By Indrajeet Ghorpade – General Manager – Technical Services at Rahi Systems
The year 2020 and 2021 witnessed ‘Data Explosion’, there was an exponential rise in the generation and storage of data as work went virtual and businesses adopted digital services. 2022 will not only experience the quick cloud deployments for specific applications but a complete overhaul of enterprise systems embracing cloud migration.
As per a survey conducted by Forbes, 83% of the enterprise workload will be stored on the cloud by the end of 2021. The current shared cloud model is less flexible in terms of controlling it but it offers ease of access and high security. 94% of businesses experienced a significant improvement in security after migrating to the cloud, according to Salesforce.
Augmenting the best of public and private cloud environments with the hybrid cloud will continue to be a major trend continuing from 2021. Cloud has emerged as the most efficient data storage and application management solution. It has enabled organizations to focus on their core services. This article highlights the innovation and ongoing advancements in cloud computing infrastructure identified by Rahi’s cloud experts.
- The Rise of Serverless Cloud Computing
Cloud service providers like Amazon (AWS Lambda), IBM Cloud Function, and Microsoft Azure Functions are offering serverless cloud computing services. A relatively new concept, the serverless cloud is gaining huge traction as it provides a true pay-as-you-go service and users don’t need to pay a fixed amount for storage or lease a server.
Serverless technology does not imply that servers are not present; servers are present, but users only use them without getting into the setups and technicalities. Also referred to as the ‘functions-as-a-service’, it can be utilized by startups and small businesses to rapidly upscale their business leveraging serverless architectural solutions with minimal capital investments.
Serverless infrastructure is infinitely scalable, and the expenses spent are dependent only on consumption, allowing businesses to pay for the exact cloud services they utilize. According to Mordor Intelligence, the serverless computing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 23.17% during the year 2021-2026.
- Cloud Security – The Race to Cloud should be highly secure
As per IDG, 92% of organizations are hosting their IT infrastructure on the cloud, 55% are using multiple cloud systems with 21% of organizations using 3 or more cloud systems. This exponential growth in cloud adoptions created a new vulnerability for bad actors to compromise the IT systems. Cybercrime saw a steep increase of 630% in the January to April period only.
The recent breach in which over a million email addresses were exposed of GoDaddy customers shows that cloud security is critical and requires a proactive approach to fill up blind spots in the system. As per AllCloud’s Cloud Infrastructure Report, 28% of respondents consider security as one of the most important criteria in selecting the cloud service provider. Cloud offers the flexibility and operational efficiency an organization needs to grow and scale at ease but at the same time, it opens a gateway for cybercriminals via multiple entry points.
A major trend to counter cloud-based security issues is the use of Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs). CASBs are cloud-based security enforcement points placed between the cloud user and service provider. It can be on-premise or cloud-based security policy enforcement points and consolidates multiple security enforcement measures. Over 50% of organizations don’t have a proper security framework for their cloud applications. Cloud adoptions saw a huge jump, cloud security comes next.
- The Cloud Goes Green – With Sustainable Infrastructure
According to CDP Global, climate change will cost global businesses $1.3 trillion by 2026. Cloud significantly reduces the power consumption at the users’ end as physical IT infrastructure is handled by the colocation facility providing the cloud services. Maximum power consumption occurs due to the ‘Always on’ infrastructure, powerful computing engines, massive digital storage requirements, etc.
Out of 9 consideration factors, 80% of consumers list sustainability as the most crucial while selecting a service provider. A wider audience is emerging who want their brand ethics to be in line with the values of service providers. With 44% of CEOs planning on net-zero futures, it is now increasingly important to take the best of highly efficient cloud operations. Adopting a public cloud reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 59 MT per year. Noticing the sustainability impact of cloud, it will be a very important trend in 2022 and years to come.
Tech giants around the world will be focussing on becoming net zero in 2022, Amazon – the largest cloud service provider is also the biggest buyer of renewable energy resources for its data centers. Going green is more of an environmental necessity than just a trend to follow. Businesses globally are relying on the cloud for most of their operations, with advanced digital transformation. Rahi’s cloud experts are always evolving to bring the best of the cloud to your IT infrastructure.
