If you feel like most of your life takes place online these days, you aren’t alone. Eighty percent of consumers will view the world as entirely digital in 2022, according to predictions from Forrester Research. During the past couple of years, we’ve learned that everything – including work meetings, church services, exercise classes and family gatherings – can occur virtually, thanks to cloud computing.
In the year ahead, cloud technology will continue to influence us and play a significant role in personal and professional settings. If you’re wondering what the future has in store for this majorly influential type of tech, here are a few notable trends in cloud computing to keep on your radar.
1. Cloud adoption and spending will continue to grow.
This year and beyond, tech experts predict that the cloud will become an even more prominent presence in our lives, especially as businesses focus on accommodating distributed workforces. Public cloud spending is expected to account for more than 45 percent of all enterprise IT spending by 2026, compared to less than 17 percent in 2021, according to a press release from Gartner. Since “the cloud underpins most new technological disruptions,” adoption will continue at a swift pace, the release explains.
By 2023, we can expect half of all business workloads to operate in the cloud, according to projections from Spiceworks Ziff Davis (SWZD). The SWZD 2022 State of IT report predicts that hosted/cloud-based services will account for 26 percent of IT budgets this year (up from 22 percent in 2020) as companies increase their reliance on the technology.
2. Businesses will invest more in Desktop as a Service (DaaS).
IT buyers are expected to earmark 4 percent of their cloud budgets for DaaS, up from 3 percent in 2020 and 2021, according to SWZD. Also known as Workstation as a Service (WaaS), these cloud solutions leverage virtualization to separation the workstation operating system from the physical computer. End users can then access a virtual desktop from any internet-connected device. For companies with completely remote or distributed teams, it makes sense to turn to DaaS for accessibility.
3. Serverless computing solutions will become even more popular.
The growing prevalence of serverless computing is another significant trend to watch, according to the Forbes article “The 5 Biggest Cloud Computing Trends In 2022.” Also called Function as a Service (FaaS), serverless computing involves allowing a cloud provider to take over setting up, managing and maintaining servers. Potential advantages include cost savings due to the elimination of infrastructure-related spending, increased scalability, and freeing up developers to focus on code alone, according to Amazon Web Service (AWS), Microsoft Azure and IBM Cloud.
4. Cloud providers will display greater carbon intelligence.
Business leaders are becoming increasingly environmentally conscious: 45 percent of 2021 Gartner CEO Survey respondents said efforts to combat climate change will have a considerable effect on their organizations. In line with that, cloud providers are becoming “carbon intelligent.”
“New sustainability requirements will be mandated over the next few years and the choice of cloud services providers may hinge on the provider’s ‘green’ initiatives,” said Henrique Cecci, senior research director at Gartner, in a press release.
Public cloud providers have already begun to prioritize this issue by unveiling tools such as the Google Cloud Carbon Footprint dashboard, Microsoft Emissions Impact Dashboard, and the soon-to-be-released AWS Customer Carbon Footprint Tool (which the supplier plans to make available in early 2022). These tools allow companies to gain insight into carbon emissions generated by cloud services utilization.
Ultimately, this year is bound to be an eventful one as the cloud continues to shape the way we live and work. If you’re interested in learning more about trends in the cloud computing space, our trusted advisors have extensive experience working with various types of cloud solutions – including Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), among others. With our cloud consulting services, you can quickly identify cloud offerings that meet your organization’s specific requirements.
For details, please give us a call at 877-599-3999 or email sales@stratospherenetworks.com.