Market View 08

Ramana Swami

Senior Director - Cloud Infrastructure Services

Capgemini

Market View 08

Ramana Swami

Senior Director - Cloud Infrastructure Services

Capgemini

Cloud computing gives businesses flexibility and control over their usage, helping to reduce unnecessary costs while also making costs follow business demands and fluctuations.

Will the popularity of cloud computing continue to rise?

Since 2007, cloud computing has been changing the way that companies manage their networks. Since then, around 45% of the processing of companies across the globe has transferred into many forms of the cloud. Public, Private, Hybrid, SaaS to name a few. By 2025, this will increase to around 70%. The popularity of cloud solutions started as a way to control capital expenditure. Understandably, businesses only want to pay for what they need and use. Cloud computing gives businesses flexibility and control over their usage, helping to reduce unnecessary costs while also making costs follow business demands and fluctuations. More recently, the scalability of cloud solutions has become one of the main reasons for businesses to adopt cloud computing. As an example, if an organisation is running a promotional campaign for two days in the month, they can quickly and easily scale up their capabilities in order to handle the campaign. When the campaign is finished, they can quickly scale back down again. When you consider the positive impact that cloud technology has on businesses both operationally and financially, it is easy to see why adoption continues to rise.

Are public cloud solutions eliminating the need for private cloud solutions?

It was only five years ago that everybody believed public cloud solutions would remove the need for private cloud solutions. But this has not been the case at all. There will always be a need for private cloud solutions to handle transactions in localised setups and in the edge. In reality, many businesses already utilise a hybrid approach of public and private cloud solutions. This hybrid approach will never disappear. My prediction is that 70% of cloud computing will be public, with the other 30% remaining private. Another reason that the public cloud will not reach 100% is because of the cost. Public cloud solutions cost money, and the explosive growth of Internet of Things means more devices will be connected to the cloud transferring large amounts of data. So businesses will be selective over which data they deploy in the cloud vs the one they will treat locally. If they allowed all the data generated into the cloud, then the costs would be considerable indeed! Holding edge data back to private cloud or localised on the devices themselves will help businesses to keep costs down while lightening their cloud requirements.

There will always be a need for private cloud solutions to handle transactions in localised setups and in the edge.

If a cloud solution is not secure, then it is simply not viable. No compromise on security is the posture.

What are the main considerations for a business looking to adopt a cloud solution?

There are three main considerations that businesses need to really think about when adopting a cloud solution. The first is understanding how any potential cloud solution complies with their industry regulations and standards. Every industry has its own complex set of requirements, and like any new way of working, businesses need to really assess how compliant cloud solutions are for their industry. Secondly, security is a huge consideration. Cyber-attacks are on the rise and cloud solutions offer new routes for criminals to access sensitive business data or cause disruption. If a cloud solution is not secure, then it is simply not viable. No compromise on security is the posture. Finally, businesses need to also ensure any proposed cloud solution or strategy works with the cultural DNA of the organisation and not against it. Large scale change to the way employees work can create frustration and friction.

Ramana is a dynamic CTO with over 24 years of Strategic IT leadership. His area of expertise is transforming IT services & Cyber security in complex regional and global fortune 500 organisations. Ramana is an expert who turns businesses to profitability through People, Processes, New disruptive Technologies & Proven Strategies.