Cloud trends in 2016

Vadym Fedorov is a Solutions Architect at SoftServe, a leading global software application development and consulting company, and a regular blogger on the SoftServe United blog. Vadym has 12 years experience in enterprise application development, as well as 2 years’ experience in Cloud and operations optimization.

Playing a role of innovations accelerator, cloud computing will remain in trend opening doors to new technologies and startups in 2016. At the same time, cloud computing will hold the fort as a proven tool which helps long-established businesses optimise costs for their IT infrastructure.

Flashback to cloud of 2015

Looking back at the 2015 cloud predictions, DevOps, application containerisation, and real-time processing of Big Data streams were singled out as the major cloud hype of today. Now it's time to run over the passing year again and check how topical these predictions were:

DevOps

Yes, DevOps is still newsworthy. If in the beginning DevOps was a blurry buzzword making companies feel lost while adopting it as the best practice, now there is a considerable growth of investment into the DevOps initiatives within enterprises. Not to be bear-worded, let the numbers speak for themselves: estimated 35% of the UK companies allocate DevOps budget of £1 million – and far greater expectations are ahead.

Real-Time Processing of Big Data Streams

Now, real-time processing of Big Data streams is a commonly used technology that facilitates a range of other technologies, from the Internet of Things and machine learning, to smart advisors and connected cars. However, what is losing its hype is Big Data: according to the recent Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2015 report, the term Big Data is fading away and swapping places with just data. Big things don’t last forever, you know.

Application Containerisation

This trend also remains in power. In particular, the Docker container is revolutionising the way applications are managed and infrastructure is designed. In 2015, most of the major cloud providers released services that enable container deployment and management, which serves as proof of their demand. A striking number of press releases informing us about new container services proves once again that migration to the container micro services architecture is a real thing, and it is worth considering containers as a part of your company’s strategy.

Upcoming cloud trends in 2016

Ubiquity of the micro services architecture, and the growing popularity of containers, actually set cloud’s direction in 2016 and marks off the following three major trends:

Hybrid Cloud

Following the already mentioned Gartner report, hybrid cloud will prove to be a perfect mix of private and public clouds, and will be finally replaced by a more generic “cloud”. With a vast range of new technological trends appearing on the market, it is crucial that you are ready to cope with the hybrid cloud strategy. It is a challenging, but manageable task opening new opportunities for any business to stay successful.

Cloud Optimised Application Design

With big power comes big responsibility, so the expected cloud trends pose a new challenge when it comes to developing applications: now software development processes need to be adapted to the cloud infrastructure. A cloud infrastructure in general resembles the on-premises one; however it requires changes in the applications in order to make them reliable and workable in conditions with varying latency and elastic environment.

Cloud Security and Security in the Cloud

Cloud deployment and integrations between multiple service providers always raise questions regarding security. According to the LinkedIn Report on 2015 Cloud Security Survey, 90% of the surveyed companies experience security concerns with hybrid cloud being one of the main drivers initiating this trend. With the existing security threats (in particular, unauthorized access, hijacking, and malicious insiders) and numerous breaches, cloud security and awareness about it will be a very hot trend.

To draw a line, 2016 could be named a year of the hybrid cloud where DevOps, containers, cloud optimised design, and security should become harmonized components of a single strategy.