1. The Elusive Cloud Desktop.
Did the cloud desktop ever go away? No, it’s been lingering since VMware, Microsoft and Citrix have been providing desktop virtualization software. However, 2015 is going to produce a more informed and savvy cloud desktop customer. Thanks to the GA release of workspaces in spring of 2014, customers are now primed (no pun intended) to be consumers of cloud desktops, not just spectators gleaning from the sidelines. Businesses now have a public option among all the dedicated options in the market; which historically, builds interest, momentum and overall adoption. 2014 was paved by big enterprise cloud desktop software vendors, 2015 we will see the niche and high value strategic providers filling in the cracks.
2. A hybrid mindset
In 2015, there will be no longer be any barriers for cloud buyers looking for a hybrid solution. Going hybrid is and will continue to be an industry accepted way to consume cloud infrastructure. In 2015, consumers will buy from multiple cloud providers to get the best possible configuration for their business. According to industry analyst at Gartner, hybrid cloud adoption will be 50% in the next two years. Over the past two years providers released their robust hybrid offerings, in 2015 we will be seeing a larger audience ready to buy with approved budgets for a hybrid model.
3. A deeper dive into Mobile Device Management (MDM)
Mobile-device proliferation is an obvious trend, even your fifth grader wants an iPad, iPhone and computer in their backpack. So, imagine how much more the typical knowledge worker wants – and that is fueling the U.S. market. Mobility is complicated, and in 2015 cloud consumers will be forced to figure it out and lock down their vulnerable mobile policies. Executive leadership has witnessed the bloodshed in 2014, the year of the retail security breakdown. IT departments will HAVE to make room for MDM, using their already stretched resources will not be viable, thus the choice to use the cloud and buy MDM as a service.
MDM is also very interesting for 2015 thanks to the VMware acquisition of Airwatch. The market is watching and waiting to see what VMware will do with their new asset. The acquisition of Airwatch also validates the need and the opportunity for growth in the MDM arena.
4. Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)
There are two very tangible signs predicting DRaaS growth in 2015. First, almost every conversation at our VMWorld booth this year was around the DR topic. Second, after asking two thousand IT decision makers what they are doing in 2015, a whopping 52% answered DRaaS as a top priority. The DR directive is coming from executive leadership, mandating that systems and data be highly redundant and highly robust to withstand any local or regional disaster. It has become completely unacceptable to lose data or withstand any outage greater than one business day. What’s driving this phenomenon you ask? It’s the uptime and resiliency of private and public cloud providers that’s near 100% and setting the tone very high for do-it-yourself IT shops. IT teams can run their production infrastructure reasonably well, but running their own DR becomes cost prohibitive and too complex and time consuming. 2015 will take no prisoners when it comes to DRaaS, will you be ready?
Categories: Cloud Computing
About Neill Reidy
Neill Reidy brings over 16 years of experience to Evolve IP, with an extensive background in managed hosting, systems architecture, network engineering and of course all things “Cloud”. Neill is primarily responsible for supporting growth and go-to market strategy on all cloud computing products.
