Cloud computing continues to facilitate opportunities for growth and digitalization, with development teams building more robust servers, tighter security, rapid performance, and smoother workflows. The sheer pace at which these innovations are rolling out can make an SMB feel overwhelmed, and integrating changes may seem like a pipe dream.
To help companies understand the current state of affairs – and to make well-informed decisions that will benefit their business – this article will talk about some of the latest trends to know about in cloud computing.
Expect Cloud Computing to Grow Exponentially
Cloud computing is here to stay, and it shows no sign of slowing down. A recent Gartner article predicted that upwards of 85% of companies will adopt cloud-first principles by 2025 – only a few months away at the time of this writing.
The majority of software development projects already incorporate cloud computing in some manner, so developers must understand and utilize the latest cloud trends to remain relevant and competitive.
Hybrid Cloud Servers
Until recently, public and private clouds have been mutually exclusive and offered different benefits to users. The public cloud provided efficient data access and robust scalability required no capital investment and was delivered through pay-as-you-go service models. The primary benefit of a private cloud was that it offered more control over protecting the access to (and management of) sensitive data.
Hybrid cloud servers optimize the power of both public and private cloud servers, establishing a customized IT architecture that reaches across several environments. Before this development, companies would typically have to choose between public and private cloud servers depending on their specific requirements. With a hybrid strategy, businesses are able to create a tailored public-private cloud solution, effectively getting the best of both worlds.
Four years ago, analyst group Statista predicted that half of cloud deployments would be hybrid by 2025.
AI Makes Cloud Computing More Intelligent
Artificial intelligence (AI) assists with managing massive amounts of cloud-stored data. It autonomously finds data patterns and collects intelligence and insights to apply across the organization, elevating data analysis to an elevated level. AI-driven cloud computing also offers smart automation and monitors essential workflows. Many cloud platforms come with existing AI solutions that allow software developers to incorporate the latest machine learning (ML) applications without requiring them to have any expertise in ML itself.
AI platforms and ML tasks require significant amounts of processing power, but building in-house systems can be cost-prohibitive. Cloud computing transforms AI into an affordable option by giving access to powerful servers and infrastructure without capital investment.
Serverless Computing and Managed Services
Serverless computing allows companies to delegate server infrastructure maintenance instead of relying on the cloud provider to manage infrastructure, allocate resources, and acquire complex server equipment. Depending on the specific requirements and applications on the servers, they can be scaled automatically and indefinitely.
With serverless computing, internal developers never have to worry about maintaining servers or creating any environment configurations. They can easily upload small snippets of code and run them on servers close to the end user, minimizing latency. Unlike conventional servers, which run even when not in use, most cloud providers operate under a pay-as-you-go structure that allows companies to only pay for what they use – rather than fixed dollar amounts for storage.
Integrating serverless computing into your strategy simplifies the process of creating and deploying new features. It removes the risk of hardware failure, allowing IT personnel to concentrate on adding value to the core business and optimizing productivity.
Alliance IT is a managed services company based in Sarasota. We specialize in helping SMBs to take advantage of the latest technologies that will help them to compete and thrive alongside much larger organizations.
