THE 5 BIGGEST CLOUD COMPUTING TRENDS IN 2021

Marketing Manager

Anastasia Shevchuk

What biggest trends can we expect from cloud computing in 2021? In this article we will consider the top 5 tendencies that will influence us this year.

Cloud computing has many benefits like storage of files and applications on servers, data backup and virtual desktop for remote working.

First of all, let us explain what cloud computing means, what types it has, its advantages and disadvantages and finally we will come up with the 5 biggest trends.

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services — including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and intelligence — over the Internet used to offer faster innovation, flexible usage of resources, and economies of scale. Besides, cloud computing is about improved performance, security, and increased productivity.

You don't need to save all your data on hard disks. Now, your personal information, documents, and applications are available from any device with which you can connect to the Internet, anywhere in the world, and retrieve it when you want.

Furthermore, cloud computing can be public and private:
Public cloud services are provided online for a fee and available to anyone who wants to use or purchase them whereas private cloud services are organized for a particular number of people. The example of a public cloud service is Microsoft Azure. Private cloud services, for instance, HP Data Centers, networking, and network architecture solutions that allow to design and build network infrastructure used among employees. There are also hybrid clouds which are a combination of public and private. They allow the information to move between private and public clouds. The areas where hybrid cloud computing is mostly used are banking, finance, government, and healthcare. For instance, some industries require certain types of information to be stored on-site while allowing less sensitive data to be stored on the cloud.

There are 3 broad categories of cloud computing services. Each of them is unique and accomplishes different goals but at the same time they build on top of one another.

They are:
1.Software as a service (SaaS).
2.Platform as a service (PaaS)
3.Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

First of all, let's have a look at the pros of cloud computing:

The cons:

Cloud computing depends on internet connection. If the internet path to your provider is in trouble, automatically access to your cloud computing machine will be disconnected. And this is the obstacle for developing countries and remote areas where internet access leaves much to be desired. The weakness of public cloud is that everyone has access to the same server and there is a high risk of attack.

Now, let's speak about the list of trends we can expect from cloud computing in 2021 that will help organizations become more competitive.

There are several companies on the cloud and more are expected to move there. Businesses of all sizes, whether it's a small startup or a multinational corporation, and businesses across several industries, from healthcare to intelligence agencies and even government organizations are all turning to cloud providers for data storage. This year organizations will want to ensure they are taking measurable steps to save their data and avoid a data breach and other activities that might compromise the privacy of data.

Cloud computing allows mobile access to corporate data via smartphones which is a great way to ensure that no one is ever left out of the loop. Staff with busy schedules, or employees who live a long way away from the corporate office, can use this feature to keep instantly up-to-date with clients and coworkers. Resources in the cloud can be easily stored, retrieved, recovered, or processed with just a couple of clicks. Users can get access to their works on-the-go, 24/7, via any device of their choice, in any corner of the world as long as you stay connected to the internet. On top of that, all the updates are done automatically, off-sight by the service providers. This saves time and team effort in maintaining the systems, tremendously reducing the IT team workloads.

Storing your data in the cloud guarantees that your data will be in a safe place if your equipment like laptop or tablet gets out of order. Cloud-based services provide quick data recovery for all kinds of situations. Cloud infrastructure can also help you with loss prevention. If you rely on the traditional on-premises approach, all your data will be stored locally, on office computers. Despite your best efforts, computers can break down because of various reasons - from viruses, to hardware deterioration, to simple errors. But, the cloud is the solution to all these problems, it remains accessible for any computer with an internet connection, even if something happens to your work computer.

The biggest cloud computing services run on a worldwide network of secure data centers which are constantly upgraded. What is more, vast amounts of information can be provided in minutes with just a few clicks and give businesses a lot of flexibility and increased performance.

Of course, speed, efficiency and innovations are about cloud computing but there is still a big concern when it comes to such data as medical records and financial information. Technologies are smart but natural disasters are still smarter. Servers maintained by cloud computing companies are vulnerable to internal bugs and electricity problems. For instance, power cuts in California may paralyze users in New York.

