The cloud remains critical to the enterprise digital transformation programmes which are driving successful businesses.
Cloud computing’s advantages are well documented: rapid deployment, the ability to scale, capacity “on demand” and removing the need for upfront, capital spending are just the best known.
But the cloud is now much more than a way to run digital processes and applications, without the need for local, on-premises hardware. In fact, so-called lift and shift migrations, where businesses move technology to the cloud, largely without modification, miss much of the cloud’s current potential.
As John Edwards writes in CIO.com: “The cloud market is booming, driven by an array of innovative strategies that are combining to make the cloud more powerful, flexible, and safer.”
As a result, IT leaders must ensure their strategies free up their organisations to innovate, while being able to demonstrate return on investment. Recent developments in cloud technology allow deployments can now be tailored to the business’s needs, as these examples show.
Hybrid cloud: best of both worlds?
Hybrid cloud technology allows enterprises to combine on-premise, edge and cloud computing, as a single set of resources.
By opting for hybrid infrastructure, CIOs can keep workloads that need to run on premises, or run best locally, on local hardware. This includes applications that require very low latency or need to meet strict data residency requirements.
At the same time, a hybrid approach allows applications and data to move to the cloud where cloud works best, for example for archiving, disaster recovery or collaboration across supply chains. But IT teams benefit from a consistent set of controls across their operational environment, including multi cloud.
Industry clouds
Another growth area is cloud computing tailored to the needs of specific industries.
Industry clouds are not new, but they are growing at pace. According to analyst firm Gartner, over 70% of enterprises will use industry clouds by 2027; in 2023, only 15% did so.
Industry clouds provide technology tailored for specific verticals, with pre-built and integrated components. These include infrastructure, such as compute, network and storage hardware, the software and applications and the platform for development. Industry clouds also integrate tools, including data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).
AWS, for example, currently offers more than 450 pre-built industry solutions across 11 vertical markets. These include manufacturing, life sciences and healthcare, telecoms and financial services, to name just a few. Purpose-built services allow enterprises to deploy cloud solutions more quickly and meet their regulatory, compliance and security obligations.
Cloud for AI and performance
The earliest cloud computing systems had many advantages, but they were not built for performance. That has changed and nowhere is that more apparent than with AI.
AI, especially generative AI, demands high performance and needs to handle vast volumes of data. In many ways, the cloud’s ability to scale is made for AI. And cloud providers can now harness the power of GPUs, machine learning accelerators and dedicated chips.
“Having the right compute infrastructure isn’t just about raw power– it’s about having the flexibility to choose the most cost-effective and efficient solution for your specific needs,” says Barry Cooks, VP of technology at Amazon.
These developments go hand in hand with faster cloud-based CPUs, networking and storage. This allows businesses to run not just AI, but other high-performance applications, previously limited to on-premises IT. As a result, those enterprises with high-performance computing needs in fields such as life sciences, R&D and financial services can make use of the cloud’s cost efficiencies and on-demand business model.