2019 promises to be an exciting year for cloud computing in general, and for emerging public cloud computing trends in particular. Organizations are highly focused on investing in their infrastructure in the year ahead, according to the 2019 Spiceworks State of IT survey. Forbes also noted that by the end of 2018, half of the global enterprises in existence would rely on at least one public cloud service. Cloud computing is squarely in the spotlight for enabling growth, experimentation, and reaching new levels of productivity in the year ahead. If you’re curious to learn more about the key trends that will be impacting public cloud computing in 2019, read on.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service Continues to Grow
As businesses continue to invest in their digital experiences and growing their technologies, infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) will be in the spotlight. As TechTarget notes, “Organizations choose IaaS because it is often easier, faster and more cost-efficient to operate a workload without having to buy, manage and support the underlying infrastructure. With IaaS, a business can simply rent or lease that infrastructure from another business.”
The 2019 Spiceworks State of IT survey noted that 2019 promises to be a significant year of infrastructure-related investments. Organizations are taking a step back from experimental technologies in many cases and, instead, shoring up their infrastructure. Whether the goal is to replace outdated technology, streamline workflows, or prepare for future deployment, IaaS will be getting significant attention in the year ahead.
IaaS Powers Innovation and Exploration
At the same time, organizations that seek to be strategic about exploring the impact of emerging technologies will rely on IaaS resources to reduce both cost and risk when introducing these solutions to their business models. From testing out new customer experiences to developing their own software solutions, organizations are increasingly turning to technology to give them operational efficiencies and customer experience differentiators.
From a public cloud perspective, IaaS is powering much of that innovation. As Forrester notes, “Cloud computing is now shorthand for how companies turn amazing ideas into winning software—faster.” Organizations will be fueling their growth by looking at IaaS as an affordable, lower risk way to invest in growth.
Edge Computing Influences IaaS Development
Over the past year, there have been significant discussions around edge computing and the cloud. In the year ahead, we’ll see discussions around edge computing—and how it influences IaaS development—mature. According to Computer Weekly, “Gartner is predicting that by 2021 the world will have shifted with 65% of global infrastructure providers generating 55% of their revenues from edge-related services that support digital touchpoints.” In 2019, organizations are likely to see an evolution in the way different IaaS providers manage the flow of their data. New offerings will increasingly embrace an edge computing model, which in turn benefits organizations as they invest in the latest emerging technologies.
SaaS Continues to Grow and Power Improved Operations
Cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) has enabled companies to quickly and affordably adopt best-in-class solutions for everything from sales and marketing to finance and the customer experience. Bain & Company predicts that 2019 will see an explosion of growth in the SaaS space, with adoption rates forecasted to grow at double digit rates throughout the year. As a result, SaaS providers will continue to experience growth and expansion. Customers will enjoy less IT infrastructure to manage, more agile business processes, and stable and predictable IT costs. B2B buyers will look to innovative solutions to find and compare options, such as public cloud marketplaces, which allow organizations to put together custom cloud solutions that work for their needs across the business. In fact, the shift to SaaS will be so dramatic that Forrester predicts, “In 2019, we’ll see a resurgence of what we used to call ‘industry clouds,’ with extensible SaaS applications at their core.”
SaaS Data Management Comes into the Spotlight
As SaaS adoption grows, organizations will be looking more closely at the cybersecurity and data backup and recovery solutions affiliated with these solutions. Many organizations don’t fully understand how their relationships with SaaS providers work, and who holds responsibility for data integrity and safety. The number of cybersecurity attacks against SaaS providers is growing. While SaaS providers typically have strong security in place, it’s an area of concern for IT managers. Many SaaS providers are not responsible for the security of organizational data that’s stored in the programs, according to their terms of service. This fact has recently been getting increasing attention in headlines and from security experts. As a result, in 2019, we expect to see organizations evaluating their SaaS strategies through the lens of ensuring they have a comprehensive data and security backup strategy in place should disaster strike.
Liz Alton
Liz Alton is a B2B technology and digital marketing writer and content strategist. She has worked with a variety of brands including Google, Twitter, Adobe, Oracle, and HP, and written for publications including Forbes. She is a regular contributor to Connected, Connection’s official blog.
