Cloud computing is, without a doubt, one of the most adopted technologies across the world. In some fashion, most of us interact with the cloud every single day. Cloud computing has changed the way we work, and how organizations operate.
Cloud Computing key numbers
This is reflected in the growth of the global cloud computing market which is expected to reach $1.25 trillion by 2030, and the fact that over 90% of organizations use the cloud and are expected to increase their cloud investments in the next five years!
Cloud plays a pivotal role in, and often serves as the foundation for, innovation, efficiency, and scalability in organizations across industries. It should come as no surprise then that many of the emerging technologies and trends in cloud computing are intertwined with the majority of general trends in technology, such as AI, cybersecurity, and sustainability. There are some brilliant and exciting innovations taking over the cloud scene, and 2025 is set to be a very full year. So, sit back as we dive into some of the most interesting emerging cloud trends headed our way.
AI in Cloud Computing
2024 was the year of AI, and it definitely delivered huge benefits for cloud computing as well. As we start to take a deeper look into the integrations between cloud and AI, it is becoming increasingly clear that AI is transforming cloud services. Today, most of the AI tools and services being offered or used in the cloud automate tasks, optimize resource allocation or usage, streamline IT management, deliver business intelligence, and more. However, things are going to get more complex as AI becomes more integrated in backend cloud services.
While task automation is essential for streamlining operations, AI can deliver much more powerful insights to catapult businesses willing to invest in it into constant states of innovation and disruption. Organizations will be able to leverage AI-backend services in the cloud to gain greater efficiencies, such as receiving more actionable insights from integrated AI-driven analytics, incorporating automated machine learning capabilities (AutoML), driving greater personalization, and tackling edge computing.
Security gets tighters as threats get stronger
More and more hackers and disruptors are using AI to drive sophisticated attacks against cloud systems. Data breaches and ransomware attacks can wreak havoc on organizations and cloud vendors. When the cloud was young, most organizations relied on vendor security and compliance offerings to handle cybersecurity requirements. Now, with the increasing sophistication and hyper targeting of attacks, cloud users are discovering that DevSecOps is vital to success, and they are investing in security tools and packages from companies specializing in cloud security.
DevSecOps is no longer optional. As organizations aim to integrate security throughout their development pipelines, DevSecOps practices are becoming essential to maintaining secure systems. With DevSecOps, teams embed security checks into every stage of the development lifecycle rather than as an after thought at the end. Ultimately, the advantage of DevSecOps is that everyone is keeping security top of mind and vulnerabilities are found and addressed early. While it’s easy enough to say you need DevSecOps, putting it into practice requires consistency and a shifting mindset. But, there’s no better time to start!
These days more organizations are investing in cloud security tools to leverage greater control over security and data privacy and achieve greater peace of mind knowing their cloud services are protected. Individual tools are designed to protect applications, infrastructure, and data in the cloud across cloud providers, giving organizations an easy way to tailor to their needs and streamline management.
The proliferation of Superclouds and Private Clouds
Superclouds are rising in popularity as hybrid- and multi-cloud approaches flourish. A supercloud is essentially an architecture to manage multiple public clouds. It has become necessary as most organizations are using multiple cloud vendors to access different services and features. Multi-cloud approaches also help organizations to avoid vendor lock-in and optimize costs. This approach ensures businesses can choose the best cloud solution for each workload while maintaining flexibility and control. However, the process of managing different services, applications, and data across clouds is time consuming and complex. A supercloud architecture is a consolidated way to manage all of those services without losing time or money, and we’re going to see greater adoption as organizations recognize the vast benefits.
Additionally, we are anticipating a rise in private cloud adoption, especially in light of rising security concerns and the need for faster, more controlled innovation. For private clouds, retrieving useful information will remain paramount which will lead to a broader adoption of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) technology. RAG is used to make retrieving and delivering valuable outputs from a private cloud more efficient and straightforward. Afterall, there’s no point in investing in a private cloud if you can’t leverage the data for transformative insights and innovative applications
FinOps and streamlining Cloud Management
The world of cloud computing can be expensive, complex, and very time-consuming to manage even with a supercloud architecture. That’s where FinOps, or Cloud Financial Engineering, excels with its emphasis on cost optimization and gathering a clear picture of cloud resources. You can’t manage what you can’t see, so FinOps champions each team using cloud resources to take responsibility for managing their own usage. The FinOps movement was founded on six principles which serve as the foundation for effective cloud financial management. The six principles are collaboration, business driven’value, distributed ownership, accessible and timely data, centralized leadership, and a variable cost model.
We published an entire blog series about FinOps, so be sure to read through all of them, and then get in touch with our team to take the first steps toward an effective FinOps culture shift.
Going green for the long haul
These days, in all aspects of life, companies and consumers are starting to pay attention to sustainability and environmental values. In technology, a lot of the sustainability question circulates around data centers and the amount of power that innovative technologies consume. The cloud might be ephemeral, but the energy it needs to run must come from a physical source.
Goldman Sachs estimates that the demand for power in data centers because of AI will grow by 160% by 2030. The same research also indicates that a spike in power demand is about to hit the U.S., the scale of which will require global investments in the billions to address generation capacity and infrastructure to meet the demand. With AI set to make a huge impact on the amount of energy data centers are consuming, many companies are going green and recognizing that sustainability should be both a corporate and societal priority.
In light of the impending energy demands, and the desire to fuel more AI-driven innovation, some of the largest cloud providers are publicly declaring their intent to achieve carbon-neutral and energy-efficient operations, like Google Cloud and Azure both of whom have committed to being carbon neutral by 2030.
As AI models become increasingly complex and energy-intensive, the industry is also exploring unconventional solutions. This includes investigating nuclear-powered data centers, developing more energy-efficient chip architectures, and creating innovative cooling techniques that can support the exponential growth of AI computational requirements. The strategic goal is not just to increase computing power, but to create sustainable, scalable infrastructure that can support the next generation of artificial intelligence technologies.
Putting it all together for 2025
Cloud computing is on a powerful trajectory, and this year we are hoping to see a lot of interesting changes, including a bigger push towards sustainability and the incorporation of stronger FinOps cultures across organizations. Stay tuned for more emerging technology and trends pieces as we enter the new year. There is certainly never a dull moment in the tech world!
If you’re ready to elevate your cloud management solutions or evolve your current cloud setup, Ceiba’s experts can help! Backed by years of experience and a dedication to excellence, Ceiba’s cloud teams excel at solving complex cloud computing challenges. Call today to get started.
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