For our third and final post in this series about the technology trends for 2022, we’re taking a look at the future of cloud computing, AI and automation. Whilst the transition to cloud services was well underway for many industries, the pandemic and resulting lockdowns really accelerated this shift. Cloud is a key technology which underpins hybrid working (which we discussed in our first post of this series).
Let’s start with what the analysts are predicting for the future of cloud…
According to Gartner:
- Cloud-Native platforms will serve as the foundation for new digital initiatives
- Lift-and-shift cloud migrations focus on taking legacy workloads and placing them in the cloud. Because these workloads weren’t designed for cloud, they require a lot of maintenance and don’t take advantage of any of the benefits. Cloud-native platforms use the core elasticity and scalability of cloud computing to deliver faster time to value. They reduce dependencies on infrastructure, freeing up time to focus on application functionality instead.
- By 2025, cloud-native platforms will serve as the foundation for more than 95% of new digital initiatives — up from less than 40% in 2021.
- Deployment of data fabric will accelerate and improve data utilisation drastically
- Data fabric integrates data from different platforms that would have otherwise remained siloed and not have been used effectively. It learns what data is being used and can then recommend how to better manage that data.
- By 2024, data fabric usage will make data utilisation four times as effective and simultaneously half manual data management tasks.
According to IDC:
- New Fundamentals of the Cloud
- By 2023, 40% of the G2000 (Forbes list of world’s largest public companies) will reset cloud selection processes to focus on business outcomes rather than IT requirements, valuing access to service providers’ portfolios from device to edge and from data to ecosystem. Managing, optimising, and securing diverse cloud resources and data sets will pose the most critical IT operational challenges for IT organisations.
- Focusing on business outcomes
- By 2023, 40% of G2000 will reset cloud selection processes to focus on business outcomes rather than IT requirements, valuing access to providers’ portfolios from device to edge and from data to ecosystem.
What’s our HotTake? Matt Cross, head of B2B EMEA at Hotwire:
“If you work in tech, it probably feels like we have been talking about cloud since…well…forever. But according to those in the know, we are really just scratching the surface still in terms of potential. We’re talking about doubling usage for new digital initiatives over the next three years alone, and a move away from thinking about gigabits per second or teraflops, instead framing our usage around business outcomes like a reduction in customer churn or an increase in productivity. This will take a huge technology effort for sure, but it will also be fascinating to see how (or if) the hyperscalers begin to change their marketing narratives. I would recommend starting with a new more accessible word for hyperscaler!”
Now let’s turn to another hot topic: artificial intelligence and automation. Here’s what the analysts think…
According to Gartner:
- AI engineering
- Simply adopting AI will not be enough, businesses will need to update and optimise their AI practices to activate AI’s true value. By implementing AI engineering best practices, businesses can generate three times more value from AI than the ones who do not by 2025.
- Generative AI
- This form of AI can innovate on its own instead of simply producing conclusions. Thereby it represents a source of innovation for organisations.
- Within the next four years, this type of AI will account for 10% of all data produced.
According to Forrester:
- Investment in automation continues to rise
- In 2022, Europe will invest in automation to boost productivity in traditionally low-wage sectors such as retail and hospitality. European retailers, such as ASOS, Sephora, and Zara, already complement their workforce with automation for personalisation and predictive purposes.
According to IDC:
- Automation and AI
- By 2023, 80% of enterprises will use AI-assisted, cloud-linked governance services to manage, optimize, and secure dispersed resources/data, but 70% will not achieve full value due to it skills mismatches
- The pandemic and digital-first mindset resulted in organizations investing in technologies that enabled automation of IT resources and business processes. Within a few years, it will be difficult for organizations to not be leveraging some type of AI-assisted, cloud-linked governance services in areas such as networking, cloud, data protection, and endpoint security. The key question is whether they will be ready to use them effectively.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a key role in interpreting and harnessing huge volumes of data to create insight and value and enable dynamic learning across the organization and in the flow of work. But organizations need to maintain a balance between the potential of AI and the realization that people are still needed in the loop.
What’s our HotTake? Martin Sparey, head of UK B2B at Hotwire:
“The narrative on AI and ML has shifted. What started at doomsday-style headlines across media about AI taking our jobs, has since become a better understanding of the role technology can play to augment and support roles.
“Yet technology analysing, interpreting and acting on human data will never be without legitimate ethical concerns. Tech like AI can be used to see, listen and authenticate users, to identify criminals and support with prevention of crime – and this inevitably leads to questions around the likes of privacy and bias. Educating the market on how the technology works, and how private data and information of protected and anonymised, will continue to be key.!
P.S. Want to make sure your tech business is set up for success next year? Rethinking your comms or marketing strategy? We’d love to hear from you here.