“Cloud computing has moved past its self-centred teenage years to become a turbocharged engine powering digital transformation around the world,” states a new Forrester report, Predictions 2019: Cloud Computing. In 2018 we saw demand for hybrid cloud solutions increase yet again, so we decided to look at how data centre technology trends are continuing to evolve in 2019.
- Increasing Footprint
Whilst there is increased demand for public cloud resources provided by companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, and Google, there is also an increase in demand for private cloud solutions as businesses move toward hybrid and multi-cloud strategies.
“The data centre market is witnessing strong growth in numerous major regions including the Americas, Europe, and Southeast Asia. For instance, the data centre market in Europe will grow USD 25 billion by 2023, accelerating at a CAGR of more than 11%. The release of the GDPR act 2016/679 has encouraged many vendors to construct data centres in this region.” – Technavio
- Hybrid Growth
More enterprises are making use of hybrid and multi-cloud environments, this is primarily being driven by the demand for data centre extensions, cloud migrations and application development/ modernisation. Hybrid Clouds are applicable to any organisation that requires the security of a private environment but also has a need to flex up and flex down. Key applications can be controlled and secured in a private environment while less critical workloads can utilise the power of the public cloud. This approach and flexibility demonstrates that cloud should no longer be seen a commodity but as a valuable strategy that can help businesses to deliver a clear roadmap for digital transformation.
- The Investment in Edge
We also expect to see investments in Edge computing environments, driven by the proliferation of IoT initiatives and by the launch of new 5G networks and 5G-enabled devices. There will be interest around the opportunities and innovation that Edge computing can bring, so expect to see more examples of organisations engaging with edge computing in real-world scenarios. Although edge computing may fuel concerns about skills, staffing and security, it will also drive innovation around things such as infrastructure automation and remote management solutions.
- Artificial Intelligence
2018 saw mounting interest in AI in all its forms and potential applications, this trend will continue into 2019. Many AI applications need data centres to provide the necessary computational power, therefore there is a focus on the introduction of data centre platforms that make it easier for enterprises to deploy and optimise AI workloads. AI applications are also being developed to improve the data centres themselves by improving energy efficiency, optimising server usage and security.
- Flexible Consumption
The continuing rise of Big Data will further fuel demand for storage, compute, and other data centre resources. So, alongside the efforts to make data centre’s more intelligent, 2019 will see an even stronger emphasis on making data centre technologies easier to consume. Organisations are likely to make increasing use of a range of new models for leveraging and consuming IT resources, for example, cloud solutions that are offered via flexible, pay-as-you-consume business models.
The cloud will continue to evolve at a lightning pace and so too will the capabilities that it can deliver. At amatis we are not only experts in the cloud but continually develop our cloud infrastructure to deliver the best possible range of services to our customers. We love to talk about the cloud and connectivity so are more than happy to spend time with you to understand your business requirements, hear about your current challenges and explain to you what is possible and the pros and cons of each solution.