Another Cloud Boom Coming Our Way?

By Michael Brown 1

As a managed service provider (MSP), you must know that cloud adoption is in full-swing, right? Well, what if we were to tell you that another cloud computing boom is still to come? Whether you believe it or not, research suggests that a slew of new opportunities could be on the way for MSPs in the world of cloud data storage and cloud-based file sharing. 

When a new technology is unleashed on the world, it often makes itself known in waves. First, there is in the initial announcement and discussion of the technology. Upon release, there are the early adopters that look to take hold of it. Then, perhaps after some feedback and revisions, most technologies that are destined for longevity will see a great boom in acceptance and adoption.

Has the boom in cloud adoption already occurred? It would seem so, but, as chronicled by CloudPro, research suggests that hybrid cloud adoption is expected to increase by 27 percent over the next four years. By 2019, the expected value of hybrid cloud services will even reach an astounding $84.67 billion.

The research in reference was performed by MarketsandMarkets, a competitive intelligence and market research firm, which suggests that nearly half (48 percent) of the world’s enterprises are planning to adopt systems and services in the hybrid cloud in the near future.

“Hybrid cloud provides excellent high end solutions such as integration, cloud management, cloud security, networking, and consulting to offer highly scalable resources that can be adjusted on-demand,” wrote MarketsandMarkets in their Hybrid Cloud Market by Solution, by Service Model, by Region – Global Forecast to 2019 report.

The banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) markets appear to be the fastest adopters of the hybrid cloud, according to the report. Those industries sit just on top of consumer and retail goods, healthcare, government, energy, education, telecommunication and IT-enabled services (ITES), manufacturing, research and consulting services, media, and entertainment.

So, why now? Why haven’t these enterprises already adopted the cloud? Here, MarketsandMarkets suggests the same information you’re well-aware of: security and privacy concerns. As a 451 Research report advocates in a new study for Microsoft, covered by BetaNews, those same security and privacy concerns may actually be the latest driver of adoption.

The 451 Research report suggests that nearly 70 percent of the opportunity for MSPs lies in the application hosting, backup and disaster recovery, threat management, and security services.

As told by Aziz Benmalek, general manager, Hosting Service Provider business at Microsoft:

For today’s cloud service providers, infrastructure has become only a small part of their overall service offering.  More than 75 percent of customers are now beyond the cloud discovery phase and expect that in three years, almost half of their applications will be deployed in a combination of private and public cloud environments.

Benmalek went on to suggest that this phase carries with it a “significant opportunity” for MSPs to provide value-added services, driving additional cloud consumption, increasing revenue, and increasingly serving as a trusted advisor.

Is this – finally – the boom that’s yet to come?  Are the remaining slow-to-adopt organizations ready to come aboard the cloud for the same reasons that previously held them back?  Only time will tell, but continue checking back in with our infocenter for the latest news and advice.