Top Cloud Computing Predictions for 2018

In 2017 many enterprises, irrespective of their size have migrated to cloud. Let’s throw light on what to expect from the cloud in 2018.

1. Hybrid clouds to gain traction

Increasing popularity for public and private clouds arises a demand for applications to be built on hybrid clouds. Businesses are looking for budget-friendly cloud pricing. Usage of hybrid clouds can help achieve this through optimal resource utilization. We can expect increased use of containers to configure hybrid clouds. Moreover, their ability to provide enhanced data security and architectural flexibility is making them a preferred option.

2. Strong Governance Policies can take your cloud to the next level

A proper governance plan i.e. the policies, procedures to regulate the usage of services plays a crucial role in the growth of a business. The increasing complexity of cloud-based systems necessitates the use of intelligent cloud management platform that serves the purpose of budget control, reducing the risk of data loss and deriving usage metrics.

3. IoT and Cloud

IoT is an emerging field of technology and its applications in various domains are transforming our lives. Edge and Cloud Computing together can catalyze the IoT innovations. Amazon Alexa – popular IoT Application is cloud-based.

4. Blockchain is the new buzzword

The blockchain is the technology behind bitcoins. It promotes a secure data exchange and provides transaction based infrastructure. It is expected that the potential of blockchain technology will grow and the ease of operating these platforms will be improved.

5. Growing attention to multi-cloud strategies

Owing to the workload-specific requirements, more and more companies would be adopting the multi-cloud approach. Multi-cloud strategy in addition to the emergence of cloud management platform is providing a cost-effective solution to meet diverse business and technological requirements but ensuring proper interoperability between the heterogeneous cloud environments and compliance to standards can turn out to be a nightmare.

6. Containerization to go mainstream

Containers facilitate easy deployment and improved scalability of applications. In 2018 usage of Kubernetes and containers will gain momentum. In the virtue of offering portability, containers will play a significant role in supporting IoT applications.

7. Enterprise Transformation and increasing storage requirements

The advent of new technologies is empowering the IT era and the volume of data is also increasing. According to a survey report, 600 ZB of data is expected to be stored in data centers in 2018. Consequently, a large number of enterprises are shifting their workloads to the cloud. In 2018, it is expected that enterprise transformation will continue to grow rapidly.

8. Security Concerns

Cloud is nowadays a necessity rather than an option but cloud computing also brings in security challenges. Enterprises should be aware of the exposure to vulnerable threats and design security policies to reduce the risk.  Encryption of sensitive data, usage of secure API will help protect the data from security attacks. The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force on May 25, 2018. It aims at reducing the security breaches.

9. Evolution of API connections

The usage of Cloud APIs is skyrocketing as they are supporting cross-platform cloud environments. Widespread use of APIs is evident from their capability to mobilize resources and automate operations. AWS API was used to implement face recognition and image classification applications. It is expected to witness a broadening interest in the use of API- based SaaS platforms like cloud management platform.

10. Hunt for industry skills continues

A large number of enterprises are migrating to the cloud at a rapid rate. Consequently, the demand for professional services to maintain and operate cloud platforms is also increasing. Shortage of technical expertise is plaguing the ability of enterprises to exploit the benefits of a cloud environment.