1. Increased multi-cloud adoption
Our prediction: ‘As the reliance on data collection and analytics in everyday business operations continues to increase, the majority of business leaders are planning to turn their attention towards a multi-cloud approach as a way of modernising their infrastructure.’
In line with our prediction, multi-cloud has been a huge trend in 2023. In HashiCorp’s 2023 State of Cloud Strategy Survey, they found that 76% of respondents were implementing, expanding, or planning a multi-cloud strategy. This is expected to continue rising in 2024. There are a variety of benefits leading to this increased multi-cloud adoption, including reduced risk of cloud concentration and vendor lock-in. Both of these topics have been top of mind for many businesses, who have turned to a multi-cloud strategy to diversify and protect their infrastructure.
Our Head of Solutions, Daren Vallyon, gave a talk in November on the long-term future for hybrid and multi-cloud environments. He discussed the increased popularity of these solutions, and noted that: ‘As more companies adopt multi-cloud solutions to diversify their infrastructure, management is key. Partnering with a managed service provider allows companies to enjoy the benefits of multi-cloud, without the time and expertise required to manage multiple platforms in-house.’
2. Continued cloud acceleration
Our prediction: ‘Whilst it is expected we are about to enter a period of economic downturn, it is predicted that organisations will continue to accelerate cloud adoption.’
We have continued to see growth in cloud adoption in 2023. Eurostat reported that 45.2% of EU enterprises bought cloud computing services in 2023, an increase of 4.2% since 2021. In our own operations, we have seen migration away from solely on-premise infrastructure towards our Managed Enterprise Cloud, and Managed Private Cloud, and towards hybrid solutions incorporating cloud and on-premise environments.
As many businesses have been affected by economic uncertainty, the cost savings of cloud adoption has been a significant motivation. The cloud allows businesses to optimise their infrastructure, without the capex costs of upgrading on-premise systems. Using a managed provider also means businesses can experience these benefits of cloud without needing in-house teams of experts, providing additional savings on staffing costs.
For many businesses, the changing economy has required greater flexibility in their infrastructure to support their changing business needs. We have increasingly seen customers coming to us for bespoke platforms, as the ‘out-of-the-box’ cloud solutions provided by many hyperscalers, and traditional on-premise environments, no longer meet their needs.
3. Data sovereignty
Our prediction: ‘Due to issues facing the control and costs of migrating to the public cloud, organisations in 2023 are expected to increasingly consider investing in sovereign cloud infrastructure to guarantee long-term security and compliance.’
As predicted, data sovereignty has been a trending topic throughout 2023. Our German branch, Hyve GmbH, has seen an increasing number of businesses combating issues of data sovereignty by using data centres in the EU to process and store their data and applications affected by EU regulations.
Sectors particularly concerned with data sovereignty have been those dealing with sensitive data. This has included the public sector, education, and healthcare, all of which have stringent requirements for data processing. In one example of this increased focus on data sovereignty, Computer Weekly reported this year on a VMware study regarding public trust in the ability of the NHS to safeguard personal data, that 87% of respondents were in favour of keeping their data stored in the UK. The survey noted that many NHS and social care organisations use non-national public clouds, suggesting that embracing data sovereignty could improve public trust and protect their confidential data.
We are expecting to continue seeing data sovereignty as a high priority over the next year, particularly amongst these sectors.
4. Serverless computing
Our prediction: ‘Today more than ever, organisations and enterprises are constantly looking for increased efficiency and cost-savings across their IT ecosystems. In this search for efficiency, organisations are increasingly turning their head towards serverless computing.’
The serverless architecture market has grown throughout 2023, and is predicted to continue with a compound annual growth rate of 25% over the forecast period of 2023-2032 according to Global Market Insights.
In serverless computing, users are charged based on their usage, not on a fixed amount of servers or bandwidth. This offers flexibility to use and pay for resources as needed, reducing infrastructure costs. Serverless methodology can additionally minimise lead time when setting up and scaling up infrastructure. Similarly to the increase in demand for bespoke infrastructure to meet changing needs, the uptake of serverless computing can be attributed in part to businesses needing their infrastructure to be quickly adaptable in a changing market.
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