Cloud adoption has steadily risen in recent years, with many of us experiencing first-hand the flexibility and agility required to accommodate hybrid workforces and changing business needs. Australian enterprises continue investing in cloud computing. A Gartner survey reveals that 62% of Australian CIOs plan to boost their cloud spending this year, with goals to improve operational costs and efficiencies. What are the trends influencing cloud adoption?
Bridging gaps with AI-as-a-Service
AI and machine learning have quickly become integral to businesses today, transforming how organisations operate by boosting efficiency, automating routine tasks, and offering deep analytical insights. However, not every business has the resources to handle the computing power required for these models. In truth, most businesses shouldn’t be trying to invest in their own internal AI anyway – the four big players have much more money, R&D spending, and knowledge to create better products than the rest of us combined.
AI-as-a-Service uses the cloud to enable organisations to experiment with AI without needing the computing power or in-house expertise required to power popular LLMs such as ChatGPT. This shift reduces overheads and accelerates innovation by making AI tools available to a broader range of businesses.
The skill in utilising AI-as-a-Service is going to be:
- Identifying how to get your data organised in a way that makes sense to the AI service
- Knowing the right questions to ask the AI service
- Having the ability to quickly iterate, re-iterate and learn from each attempt until you get the answers you want from these services
AI is something that every business leader knows they want, but many don’t actually know why. Identifying your company’s ‘Why’ will be a good starting point.
Having multiple cloud providers
There are two ways to look at this trend. The first is utilising the best-of-breed products that are right for your business (for more information on this point, I’ll share my other articles at the end. The second is doing away with the old adage of ‘We’re a Microsoft house’ or ‘We’re a Google-only business’.
An IDC survey commissioned by Microsoft found that 42% of Australian organisations use two cloud providers. Today's organisations seldom want to rely on a single vendor for their cloud services as they recognise that this strategy often lacks flexibility and fails to deliver the best return on investment. Multi-cloud strategies enable businesses to select the best services from different providers and tailor solutions to their needs. This approach offers greater flexibility, improved risk management, and cost optimisation.
A multi-vendor strategy ensures the business is not dependent on a single provider's roadmap, pricing changes, or service availability. This strategy also increases service resilience, as relying on multiple cloud providers can reduce the risk of downtime and service interruptions. While using multiple cloud providers is not new, its popularity continues to grow as organisations become more aware of the benefits of spreading their cloud services across several platforms.
Strengthening cloud security
Many organisations store large amounts of sensitive data in the cloud, making these environments prime targets for threat actors. In the coming year, cloud security measures such as identity and access management (IAM) and comprehensive disaster recovery plans will become a higher priority. Some of the biggest compromises in data (Optus and Latitude) have been easily avoidable mistakes. We will see far less of those and far more sophisticated attacks. So, having multi-factor authentication and very quick RTOs (recovery time objectives) will be something you’ll want to ensure you’re looking out for.
Processing data faster with edge computing
Edge computing processes data where it is generated rather than relying on distant data centres. It reduces latency, enhances processing speed, and improves system responsiveness. Such benefits become critical for organisations where milliseconds matter, enabling faster decision-making and more efficient operations across various sectors.
The importance of edge computing becomes even more pronounced with the proliferation of IoT devices, real-time analytics, and mobile applications. For example, real-time analytics allows for immediate insights, making it possible to react to data as it's generated.
Powering decision-making with real-time data
The need for real-time data has surged as organisations seek to make more timely and informed decisions. Cloud computing meets this need by providing the infrastructure to process and analyse data streams. By leveraging cloud capabilities, businesses can now access insights derived from a continuous flow of information, enabling them to respond swiftly to market trends, operational changes, and customer preferences. This immediacy in decision-making is not just a competitive advantage; it's becoming necessary in fast-paced markets.
Addressing data privacy concerns
Like security, data privacy has become another key concern for organisations, particularly in Australia, where 62% of people consider protecting personal information a major concern. As organisations increasingly migrate their operations and data storage to the cloud, aligning with Australian data privacy laws and regulations is imperative. Using a cloud service often means entrusting your organisation’s data with a third party, some of which operate overseas and may not need to adhere to the same laws as Australian businesses.
Driving agility with serverless
Serverless computing allows organisations to run their applications and services without the need to own, maintain, or even consider the underlying servers. The company pays only for the resources it consumes, not for idle server capacity. This approach offers significant cost savings and allows automatic scaling to match demand, ensuring that applications can handle peak loads.
Serverless computing has existed for several years but will continue gaining traction this year as businesses look for ways to reduce overheads and improve operations. The beauty of serverless lies in its simplicity and efficiency: while the cloud provider still operates and manages servers, the administrative and financial burden shifts away from the business. This enables an organisation to develop and improve its products or services rather than focus on server management and capacity planning complexities.
We’ve invested heavily in serverless over the past four years, building our integration platform, SiPHON. It was designed and built from the ground up using technologies that most of the current market players simply cannot compete with (in regards to speed, performance, scale and cost-efficiency). This is one aspect of cloud we know for sure will be a massive growth area, and we’re willing to put all our resources behind it.
Conclusion
Cloud computing offers organisations several opportunities to innovate and transform. It provides organisations with significant opportunities to improve efficiency, scalability, and agility. As the technology and business landscapes evolve, cloud computing will support organisations in optimising costs, maintaining competitiveness, and delivering to customer expectations.
Connect your cloud strategy with Creative Folks
Your cloud strategy will not work if your applications and platforms cannot talk to each other. We can provide a comprehensive systems integration solution if your organisation needs to break down silos.
We built SiPHON on serverless technology, underpinned it with composability principles, and reduced the total cost of ownership. SiPHON's modular approach enables quick connections between disparate systems, consolidates data flows, and dismantles business silos.
Our experts will construct a solution that aligns with your requirements and strategic objectives. When you choose SiPHON, you get more than a platform; you gain a team dedicated to tailoring a solution that meets your needs. Visit our SiPHON page for more details.
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