Reliable security, green operations, and increased digitisation are all contributing to growth in the tech market.
According to newly released predictions from Forrester, the tech market is set to see some excellent growth in the coming years, with the software market, specifically, expected to grow 10.5% in 2022. Moreover, IT services are predicted to see a bump of 6.8% as many leaders look to the cloud for their organisations’ needs.
The same report also points out that most organisations are planning to have at least 58% of their application portfolios in the cloud within two years. Another 43% of IT decision-makers have already migrated their companies’ services to the cloud. Because of this, over the next three years, public cloud spending should more than double. Much of this can be attributed to the new working conditions, as many move to (or stay with) remote and hybrid work configurations, even post-pandemic.
The promise of a healthy, thriving industry is always welcome. However, one question comes to mind seeing these numbers and estimations. What does all of this look like for the cloud? And what impact will it have on cloud providers?
Tech Spending Is on the Rise
You might think that with recent events, the economy notwithstanding, tech spending would be trending downward—but that does not seem to be the case. In fact, North America is expected to be one of the bigger tech spenders in 2022, making up 41% of tech spending this year across the top 40 global markets. Asia is also forecasted to see huge growth, likely as much as North America.
Financial services, telecommunications, data processing, and IT are all predicted to thrive, among many others, with a growing need for cloud and managed services across nearly every industry. This should also create an opportunistic and healthy market for cloud vendors on all fronts. Spending is up, and many companies are leaning into Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications, with worldwide end-user spending on public cloud services forecast to reach $397.5 billion by the end of 2022.
Going Green as a Renewed Focus
Many organisations are looking to mitigate their environmental impact, namely through reduced or net-zero operations. Consumers have spoken, and sustainability is vital to success in 2022. Coincidentally, it’s happening at the same time digital operations are ramping up, remote or otherwise. Companies have a growing need for IT services and support, including security, so there’s a stark contrast between what’s happening and what they should be doing—reducing resources, not growing them.
Forrester’s report mentions renewable energy sources and a growing reliance on them. But many companies will be offsetting their IT and managed services to cloud providers as a response. Eliminating on-site data centres and adopting cloud services while still benefitting from the same technologies will be a boon and a critical move for keeping a green focus going forward. We’re likely to see many new organisations and customers moving to a cloud-driven environment.
Security Is Key in the Cloud
It doesn’t matter whether companies are managing on-site services and hardware or whether they’ve entrusted it to a cloud provider. Security is and always will be of grave importance. Businesses big and small need to secure their systems, data, hardware, and so much more from would-be attackers. But as we’ve seen time and time again, most organisations just do not have the resources to protect their data or systems. Out of 120 global cyber leaders tapped in a World Economic Forum report, 39% say their companies have been affected by a third-party cyber incident in the past two years, while 6% simply do not know.
What’s more, digitisation has increased exponentially during the pandemic, as many organisations honour either a hybrid work arrangement or a completely remote one. Software and application security, network security, and managed services can all help alleviate many of the security challenges companies face in the current landscape.
By opting for cloud security support, you hand off the services and responsibilities to a provider with the resources, hardware, and expertise to protect your business against and respond to potential threats. A provider that has Tier 3 data centres, for instance, can offer exceptional digital and physical security to customers. The benefits include DDOS protection, dedicated firewalls, enterprise-level anti-virus, and much more. The facilities themselves boast some of the most advanced security deployed in the industry, with biometric locks, fire-safe systems, and real-time threat detection. Even with a large budget, most organisations cannot hope to come close to these capabilities.
Cloud security support will certainly become more and more enticing as threats grow more sophisticated and more widespread. Reach out to the team at SMB Solutions Cloud Services today for more information on our cloud hosting and MSP services.