Many of the most revolutionary technological developments, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), and remote and hybrid working, have been made possible by the widespread adoption of cloud computing. We may anticipate it enabling many more innovations in the future, such as quantum computing, the metaverse, cloud gaming, and virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR).
This is made possible by cloud computing because it eliminates the need to spend money on purchasing and maintaining the pricey infrastructure necessary for these intensive computer applications. Instead, it is made available “as-a-service,” running on the computers and data centres owned by cloud service providers. It also implies that businesses that wish to benefit from these ground-breaking technologies may, to some extent, avoid the trouble of finding or training a highly specialised workforce.
We can anticipate that businesses will continue to use cloud services in 2023 to access cutting-edge technology and improve internal operations and processes. Here is a list of some of the trends that, in our opinion, will have the biggest influence.
Higher spending on cloud security and resilience
Large opportunities, efficiency, and convenience come with cloud migration, but it also exposes businesses and organisations to a new set of cybersecurity threats. Furthermore, the possibility of fines or, even worse, losing the trust of their clients is a serious issue because of the rising body of legislation governing how businesses can hold and use personal data.
Spending on cyber security and increasing resilience against anything from data loss to the effects of a pandemic on international trade will thus take on even greater importance in the upcoming year. However, as many businesses seek to reduce expenses in the face of a predicted economic downturn, the focus is likely to be on the hunt for creative and economical ways to maintain cyber security in order to get the most “bang for the buck.” In 2023, this will translate into increased use of managed “security-as-a-service” providers as well as AI and predictive technology aimed to identify dangers before they cause issues.
Multi-cloud is gaining popularity
If 2022 was the year of hybrid cloud, then 2023 may be when companies first start to realise the benefits of distributing their services among a variety of cloud providers. A multi-cloud approach is the method used in this situation, and it has a lot of benefits, such as increased security and flexibility.
Additionally, it protects businesses from becoming overly reliant on a single ecosystem, which may be problematic when cloud service providers modify or discontinue support for specific apps. Additionally, it contributes to the development of redundancy, which lowers the likelihood that downtime or system problems may have a catastrophic impact on corporate operations.
Adopting a multi-cloud infrastructure involves eschewing potentially harmful business practises including designing apps and procedures only for a single cloud platform, such as AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure. Because containerized applications are becoming more and more popular, they may be swiftly transferred to other platforms in the event that service levels change or more affordable solutions become available from various providers. In contrast to the majority of businesses’ (70%) claims that they were still dependent on a single cloud service provider in 2020, research indicates that 84% of mid-to-large businesses will have embraced a multi-cloud approach by 2023, making it one of the year’s most significant developments in cloud computing.
The Cloud driven by AI and ML
Due to the limited resources available to organisations to develop their own AI infrastructure, cloud services for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are offered. Large quantities of computational power and storage space are needed for data collection and algorithm training, and renting these resources as a service is typically more cost-effective. More and more, cloud service companies use AI internally for a variety of purposes. This involves running the enormous, dispersed networks required to supply storage resources to their clients, controlling the cooling and electricity systems in data centres, and supplying the cyber security tools that protect their data. As hyperscale cloud service companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft continue to implement their own AI technologies to provide more effective and affordable cloud services for their clients, we may anticipate seeing further innovation in this area in 2023.
Cloud services with little or no coding
People are becoming more and more interested in tools and platforms that let anyone build apps and utilise data to solve issues without having to learn how to write computer code. Tools for developing nearly any type of digital solution that businesses may want are included in this category of low-code and no-code solutions. The entry hurdles for businesses looking to use AI and ML are being significantly reduced by the availability of low-code and no-code options for building AI-powered apps. Many of these services may be accessed as-a-service by customers without their needing to own the robust computer equipment required to run them themselves since they are offered via the cloud. Designing websites, automating spreadsheet tasks, and creating web applications are just a few examples of the tasks that users can now complete without the need for coding expertise thanks to tools like Figma, Airtable, and Zoho. In our opinion, this is an area where cloud technology will continue to prove itself useful through the year 2023 and beyond.
Cloud gaming innovation and consolidation
We now watch films, watch TV, and listen to music differently thanks to streaming services like Netflix and Spotify that the cloud has brought us. With Microsoft, Sony, Nvidia, and Amazon all providing services in this area, streaming video gaming is certainly on its way to becoming more popular but is still gaining traction. Not everything has been smooth sailing, though; Google invested millions of dollars in the Stadia streaming gaming service before retiring it last year due to a lack of demand. One of the issues is the networks themselves; streaming video games obviously uses more bandwidth than streaming music or films, so it is only possible for those of us who have decent, high-speed internet access, which is still a small percentage of the population. Cloud gaming may start to take off in 2023 as a result of the continued rollout of 5G and other extremely fast networking technologies, which should finally find a solution to this issue. According to Google, the technology that underpins Stadia will continue to exist as the foundation of a B2B game streaming service that is currently being developed and will enable game developers to offer streaming features directly to their consumers. If cloud gaming turns out to be the “killer app” for 5G in the same way that streaming video and music were for 4G and 3G, respectively, then 2023 might be the year that everything start to come together.
