The cloud has become such a commonly used term over the past decade that it’s, unfortunately, become a bit of a buzzword. Whether in private or business conversations, people tend to be numb to the true weight of the cloud –failing to understand what it means for society.
But as we close the chapter on 2018 and enter 2019, it’s becoming clear that the cloud is no longer just an interesting topic of speculative conversation – it’s a transformative force that’s playing a catalytic role in the advancement of modern technology. Best of all, we get a front row seat to the action.
3 Developments to Keep an Eye On
As experts have claimed it would, the cloud is on its way to revolutionizing just about every aspect of modern technology – particularly within the business world. Here are a few key developments to know about:
- Greater Enterprise Transformation
Digital transformation has happened at an astounding pace this year. Businesses of all sizes, industries, and models – including both B2C and B2B organizations – have moved away from on-premise, physical solutions and into the virtual cloud. And in the present economic environment where businesses are thriving, this will continue to happen for the foreseeable future.
“We often hear from clients whose businesses are growing quickly, that IT has become a bottleneck,” Bridgepoint Consulting explains. “Cloud technology gives IT the ability to create reliable new systems, that can scale on demand – and at lightning speed. Therefore, your network speed or infrastructure limitations no longer factor into your strategic goals.”
This, combined with financial benefits, will lead to even more enterprise transformation over the next 12 to 18 months.
- Cybersecurity Gains New Legs
“By its very nature, the cloud interconnects far more people, more devices, more data and more applications than have ever been linked before—and while such interconnections have clear and high-value benefits, they also bring exponentially greater exposure to cybercriminals who are rapidly becoming more aggressive and more sophisticated,” explains Bob Evans, who spent nearly five years as the Chief Communications Officer at Oracle.
In 2017, there were 1,579 publicly disclosed data breaches. That represented a 44.7 increase in the number of publicly disclosed breaches from 2016. And if predictions hold true, we’ll finish this calendar year with even more.
Cyber attacks and data breaches like these aren’t isolated events. They’re wreaking havoc on the entire business community and only increasing the need for greater security measures. The cloud promises to provide security that traditional systems simply can’t mimic. This will lead to even greater growth and transformation moving forward. For example Zero knowledge cloud security means that your cloud storage provider themselves can’t access your data- true, end to end security.
- Data Mining Takes Center Stage
Data, data, and more data. Businesses are swimming in data and are slowly but surely shifting their attention away from data acquisition and towards data analysis.
As businesses begin to drown in the data they’re so effortlessly collecting, it’ll be the businesses that learn how to organize and apply these insights that find the greatest success. Businesses are also starting to learn that collecting data comes with serious responsibilities.
In the coming months, look for an increasing number of businesses to be more cautious with how and what they collect. Not wanting to be responsible for protecting private consumer information, some organizations will choose to pull back until they can implement greater security mechanisms.
The Cloud in 2019
Just as this year has been, 2019 will be a transformative year for the cloud. We’re finally starting to realize some of the potential that technologists and business leaders have been calling for. And like a train speeding downhill, there won’t be any stopping this momentum.
“Notwithstanding the sizable cloud computing market of today, we are about to see it move into a decade-long growth phase,” cloud computing expert Bernard Golden writes. “As many people never tire of pointing out, cloud computing represents only a small portion of total IT spend. So it has a lot of room to grow.”
Businesses will do well to continue growing alongside the cloud, while individuals should leverage consumer-side advancements as an opportunity for better accessibility and security.
