The 5 most important cloud trends in 2019

Public cloud adoption rose by a staggering 92 percent in 2018.

This growing endorsement shows the changing attitude towards the cloud, as it shifts from a desirable tool to a business-critical necessity. But what does 2019 have to offer?

As well as overseeing an overwhelming rise in the cloud’s adoption rate, 2019 will also spark the beginning for many cloud computing trends. From growth in serverless architecture, to a deeper focus on cloud-cost management, we count down five of the most important cloud trends of the year.

Cloud trend #1: Everyone’s going serverless

Serverless architecture has experienced 75 percent growth from 2017, making it the top-growing extended cloud service.

With the reduction in on-premises hardware making IT costs more visible and in many cases more affordable, businesses are quickly looking to go serverless. Going serverless is the perfect solution for handling small, independent tasks at a high volume, without the complication of tedious system configuration.

Cloud trend #2: Azure is closing the gap for most popular platform

While AWS continues to be the world’s most popular platform with 64 percent of the market share, Azure adoption rose from 34 to 45 percent among individual users.

Azure has also continued to grow as popular business platform, with a 35 percent growth rate in enterprise adoption in 2018.

Cloud trend #3: Multi-cloud strategies are in

As multi-cloud strategies grow, hybrid solutions have begun to fall.

81 percent of enterprises now favour a multi-cloud strategy, while hybrid solutions have dropped in popularity by 7 percent. Though this is a minor reduction, the fall may signal a change in the way enterprises perceive the cloud. With greater trust in cloud security, businesses are beginning to strive for innovation and opt-in for a full cloud approach.

Cloud trend #4: Waste not, want not

Managing wasted cloud spend is a top priority for 2018, with 58 percent of businesses saying it’s their most pressing initiative.

Thanks to its utility style cost structure, the cloud is far more cost-effective than any on-premise solution. However, without a proper cloud strategy roadmap businesses are at risk of wasting their cloud spend. Infact, with an estimated 35 percent of cloud spend wasted, enterprises are beginning to understand the implications of poorly managed strategy.

However, despite a growing focus, only a minority of companies have enforced policies to shut down unused workloads or eliminate inactive storage. We expect to see greater focus in this area in the coming year. As enterprises discover the true expense of poorly managed strategies we expect greater investment in pre-cloud deployment – such as creating clearer roadmaps and consulting with experts.

Cloud trend #5: Welcome to the Internet of Everything

The IoT global market is continuing to grow in 2019, with the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices rising to 1.2 billion. By 2023, the market’s potential forecast is set to reach £60 billion in revenue.

However, experts say this is merely the dawn of our connected world. Many refer to the next step as the Internet of Everything (IoE), predicting a world where ‘billions of objects have sensors to detect measure and assess their status; all connected over public or private networks using standard and proprietary protocols’.

The benefits of a proper cloud strategy

The way in which businesses engage with the cloud is evolving year-on-year.

As well as adopting cloud services at a record-breaking high, enterprises are now making more informed decisions to maximise their cloud investment. With a promising shift towards more diverse platform strategies, cloud cost management and IoT adoption, enterprises are finding ways to fully immerse their business practises into the cloud and better accomplish their goals.

Curious to learn more about cloud-first solutions? Check out our guide to state of cloud in your industry.

Topics: Microsoft Azure and cloud