Cloud Workloads are the Future, Don’t Get Left Behind

Cloud computing continues to grow each year, and for good reason. Running a cloud platform allows companies to increase development and release speed, while also eliminating problems associated with traditional data centers. Cisco predicts that by 2021, 94 percent of all workloads will run in a cloud environment. Cloud workloads are more efficient and the increase in cloud security options will improve their safety. Is it possible that all workloads will eventually be cloud-based?

Benefits

SaaS workloads are becoming more common than ever. Cisco predicts that 75 percent of cloud workloads will be SaaS-based. This number was already at 71 percent in 2016, but the growth in the market size will obviously increase the options in the SaaS market. There has even been some talk of artificial intelligence as a service, but Cisco doesn’t include this in their prediction.

Security has been problematic for people utilizing the cloud, but with an increased market comes increased options. Companies will be able to focus on the specific security options they need based on their cloud.

Cisco predicts that data center traffic will triple by 2021. They specifically state, “annual global data center IP traffic will reach 20.6 Zettabytes by the end of 2021.”

IoT and RFID devices are driving the growth of this market. Cisco expects IoT connects to reach 13.7 billion. More enterprises are embracing IoT and they’ll be forced to dedicate to platforms that support this increase in network devices.  Some people believe that smart cities are just around the corner.

More data means bigger data centers

Hyperscale data centers are the future of cloud computing. There’s no way for the influx of connected devices to be managed without an increase in enormous data centers. Only a handful of companies that are currently considered to be hyperscale. This included Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Facebook has been consistently building massive data centers, they most recently announced that they would be building a 400 acre data center campus in Atlanta.

Not many cloud providers have hyperscale data centers, but they will. Cisco predicts that hyperscale data centers will almost double from 2016 to 2021. Going from 338 to 628. The network is going to grow and the tools should be there to help it.

What will happen to traditional data centers?

Cisco has listed that traditional data center workloads and compute instances will go down 5% from 2016-2021. They predict a 22% increase in cloud data center workloads. Cisco doesn’t predict traditional data centers will go extinct, though.

One of the problems with the cloud is its current lack of security. It’s not completely unsecure, but we’ve seen multiple companies suffer at the hands of cryptojackers. If 94 percent of companies are using the cloud, security options must become a priority. Due to this security issue, Cisco believes that many enterprises will likely house and run their critical workloads on traditional data centers. Trust in the public cloud is building, but an in-house option should always exist.