Cloud Computing Trends for 2022
(-Written by Mumtaz Afrin): - During the coronavirus outbreak, cloud computing kept the firm and dispersed workforces linked. Every corporation would eventually adopt cloud models as we move into 2022 and beyond, and existing cloud enterprises would look for ways to streamline their operations for quick expansion and improved business continuity.
Mitigating risks using a hybrid with a multi-cloud strategy
Many crucial applications rely on the cloud, and since major cloud providers experienced numerous big failures last year, it would be crucial for businesses to implement a Multi-Cloud approach to reduce the danger of a single point of failure.
A hybrid and multi-cloud cloud strategy can be used for critical applications and governance activities. Applications run on-premises as well as through a variety of cloud providers in a hybrid with a multi-cloud strategy, offering data sovereignty, disaster recovery, risk reduction, and scalability while still being nimble.
Designing and developing cloud-native apps that can scale and run in any cloud environment, as well as creating a management platform that supports managing hybrid and multi-cloud systems, would be essential. When I discuss the Unified cloud platform, I'll talk more about the management platform.
In the area of hybrid and multi-cloud adoption, there will be a lot of advances, including infrastructure modernization, mainframe and legacy migration, data mobilisation, integration, tooling, and skilling.
Unified cloud – One platform for Hybrid, Multi-Cloud, and Edge
To execute your workloads in on-premises, hybrid, multi-cloud, and edge environments, a unified cloud platform offers a single, consistent, secure, and policy-driven managed environment.
I previously discussed hybrid and multi-cloud, but I believe edge apps will lead to a new set of demands on the cloud. The next generation of apps would be driven by new sets of requirements, such as near real-time decision making, low latency streaming, gaming and virtual experiences, immersive experiences, and collective intelligence as 5G gains momentum and the buzz around the Metaverse grows. Edge computing would be extremely important in making this happen. Industries must be adaptable and ready for change. For a genuinely connected experience, new apps would be delivered on edge locations (at a cloud edge location or consumer location), closer to the end user. Examples include virtual mall shopping, trying on clothes in digital mirrors/changing rooms, and immersive online learning experiences.
We would require a common technique to create cloud applications that can be deployed in any environment as we move toward these different deployment patterns. Second, you would need centralized policies that can be used and tracked throughout your environment for governance, data residency, and security for apps running in different environments and locations. One of the important offerings made by the major cloud suppliers in the future would be the unified cloud, which would offer these fundamental features on a single platform.
Moving towards sustainable computing, tools, and insights
The majority of cloud service providers have already started the process of decarbonizing their data centres; for example, Google Cloud is already carbon neutral today and aims to run continuously without the use of fossil fuels by 2030.
The carbon footprint calculators offered by several of the big cloud vendors, which allow you to quantify and track carbon emissions related with your cloud projects, were first hinted at last year. Gaining knowledge about carbon emissions for your application is a fantastic first step.
Sustainability is connected to the more general issue of intelligent cloud optimisation that I discussed in my trend report from last year, and this year sustainability would begin getting the necessary impetus. One of the main aspects we would consider while creating and deploying cloud applications is sustainability. The cloud provider would likely offer tools to give you more in-depth understandings of your application's carbon footprint in terms of architecture, infrastructure, cloud services used, networking, storage, runtime, and monitoring, etc., and make optimization suggestions. For example, you would learn how to run workloads in the cloud region with the lowest carbon emissions while also considering data sovereignty, how to make the best use of server hardware (such as by effectively using GPU and TPUs for machine learning training), how much network bandwidth your application uses, and how to minimise data transfer, among other things. The cloud vendor's DevOps tools and processes would be expanded to monitor the application's carbon footprint, and it might even become one of the SRE principles to track and minimise.
From server to serverless architectures
With serverless technology, organisations can concentrate on carrying out business tasks without having to worry about managing the cloud infrastructure.
In my previous year's projection for Cloud Trends, one of the main forecasts was serverless, and we have seen a number of new serverless solutions from all the major cloud providers, including Analytic Services, ML Services, Container Orchestration Services, Data Pipeline/Workflows, etc.
We will see more serverless solutions and the inclusion of serverless functionality to current products as the serverless momentum continues to build.
From a cost and efficiency standpoint, designing serverless cloud apps would be a critical factor moving ahead. Cloud platforms would then leverage intelligent compute and scalable alternatives based on application demands. Better resource utilisation for development workloads would result from this, allowing start-ups and small enterprises to swiftly test and scale ideas and products without having to worry about ongoing cloud charges. Based on your workloads and application requirements, serverless computing might be a smart choice in the transition to sustainable computing from the perspective of cost, optimization, and keeping the carbon footprint of your application under control.