Automated Intelligence discusses the Top 3 Predictions in Cloud Migration for 2022

The last two years have seen a significant rise in cloud computing with businesses adapting to digitising their services whilst working remotely during the global pandemic. It’s without a doubt that cloud migration will continue to rise throughout 2022 with Gartner predicting global spending on cloud services is expected to reach over $482 billion in 2022, up from $313 billion in 2020.  

So, what does 2022 have in store for us in relation to cloud migration? Our Head of Product Strategy, Paul Hudson discusses his top 3 predictions and emerging trends.  

1. The effects of Covid and the ‘lift and shift’ approach

During Covid, organisations rushed to transfer their data and infrastructure to the cloud to provide their workforce with remote access to systems as a necessity – often referred to as the ‘lift and shift’ approach. However, it is because of this response that organisations are now left with ineffective legacy processes because they aren’t using cloud first technology. By moving their data to a different data centre, organisations may have solved their connectivity problem, however the challenge remains if they haven’t changed their underlying capability or technology.  

Businesses are acknowledging these challenges and there is a growing trend emerging as a result of the lift and shift approach which recognises that organisations need to be more strategic in their approach when migrating their data and solutions to the cloud. New technologies have been proven to enable innovation and the opportunity for businesses to better engage both internally across the business and externally with customers and partners, therefore it’s apparent organisations must evolve and revolutionise their use of technology if they want to transform their business to thrive. This of course requires more in-depth analysis for informed and planned decisions to be made. It’s not just about understanding how you’re using data and how people are interacting with it, but also looking at the drivers for transformational change which requires forethought to prevent issues such as projects and budgets overrunning, or worse, delivering the wrong outcomes. 

2. Data security and the evolvement of hybrid cloud 

Data security remains a priority for organisations when migrating to the cloud in order to reduce risks and vulnerabilities as the responsibility develops into managing different types of environments and evolving to a hybrid approach. The rise of hybrid cloud includes utilising a mix of private cloud services and third-party public services such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google, enabling users to enjoy a greater range of compute capabilities whilst providing the security needed for the most sensitive of data. However, businesses will still require the ability and skill sets to manage such services.    

I’d expect data compromise will remain a top risk for organisations where unauthorised access or disclosure of data that compromises security or confidentiality is an increasing concern. With data stored in one environment, organisations are vulnerable to that one supplier whereas when using various services across numerous platforms, businesses want to ensure disaster recovery and security processes are implemented to prevent such risks such as outages and the effects of this.

3. Environmental, social and governance 

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) is becoming a rising concern for all organisations, together with global climate change priorities outlined by COP26 which is something to consider for the future. As the digital world and technology continues to evolve and the demand for remote working enhances connectivity 24/7, this results in a significant amount of energy consumption by cloud providers. While the debate continues on the perceived benefits of new ways of working, cloud providers will be focusing on the rising demands from the boardroom as organisations seek to do more in relation to net zero and reducing their carbon footprint. The different cloud providers have differentiators around services and organisations will move between providers for this reason, but drivers around ESG could be critical in the future when choosing which platform to use.  

Conclusion: 

Organisations today are moving around the cloud whereas before they were moving to the cloud. It’s important that as part of that cloud migration practice, processes are fully scalable, secure and offer a fully integrated service in order to continually evolve as part of an eco-system. There’s no doubt that many organisations now view cloud migration and digital transformation as business critical given the events of the last two years. These are the predictions and trends I see evolving for 2022, however who knows what the future holds?! 

If you’d like to know further on how Automated Intelligence can help you migrate your data to the cloud successfully, contact us on info@automated-intelligence.com or complete the Get In Touch form below and we’d be happy to help.