Cloud Computing Trends (What’s Hot for 2023 — And Beyond)

Cloud computing enables new opportunities for growth and digitalization. It allows developers to build, test, deploy, and manage applications without an in-house infrastructure. Cloud industry expectations evolve as developers continue incorporating cloud services into their software development life cycle. Development teams want more powerful servers, tighter security, faster performance, and smoother workflows.

But it sometimes feels like the resulting developments emerge faster than you can integrate your previous round of changes. So, to help you stay ahead of the game and make well-informed decisions for your organization, read on and explore the latest trends in cloud computing.

The Top Cloud Computing Trend? More of It

In a recent article, Gartner predicted that more than 85% of organizations will embrace cloud-first principles by 2025. Today, a significant part of software development incorporates cloud computing in some way. Software development is a rapidly evolving field. Developers must stay abreast of the latest cloud trends to stay relevant in the industry. They can reap the benefits and fully execute a digital strategy if software engineers, IT managers, DevOps engineers, and system administrators consistently work on optimizing the systems even as cloud computing constantly evolves.

Let’s explore some of what’s new in cloud computing.

The Trend Toward Hybrid Cloud Servers

Hybrid cloud servers combine the strength of public and private cloud servers and let you create a tailored IT architecture that spans multiple different environments. Previously, you would have to compromise between public and private cloud servers depending on what fits your application’s requirements. The public cloud offers efficient data access, near-unlimited scalability, no capital investment, and pay-as-you-go services. A private cloud is the first choice for handling sensitive data that requires monitored access and control.

With a hybrid approach, you can create a custom public-private cloud solution. You aren’t stuck with a single provider and can embrace the best of both worlds. You can also choose services from multiple cloud vendors or providers and incorporate multi-cloud solutions.

 

Pushing the Cloud to the Edge

Edge computing is a decentralized computing infrastructure where computing and storage occur nearer to end users. Edge computing puts data and processing closer to the end user’s device instead of providing service in a central location that might be far from those users. The edge could be the user edge (smartphones and Internet of Things devices) or the network edge (a service provider’s edge network).

Although edge computing might seem counterintuitive to cloud computing, the two complement each other. It solves challenges that currently persist in the cloud. For performance-sensitive applications where systems need to process data incredibly fast, edge computing solves the problem of latency. It also saves bandwidth since vast amounts of data don’t have to travel to distant servers.

Edge computing also supports privacy and compliance, as enterprise data centers can remain in a specific location and adhere to those regulations.

Edge computing is likely to coexist with the cloud. Cloud companies are already racing to develop ways to extend their cloud services to edge locations.

Here at Kinsta, we’re helping our Managed WordPress Hosting customers get data closer to their audiences by deploying a CDN and webpage Edge Caching across CloudFlare’s global network of 275+ data centers.

The Cloud Gets Smarter With AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) helps data engineers manage copious data stored in the cloud and maintain data quality. It autonomously determines data patterns and gains insights to apply across the enterprise. These capabilities elevate data analysis to the next level. AI-driven cloud computing also provides intelligent automation and monitors critical workflows. Developers can leverage existing AI services provided by cloud vendors to add speech, vision, and decision-making capabilities to applications. Many cloud platforms come with existing AI solutions that let developers integrate state-of-the-art machine learning (ML) applications without requiring ML expertise.

AI platforms also need access to powerful servers. ML tasks require significant processing power, but an in-house infrastructure can be very costly. Cloud computing makes AI cost-efficient by providing access to powerful servers and computing infrastructure. This way, ML engineers can train large deep learning models without worrying about investing in costly hardware and maintaining an AI infrastructure.

Also Trending: Serverless Computing

Serverless computing enables you to delegate the task of maintaining server infrastructure and provisioning services. Instead, a cloud provider service manages the infrastructure, allocates resources, and provisions complex server clusters. Depending on the requirements and activity on the server, these servers can be scaled indefinitely and automatically.

With serverless computing, developers never have to deal with servers or perform any environment configuration before deployment. They can simply upload small code snippets or a function and run these on servers close to the end user, thereby reducing latency. Unlike traditional servers, where servers run even when not in use, most cloud providers offer a pay-as-you-go service where you only pay for what you use instead of paying fixed amounts for storage and computation.

Incorporating serverless computing simplifies the process of creating and deploying new features. It eliminates the risk of failures due to hardware. As a result, you can focus on adding value to the core business and increasing productivity rather than spending time on overhead tasks like maintaining server clusters.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)

Security threats continue to rise as companies adopt digital transformation. There’s a vital need for a strategy to mitigate IT security risks. IT managers must implement best-in-class security practices to mitigate threats. It’s crucial to look for weaknesses in your current cloud system, develop workflows for monitoring, generate insights, and take proactive measures.

Companies are increasingly adopting secure access service edge (SASE) to ramp up their cloud security. SASE enhances network security by delivering services such as CASB, FWaaS, and Zero Trust using a cloud-delivered service model. A SASE architecture allows organizations to apply secure access methods and authenticate users regardless of location.

A cloud-based security service enables flexibility and cuts costs since the whole security stack is consolidated into a single security service model. It also reduces the complexity by minimizing the number of points an IT team would need to manage.

Making the Cloud More Sustainable

More companies are more concerned with sustainability than ever, which bleeds into the cloud space. Consumers want to see sustainability as an imperative feature in the cloud in addition to its security, agility, and other benefits.

Cloud features such as serverless computing, containerization, and disaster recovery strategies enable sustainable software development. Deploying code using serverless functions helps lower energy consumption rates than virtual machines. Containerizing applications also leads to a lower energy cost since containers do not require hypervisors. Developers can embrace green cloud computing to reduce costs and become ecologically and socially responsible in their software development practices.

Businesses also gain financial incentives by committing to sustainability. A report by Accenture reveals that companies that incorporate sustainability into their practices yield 4.7 times higher margins than others.

Cloud companies also embed sustainable solutions into their infrastructure to meet this demand, like reduced carbon emissions. They’re prioritizing responsible innovation that uses renewable energy sources for operations. Public clouds, for instance, reduce individual carbon footprints produced by local computing and require less energy consumption. The cloud also offers better server utilization rates, making it more cost-effective than building an in-house infrastructure for enterprise-owned data centers. That makes the cloud an appealing platform for applications with high usage.

Summary

Cloud computing lets developers build efficient, flexible, and sustainable infrastructure that improves the software development process. To prepare for growth, developers should be well-equipped with the latest cloud computing trends and experiment with new ideas.

Switching to hybrid cloud servers can combine the power of public and private clouds. Incorporate edge computing to increase the performance of your application. Make data-driven decisions using cutting-edge AI. Delegate the process of maintaining and provisioning services by tapping into serverless computing. Lastly, adapt to sustainable services for a greener future.

The future of cloud computing brings endless opportunities for growth and innovation. And you can explore Kinsta’s Application Hosting and Database Hosting platform to take the world by storm with your own cloud-based project.