2024 Cloud Computing Predictions: Repatriation, Mainframes, AI, Security, More
Get ready: The cloud computing predictions for 2024 are a big deal, especially for the channel.
aappp/Shutterstock
“The cloud is not going anywhere. Many of the promises that have led to 57% of all of today’s data being stored in the cloud still hold true. However, organizations are realizing that, for all its benefits, the cloud is not the cost-effective silver bullet for every kind of application and data. This is leading to widespread cloud data repatriation. Mature organizations that made the journey to the cloud are bringing some data back on-premises, and cloud-native companies are supplementing their cloud infrastructure by moving some data to new on-premises computing and storage resources. In fact, estimates suggest that as many as 80% of companies will repatriate at least some data next year. This will create a massive opportunity for a variety of channel partners in 2024. For example:
Resellers: Cloud-native companies bringing data on-premises will need help acquiring the hardware infrastructure and management software to build out their data centers.
GSIs: Both mature organizations and cloud-native companies will need help navigating integrations in the increasingly hybrid multi-cloud infrastructures cloud data repatriation contributes to.
MSPs: Many mature organizations redeployed data center staff as part of their cloud journeys, and many cloud-native companies simply never have had them in the first place. In both cases, there is a talent and skills gap that MSPs can help fill.”
—Mike Walkey, senior vice president of global channels and alliances, Veritas Technologies
“The way people work will remain hybrid and flexible. Today, employees want the choice of working remotely or in an office.
Creating human-centric models for a hybrid environment based on secure, seamless communications tools with the flexibility to collaborate and communicate from anywhere is critical to where the workplace is headed. This requires an agile approach where each employee communicates according to their own needs. Cloud communication and collaboration solutions are the basis for implementing the future of work. Enterprises need to pay attention to connectivity and flexibility when adopting cloud platforms to ensure that the employee is not limited, while their security perimeter is maximally protected.”
“In 2023, cloud lock-in became a big topic, so much so that the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK recently launched an investigation into the cloud infrastructure industry exploring this very topic. We can expect egress costs to become even more of a hot topic in 2024: with more businesses than ever reliant on fast speeds and low latencies to perform well, high egress costs are increasingly forming a block on innovation. Today, businesses have many different cloud workloads, and each one has slightly different requirements. Those requirements may be met better by adopting a multicloud, multiprovider approach, and high egress costs prevent businesses from being able to implement this strategy effectively. The focus should be on reviewing and adjusting standard practices from cloud providers so that the industry as a whole can respond to changing customer demand, and ultimately provide a better service.”
—John Bradshaw, director of cloud computing technology and strategy EMEA, Akamai Technologies
“Business leaders have shown a bigger commitment to reducing their environmental footprint in recent years, with a focus on optimizing resource usage and enhancing the efficiency of data centers. … As businesses rely more on hybrid cloud solutions for their IT needs, these technologies must contribute to a sustainable future. Therefore, in 2024, hybrid cloud sustainability will transition from a ‘nice-to-have’ strategy to an absolute necessity due to its real implication on the business. The shift … will include a range of initiatives. Data center infrastructure and data management practices will be overhauled to reduce unnecessary resource consumption. This may consist of
eliminating hot spots and excess energy usage, enhancing cooling systems, and properly removing electrical waste. Businesses will implement strategies to intelligently optimize workloads in their hybrid cloud setups for reduced energy consumption.”
—Monica Kumar, chief marketing officer, Hitachi Vantara
“Enterprises will prioritize partnerships around mainframe management and modernization due to the resiliency of mainframe platforms and the skills gaps in this space that make resources scarce. As enterprises adopt new technology, they need to make sure their tools work with their existing tools and not in silos. For example, the need to attach AI to a mainframe application … requires deep knowledge and the ability to navigate programming languages such as COBOL and Java.”
—Petra Goude, global practice leader for core enterprise and zCloud, Kyndryl
“Most of the data economy today doesn’t have the individual at its heart, but this is changing fast. …[O]rganisations now understand that their customer and business relationships are not built around trust — and this needs to change. Data sovereignty means showing respect for user data. It means having control over it and knowing where data is, who has access to it, and having the freedom to move it, edit it or delete it. Data sovereignty is about ultimately about respect for individual human rights. In 2024, our definition of data sovereignty will become broader and include further considerations of data portability, contract periods, use of open-source software, integration and even choice of hardware. This is a worthy goal: it’s only when we have full control and transparency over information that the data economy will become a fairer, more human-centric place.”
