Cloud computing has revolutionized the business world and it continues to do so. When the cloud was introduced at first, it was perceived as nothing more than a secure online storage solution. Even though a lot of people were skeptical about this technology’s potential, the cloud managed to evolve and transform how businesses operate today. After online storage solutions, cloud computing introduced various other services, such as SaaS (Software as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service) and even IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service).
As technology continues to evolve so does the cloud; more services and improved experienced are now available to every company willing to explore this technology to its fullest potential. That said, numerous companies have started to adopt cloud computing as an integral part of their operations, thus making the cloud industry one of the fastest-growing high-tech sectors today. As to what the future will bring, here are a few innovations in cloud technology.
Focusing on the customer experience
When it comes to cloud services, customer experience is one of the pioneers driving them forward. As mentioned before, more and more companies are starting to adopt cloud computing in their day-to-day operations. This has made the cloud industry grow and develop rapidly. As a matter of fact, 72% of global companies are predicted to digitally transform through cloud computing by 2022.
That being said, cloud service providers are now focused on providing better customer experience. This includes an innovative approach for both infrastructure and application models. For instance, by combining data gathering from IoT devices, AI analytics and other business metrics with cloud computing, companies will be able to create an entirely new level of experience for both B2C and B2B environments.
Innovations in the cloud infrastructure
Cloud computing is centered around data centers that provide companies with a wide variety of services. As more companies integrate with the cloud, the very infrastructure of such cloud-providing services circles towards innovation. As you may already know, the key components of cloud computing are flexibility, accessibility, security and other convenient features companies have available to them. As the technology evolves, so does the infrastructure of the cloud itself.
This results in innovative enterprise cloud solutions that can transform every business operation within a company. The infrastructure itself is designed to make business operations ranging from finances and customer relations to the entire IT needs of a company as seamless and as effective as possible. New technologies allow cloud computing to create new solutions and new approaches that will suit individual company needs.
A new level of cybersecurity
It’s no secret that cybersecurity has become one of the most important business factors today. Cyber crime is on the rise and no company, whether it’s just a startup or a corporation, is safe from cyber attacks.
One of the main innovations in cloud computing is, in fact, cybersecurity. The innovations in this field include protocols, such as policies, technologies, applications and controls that are used to prevent cyber attacks and protect virtualized services associated with the cloud infrastructure.
Simply put, cloud security had become a sub-domain of computer and information security. A good example of this security level is storage and encryption of data across various data centers that are only accessible to the owner of the data.
Innovation as a Service
Companies rely on innovation to remain competitive and relevant in the market. Without continuous innovation, companies would soon start to lose their customers’ interest. Fortunately, cloud service providers understand this struggle all too well. That’s why innovative approaches by the cloud providers are constantly being developed and made available to their users. One such innovative approach is called microservices.
Microservices are a software development technique native to cloud-based applications and software. In other words, applications are developed based on service-oriented architecture (SOA) which makes an application a collection of loosely coupled services that can communicate over a network. This allows companies that leverage cloud computing through SaaS to opt for applications that seamlessly meet their needs and goals via continuous development. Simply put, continuous innovation is ensured through small services that can be autonomously deployed when needed.
Cloud technology continues to evolve and it also continues to meet various business needs. What started as an online storage solution has quickly become an enterprise-grade list of services that revolutionized the business world. That said, the cloud, both as a concept and as a technology, will certainly have more futures to offer in the near future.