Cloud computing trends: What to expect in 2023

Cloud computing became more popular between 2020 and 2021 as businesses adapted to the global pandemic by putting a focus on delivering digital services. It is only expected to continue its rise as new capabilities and deployment patterns are constantly emerging which will provide organizations of all sizes and sectors with more ways to consume and benefit from their cloud investments. Worldwide spending on cloud services is expected to hit $482.155 billion in 2022—up from $313.853 billion in 2020 as reported by Gartner. While it is impossible to predict the future with any kind of certainty, it can be useful for businesses to consider some of the trends that could cause changes in their industry.

Alternative clouds vendors that support multi and hybrid cloud solutions

In a practical approach to cloud computing, business and IT leaders will select cloud solutions that are designed to support their organizations’ specific goals. As a result, many organizations have found themselves in a multi-cloud environment, using different products from different vendors. A hybrid cloud approach—in which some applications are hosted on-premises and others are hosted in the cloud that can help reduce complexity. 

Developers and businesses are increasingly looking at employing alternatives. As the cloud market continues to boom, more organizations are looking for cloud providers who can meet their specific needs, rather than the complex and expensive offerings of the big hyperscalers. This trend will continue to gain traction as multi-cloud becomes the dominant cloud strategy for businesses.

Cloud based ML-driven AI 

As companies continue to embrace digital transformation, IT operations teams must be equipped with the right mix of people, processes, and technology to optimally support business goals. Technologies like AIOps, MLOps and APM can help optimize IT performance and transform digital businesses by enhancing the processes that govern how humans, technology, and tools work together. These methodologies not only reduce operational costs through automation but also help increase operational efficiency by providing real-time insights into ongoing operations. AI/ML models (when trained and deployed in a cloud environment) can have access to a large amount of data. It's critical to consider where these models are being trained and deployed so you can make sure you have the right resources available for them.

Cloud computing, blockchain, and security 

As more businesses move their workloads to the cloud, IT leaders will be required to protect their organizations from cyberattacks. By the end of this year, IT environments are likely to shift from reactive to proactive cybersecurity strategies, with the goal of anticipating and mitigating issues as close to real-time as possible.

Blockchain has the ability to integrate seamlessly into cloud computing systems, improving data protection and ensuring uninterrupted services. It has a significant impact on storage, transactions, and business processes by making them safer, faster, and more reliable to work with. Thus, combining blockchain and cloud to gain more security and decentralization, resulting in better authorization, privacy, and efficiency, is the way to go. Many industries can benefit from Blockchain-Cloud services which will give businesses more flexibility in data storage while keeping data validated.

Advancement in Serverless Computing and Sustainability

Cloud and related technologies can help energy conservation efforts in an always-on infrastructure model while also efficiently managing costs. Serverless cloud is a new and exciting option for enterprise application development. Unlike server-based cloud platforms, which require users to pay for leased server time or fixed amounts of data storage, the serverless cloud allows companies to pay only for the resources they use—and invisibly scales as necessary.  Traditionally, developers write code, provision a physical server or virtual machine, then prep that environment before they can run the code. A serverless approach, on the other hand, allows for faster service deployment and scaling.

The shift to cloud computing is expected to accelerate as more organizations recognize the benefits and efficiencies of running applications and services in the cloud. In fact, many businesses have expressed a willingness to increase their use of SaaS (software-as-a-service) applications by 50 percent or more. Over the next few years, more organizations are likely to move their digital offerings to the cloud and make them available to a wider audience. This is likely due to increased demand for easier and faster access to content, as well as a desire for greater administrative control over data storage and privacy.

The article has been written by Shally Gupta, IEEE Graduate Member