—Emma Dennard, vice president of Northern Europe, OVHcloud
“As businesses continue to sharpen their focus on efficiency, scrutinizing every expenditure and tool, by December 2024, most forward-thinking CIOs will institutionalize platform engineering and establish corresponding teams. These teams will not only manage technology assets, but also prioritize them to accelerate business value delivery. This strategic shift aligns with the broader industry trend of optimizing technology stacks for agility and efficiency, offering a multidimensional approach to solving current business challenges.”
—Kyle Campos, chief product and technology officer, CloudBolt Software
“For decades, organizations have been reacting defensively to the onslaught of threats coming at them. Cutting-edge cloud security posture management and data security posture management tools are proving highly effective in nullifying what was once a massive advantage held by malicious threat actors. When this technology is combined with security orchestration automation and response and extended detection and response tools and services, businesses can seal the technology and processes gaps like never before and elevate their security posture well above what we've ever seen.”
—Nick Franklin, Amazon Web Services Technology Alliance Director, Fortra
“In the past, companies were reliant on sentiment analysis tools to try and understand how customers were feeling about service interactions. However, these tools haven’t always been effective, as they only provide top-level insights on whether customers are satisfied or unhappy. With generative AI tools, customer service representatives will be able to dig into more granular insights and better predict customer behaviors, such as their interest in buying additional products or their risk of churn. By taking disparate, ‘messy’ data and combining it into a more comprehensive summary of customer sentiment, generative AI will help create better customer interactions in the year ahead.”
—Simon Margolis, associate chief technology officer, SADA
“I believe the biggest cloud-based benefit the market will truly appreciate in the near term is the retrofitting of AI capabilities into existing products and services. This will help consumers get more from the solutions they already have, while they continue to explore how to implement AI in other, more meaningful ways for their own customers.”
—Jaret Chiles, chief services officer, DoiT International
“I believe the biggest cloud-based benefit the market will truly appreciate in the near term is the retrofitting of AI capabilities into existing products and services. This will help consumers get more from the solutions they already have, while they continue to explore how to implement AI in other, more meaningful ways for their own customers.”
—Jaret Chiles, chief services officer, DoiT International
The end of each year marks a prime opportunity for looks ahead, and these cloud computing predictions for 2024 are no exception.
If we had to put it briefly, we’d say get ready, because the coming 12 months will be big for the cloud sector and its channel partners.
Consider this: 2024 is only four years out from what Gartner predicts will emerge as perhaps cloud computing’s most significant year (other than its inception). By 2028, the research firm says, cloud will shift from acting as a technology disruptor to finding its place as an indispensable part of a business’ ability to compete. As evidence, worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services will have exceeded $1 trillion by 2028, analysts forecast. That’s up from what Gartner projects will amount to $679 billion in the same spending next year.
“Organizations are actively investing in cloud technology due to its potential to foster innovation, create market disruptions and enhance customer retention … to gain a competitive edge,” said Milind Govekar, distinguished vice president analyst at Gartner. “While many organizations have started to seize the technical advantages of cloud, only a few have unlocked its full potential in supporting business transformation. As a result, organizations are using the cloud to launch a new wave of disruption driven by artificial intelligence, enabling them to unlock business value at scale.”
Gartner's Milind Govekar
Right now, most cloud users see the technology as merely a platform, per Gartner. They’re relying on it either as a way to disrupt other technologies or to enable certain capabilities. That will change, if Gartner’s cloud computing predictions come true. To that point, by 2028, more than one-half of enterprises will lean on industry cloud platforms to accelerate business initiatives. That will turn cloud into a necessity, according to Gartner.
With four years left before those predicted shifts come to fruition, other transformations will have to come about in cloud computing first. Some of those will come to the forefront in 2024. See our slideshow above for what partners and their customers need to know on the cloud front in the year ahead.
About the Author(s)
You May Also Like