a public cloud with a private cloud or on-site servers. Although distinct entities, you can blend them successfully, depending on your IT needs. One reason enterprises adopt hybrid computing is because they’re dealing with sensitive data.
You can store the data in-house or on a private cloud while enjoying other services offered by public cloud providers. A hybrid cloud is a distinct deployment mode. This makes it different from a multicloud, which refers to various cloud services.
5. Artificial Intelligence
Given how sophisticated most cloud computing platforms are, AI will play a bigger role in automating processes in 2020. AI powers tech innovations such as IoT, while cloud computing stores the data required to run them efficiently. This mutually beneficial relationship will power future growth for both sectors.
AI-powered automation will allow you to reduce costs, as well as deploy bigger workloads faster and more efficiently. Automation will also improve security operations. By centralizing SOCs, you’ll be able to identify and respond to cyber threats more quickly, especially in the hybrid cloud. Automation will also further improve DevSecOps, which makes security integration a vital aspect of the development process.
6. Career Opportunities
Continuing growth and investment in cloud computing will naturally require skilled human resources. 2020 will have excellent career opportunities for qualified individuals. The most in-demand jobs include data engineer, full-stack developer, frontend and backend developers, cloud engineer, and software architect.
Successful employment will depend on skills such as cloud security, machine learning, and AI, serverless architecture, multi-cloud deployment, and automation. Having cross-platform skills will also be beneficial. These include AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud certifications.
2020 is guaranteed to be another great year for cloud computing. At Hummingbird Networks, we’re uniquely positioned to help you reap all of its benefits. Other than installing hardware for established tech companies, we also offer several essential services.
These include cloud readiness, IoT, data center, configuration, and device management solutions. Our highly skilled staff is conversant with the latest technology trends. Contact us today for more information.
