Will 2015 Be The Year Of The Cloud?
This year is the Year of the Sheep according to the Chinese zodiac calendar. But many Internet marketing and IT experts are calling it the year of the cloud. Rather than trying to be cute and make a connection between fluffy white sheep and fluffy white clouds, let’s instead take a look at why this could be the year that puts cloud computing over the top.
Have You Seen The Hybrid Cloud Yet?
Yes, it’s yet another fancy tech term. That’s because it’s not enough to just have the cloud; we need a hybrid cloud as well. Actually, it’s a fairly sweet arrangement. A hybrid cloud consists of two elements: the public cloud platform, something like Amazon Cloud Drive, coupled with an in-house, private cloud platform.
This is a perfect symbiotic relationship that’s especially good for businesses with security concerns. The private cloud stores all of those sensitive files, while the public cloud provides the processing needed for all of those applications and utilities that rely on said data.
By using the hybrid cloud, a company can get the best of both worlds: in-house security and off-site processing power. The hybrid cloud is a big reason that overall acceptance of cloud computing can’t help but increase this year.
The Cloud’s Finally Getting Love
When cloud computing first came on the scene, it was embraced only by the high-tech mega-geeky organizations, while the rest of the world sort of looked at it with reservations. It didn’t help that the news has given us stories about hackers getting into cloud-stored data and making for some embarrassed celebrities. Such stories just added fuel to the fears of having sensitive files stored off-site in this nebulous cloud-thing, instead of the good old fashioned “store it on your hard drives” approach.
But at last, cloud computing is being recognized for the convenience and reliability is has to offer, so much so that more companies than ever are turning to it. It’s getting to the point where professionals are waking up to the fact that the cloud is a necessary element in making a business run better and keep it competitive.
Since no one wants to be left behind or give the impression that they’re slow to embrace innovations, expect to see it adopted by more companies, organizations, and individuals.
The Internet Of Things And Big Data Weigh In
Big Data has been around for a while; it’s due to the advent of the Internet and mobile networking that it has become even bigger and more important. The Internet of Things is a newer concept, and it will only make Big Data even bigger. With this increase in the amount of data come increased demands for storage, processing, analytics, and management, and the cloud keeps demonstrating how easily it can handle these raised expectations.
Today’s businesses are using Big Data more than ever because of the simple fact that a better-informed decision is more likely to succeed, and a business that wants to stay prosperous and competitive needs hit the bull’s-eye more often. The Internet of Things offers unprecedented insights into the habits, preferences, and demographics of today’s users and customers, helping businesses to offer better deals and aim them at the demographic groups most likely to appreciate them.
Leave it to the cloud to offer a reliable, cost-effective manner of managing Big Data.
A More Secure Cloud
While it can sometimes be taken to ridiculous extremes, concerns over security are to be expected and even welcomed. After all, if cloud storage providers want more people to use them, then customers must be assured that their data is safe. It’s in the providers’ best interest to improve security, and by all accounts, that’s exactly what they’re doing.
According to a report published by the Synergy Research Group, the cloud security market grew by twenty percent back in 2014. Cloud encryption technology continues to enjoy improvements, making for an all-around more secure environment. While there still might be issues on the users’ end in terms of passwords and other security measures, at least the providers are doing their part.
The more effective the security measures, the more likely that potential users will put aside their reservations and take the plunge. Improved security is a big reason that 2015 will experience an uptick in cloud clients.
Workload-Drive Demand
It’s getting to the point where workload characteristics are becoming the deciding factor in what kind of platform is to be used. Rather than building and managing physical data centers, CIOs can determine the needs of individual workloads, and send them off to either the public or private cloud, and that brings us back again to the hybrid cloud concept.
If you want more insights into why the cloud will be more popular than ever, then check out the article “Why 2015 Is Set To Be The Biggest Year For Cloud Adoption Yet” . But when it is all said and done, there’s every reason to believe that, when we look back at 2015, it will be dubbed the Year of the Cloud.
About Author: John Terra has been a freelance writer since 1985. He was born in the Year of the Boar, but really wishes he had a cooler animal.
