The majority of consumers are likely to continue to adopt cloud computing in the coming years. Cloud computing was already gaining traction prior to COVID-19, but the difficulties with remote working and resource constraints during the pandemic helped accelerate cloud computing trends.
In 2022, cloud usage will undoubtedly grow, and the requirement for solutions which assist a more hybrid working environment will move away from platforms which offer a specific function (like Zoom, etc) towards a more holistic strategy centred on enterprise-wide cloud migration.
Here are our top five cloud computing trends and predictions for 2022 you should keep an eye on.
Hybrid Cloud Environments
Typically, businesses and IT departments had a decision to make when it came to cloud migration. They could either choose public cloud, where readily available cloud solutions are available as a pay-as-you-go solution, offloading data to third party solution providers helping reduce infrastructure costs. Or Private Cloud options that are more customisable and adaptable where businesses store their data on-site and benefit from low latency and high data transfer speeds.
Hybrid cloud refers to a mixed computing, storage, and services environment made up of on-premises infrastructure, private cloud services, and a public cloud—such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure—with orchestration among the various platforms. Using a combination of public clouds, on-premises computing, and private clouds in your data centre means that you have a hybrid cloud infrastructure.
AI and Cloud Computing
Artificial intelligence and cloud computing have merged to improve the lives of millions. Digital assistants like Siri, Google Home, and Amazon’s Alexa blend AI and cloud computing in our lives every day.
This use of AI in Cloud computing is just the tip of the iceberg. On a larger scale, AI capabilities are working in the business cloud computing environment to make organisations more efficient, strategic, and insight-driven. Cloud computing offers businesses more flexibility, agility, and cost savings by hosting data and applications in the cloud. Artificial intelligence capabilities are now layering with cloud computing and helping companies manage their data, look for patterns and insights in information, deliver customer experiences, and optimise workflows.
The combination of AI with cloud computing has the potential to help us make sense of vast volumes of data, streamline complex processes, and provide products and services to your customers more seamlessly and fluidly than ever before and is something we will see more of over the coming years.
Transition to Multi-Cloud
For organisations that want to migrate to the cloud without placing all their eggs in the same basket, leveraging a multi-cloud environment is the perfect solution. A multi-cloud approach enables businesses to choose cloud services best suited to their specific application environments, availability requirements, and business needs, despite the increased complexity of operating different workloads in separate clouds.
In 2022, we can expect businesses to expand their digital footprint by embracing hybrid and multi-cloud models to benefit from the elasticity and agility in the cloud whilst maintaining tight control over their data.
The rise of Serverless
Serverless computing is a method of providing backend services on an as-used basis (sometimes referred to as ‘functions-as-a-service’). Servers are still used, but a company that gets backend services from a serverless vendor is charged based on usage, not a fixed amount of bandwidth or number of servers. This solution is gaining market traction thanks to providers such as Microsoft (Azure Functions) and IBM Cloud Functions, among others.
The rise of serverless in cloud computing will continue to grow and expand in 2022 and beyond with more organisations turning to solutions that bring a new user experience and innovation through the cloud landscape.
Sustainability is a driver of cloud innovation
2021 saw world leaders and climate activists finally gather for the COP26 Conference in Glasgow to make urgent and meaningful commitments to reducing emissions and limit global temperatures to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels by 2050. The role that cloud computing can play to reduce power consumption related to compute and storage is significant and the rest of the world is finally coming around. Fortunately, today, most enterprises want to get close to a net-zero carbon impact.
Cloud providers are constantly striving for increased efficiencies in their hardware and software, where even minor improvements can add up to significant long-term reductions in power consumptions. This will be no different in 2022 and beyond, as many tech giants will spend the next few years putting measures in place to help them achieve their net-zero carbon goals.