In 2021 and beyond, everybody will continue to rely thoroughly on clouds (as well as on streaming, remote collaboration, smart sensors, and other cloud-reliant digital technologies). Enterprise technology professionals will adjust their cloud strategies with one eye on COVID-19 trends and the other on their digital transformation initiatives. The tech vendors who stand to gain the most are those such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft that provide full, cloud-to-edge ecosystems that enable seamless new normal lifestyles.

Speaking about revenues,

Google Cloud's revenue — which includes sales from Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Google Workspace productivity tools and other enterprise cloud services — increased to $3.44 billion, compared to $2.38 billion in the same quarter last year.

It is expected that AWS revenue will grow less than the combination of Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure in 2021.

AWS will provide services for operations management, building on top of communications, messaging, and operations services such as Amazon Chime, Amazon Simple Queue Service, AWS Chatbot and AWS RoboMaker.

While Microsoft will exceed $25 billion in Azure cloud revenue in 2021 — driven by secular market demand for cloud and "partner trust that Amazon and Google cannot match"— and finally break out Azure revenue in its annual reports.

In the past year, the popularity of public clouds has increased. According to IDC (International Data Corporation), enterprise cloud spending, both public and private, increased 34.4% from a year previous, while non-cloud IT spending declined by 8%. These growth rates show the market response to major adjustments in business, educational, and social activities caused by the pandemic and the role IT infrastructure plays in these adjustments. Across the world, there were massive shifts to online tools in all aspects of human life, including collaboration, virtual business events, entertainment, shopping, telemedicine, and education.

In 2021 leading public cloud platforms — especially Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform — will strengthen their positions in the cloud market and expand their influence across many sectors of the global economy. AWS will retain its leading market share, though Microsoft, Google, and Alibaba will continue to fill up the gap.

Healthcare has been migrating to the cloud for the past several years and will continue to do so in 2021. Besides, the global market for cloud technologies in the healthcare industry is projected to grow by $25.54 billion during 2020-2024.

Cloud computing allows healthcare systems to store medical data online, the door for telehealth has been opened. Now patients can get healthcare right to their door and do many routine check-ups or consultations online.

According to a study by Frost & Sullivan, telehealth adoption has been accelerated by approximately two years due to the global pandemic.

The flexibility of cloud computing will also save money for healthcare companies. For example, since patient visits increase during flu season, they can increase their cloud capacity during this time. During the summer, when fewer people are sick, they can decrease it.

This also allows companies to reduce spend on the latest hardware or software updates, as the Cloud Solution Provider will manage it all.

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that allows people to superimpose digital content (images, sounds, text) over real-life scenes.

There is a prediction that companies will adopt a growing range of augmented reality tools to deliver training and guidance to cloud technical staff working from home.

Innovative approaches such as augmented reality are the only way that Amazon can hope to deliver on its recently announced plan to train 29 million people worldwide to work in cloud computing. Even in normal times, Amazon would find it impractical to train this many people in person.

«Beyond keeping people safe, the cloud computing industry's biggest challenge in 2021 will be to find, train, and equip enough skilled people to support customers' digital transformation initiatives.

Amazon has recently joined the ranks of tech giants and startups offering their platform for cloud gaming. As with music and video streaming before, cloud gaming promises to revolutionize the way entertainment media is consumed, offering instant access to vast libraries of games that can be played with a monthly subscription. Cloud gaming will change the market dramatically. Most recently, Amazon launched its cloud gaming platform, allowing users to access an extensive library and play on a monthly subscription. The same thing is happening in the field of music and movies — users are less likely to buy files on physical media and prefer to access content through cloud technologies. Last year, similar solutions appeared at such giants as Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia.

In the future, for a comfortable start of the game, you will only need a device and an Internet connection. However, it is not yet clear what changes in the field of gaming will lead to the launch of cloud technologies.

2020 has been an unusual year for businesses of all sizes. Every company had to adapt or suffer losses. The conditions of conducting business were changed, working from home became a normal phenomenon, the phrase "please, keep a social distance" was a daily one.
But, 2021 is expected to be a transformative year for IT — much of it due to the pandemic, as its effects persist. One day, however, the coronavirus will be gone, and the question facing most companies will be how to wisely embrace the new challenges and new realities. Cloud computing, thanks to its universality and popularity, may be just the answer they're looking for.

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