Three cloud computing trends for 2015 and beyond

With cloud computing becoming increasingly popular, here are our top three predictions for what you can expect to happen with it this year and in the years to come:

1. Cloud spending will continue to rise

It will surely come as no surprise to you that cloud spending will continue to rise in 2015 and beyond. This report by RackSpace (http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2014/09/rac_cloud.adoption_infographic_rnd03-100441764-large.png) predicts that in 2015, small and medium businesses will spend around $10 billion dollars more on cloud computing solutions than they did in 2014. Other experts are also predicting that more of information technology budgets will be dedicated to implementing and managing cloud solutions, which will stimulate a spike in overall cloud spending in the coming years.

2. New developments in cloud security

It’s no secret that in today’s economy, data is king. Big data was definitely one of the business buzzwords for 2014, and now more and more businesses are realising the importance of collecting and analysing it, and the effect that it can have on marketing, sales and overall growth. The one thing many businesses are worried about when they look to migrate to cloud based solutions is security, and rightly so – many are worried that their data could fall into the hands of a business rival or cybercriminals. Whilst cloud storage solutions are an extremely safe and secure way to store your data, you can expect to see even more developments in cloud security over the coming years. Many experts are predicting that a wave of new cloud security solutions will hit the market in 2015, including new developments in security for emerging hybrid cloud solutions. In fact, Forbes predicts that this year spending on security development will increase by around 46% (http://forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2014/11/26/computerworlds-2015-forecast-predicts-security-cloud-computing-and-analytics-will-lead-it-spending/), with a large amount of that devoted to the cloud.

3. Hybrid cloud solutions

2015 will also see the emergence and popularisation of what have been called ‘hybrid cloud solutions’. This is where an organisation uses a mixture of both private and public cloud solutions for their data and applications. These hybrid cloud solutions offer organisations more flexibility, as they allow businesses to choose which specific cloud services they want to use for different applications. This will become more popular in the coming years, and IT experts predict that by 2017 this hybrid model will be in use in around 50% of all businesses.