Infrastructure growth for Cloud providers
Despite the recent enthusiasm for Cloud services, a fair percentage of local firms have delayed their Cloud migration journeys – as they wring the final drops of sweat from their legacy infrastructure. 2017 will see a surge in Cloud uptake, as these ‘holdouts’ finally migrate. Added to this, we’ll see an explosion of data requirements from existing Cloud users. The result? Cloud providers will have to sharply increase their infrastructure capacity, to accommodate this new demand.
More insightful Cloud Assessments
Cloud users will increasingly demand clearer views on the costs of their current set-up compared to the costs of running their operations in the cloud. They’ll ask for tangible business cases from service providers and richer perspectives on the ROI that the Cloud would bring. In an increasingly competitive space, Cloud providers will need to wow their prospects by revealing powerful insights in their Cloud Assessments.
Understanding true Cloud value
As the market demands more transparency and predictability, providers will be forced to change their pricing models, and focus on how their enterprise users can get maximum value from the cloud (rather than getting embroiled in price wars). For users, this value will emerge in enhanced customer experiences, greater rates of innovation, and new business opportunities.
Multi-Cloud strategy
Cloud services can be viewed across so many dimensions – local and international; SAAS, PAAS, IAAS, fully managed or simple hosting; private, hybrid or public; Tier 1, 2 or 3, and so on. In this complex landscape, we’re seeing a growing trend where larger companies draw on Cloud services from various providers, taking advantage of each of their unique strengths. Diversified firms may require different levels of security for different pillars of their business, or may need to comply with different data governance legislation for each operating entity or subsidiary.
The re-emergence of Cloud brokerage services
All of these trends will lead to a resurgence in Cloud brokerage services, as enterprises look for a single party to simplify the complex world of the Cloud. These brokers will need access to the widest variety of Cloud platforms, strong innovation and consulting capabilities, the vision to understand unfolding Cloud trends, and deep vertical industry knowledge of the customer’s business.
By AJ Hartenberg
