The cloud has had an enormous impact on business in the past few years and shows no signs of slowing down. If you’re new to the world of cloud, you may be wondering what the future holds for this space and how it might affect your company or business model. In 2022, the future of cloud will be far more defined than it was in years past, and this article will give you insight into which trends will be most important in the coming year and beyond. Let’s take a look at what the top 5 cloud trends will be in 2022.
1) Modern Workplace Solutions
Today’s workforce is becoming increasingly more mobile, less tied to an office, and more likely to be working off of their own terms. This means that businesses need access to technology that makes it easier than ever to accommodate their staff and provide them with everything they need in a way that fits into their lifestyles.
As the pandemic began in 2020, businesses were forced to quickly shift to a remote model for their workforce. This necessitated the rapid deployment of distributed collaboration solutions without the typical due diligence cycle that most organizations would bring to bear when choosing a new solution. In 2022, businesses will begin to look for more integrated solutions (such as Microsoft 365) that will allow their workforce to continue working remotely, making this one of the top cloud trends for 2022.
2) Containerization
As we’ve seen, virtualization is all about abstraction and isolation. You create a virtual container that acts like an independent machine while making use of underlying hardware resources. This is also true of containers, but containers go one step further and allow you to run multiple applications in a single virtual environment, creating a micro-VM for each application. The trend toward more distributed apps means more and more companies will be evaluating solutions such as Docker or Kubernetes. Container technologies are becoming increasingly accessible with vendors such as Red Hat building in-house solutions around them. Many public cloud providers (such as Microsoft Azure) offer both Docker native support and hosted support for open source orchestration tools.
3) Hybrid Cloud
Hybrid cloud will be on nearly every IT department’s radar in 2022. Hybrid cloud solutions allow companies to use a mix of private and public cloud resources as well as traditional on-premises infrastructure. The key here is that your applications can seamlessly transition between resources so that when you’re not making use of them, they move over to unused space in a public cloud provider—saving you both time and money. According to research by Bain & Company, these solutions can save enterprises up to 20 percent on their total data center costs. So, it’s easy to see why using hybrid clouds will become more popular in 2022 and beyond.
4) Cloud Security & Regulatory Compliance
The cloud is all about efficiency, cost-savings, and speed; however, it can come at a price. For companies that aren’t careful, their entire cloud investment could come crumbling down around them if they don’t take security and regulatory compliance seriously. According to a US Treasury report, ransomware payments in the first six months of 2021 reached a staggering $600 million. If a cyber-attack impacts a business using cloud services, your C-suite could be on the hook to cover any losses or pay penalties as part of your compliance agreement with government regulations. It doesn’t have to be that way though; there are measures you can take today to ensure your data and services are protected from hackers. With so much at stake, this is one of the most crucial cloud trends for any organization.
5) The Rise of AI & Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence has already found its way into most aspects of our lives. The most obvious ones include Siri and Cortana, but if you look deeper, you’ll find AI-powered technologies powering everything from self-driving cars to video game design. While it may not always be obvious, in 2022 AI will have a major impact on every industry and facet of our lives—and cloud computing is an excellent way to enable that growth.
With readily available access to powerful hardware and limitless storage, companies large and small can start taking advantage of data analytics capabilities like never before. In other words, now is a great time to make sure your business is ready for what’s coming in 10 years!
The cloud industry will continue to be flooded with new services, and established providers will release more innovative platforms. As we close out 2021 and begin to look forward to 2022, it’s essential to take some time to consider your strategy—and what changes you can make—to support a move toward these top five cloud trends. There is no better time than now. Contact Axeleos today, and let us help you Make Your Mark℠ in the cloud and beyond!