2019 Cloud Predictions

In Ntirety 20+ years of serving customers, we’ve been on the front line for more than a few technological advances. After years witnessing trends come and go, our team looks ahead to share our 2019 tech predictions. The future starts today—and 2019 is shaping up to be another incredible year of changes for the IT industry, with much of it tied to the events of 2018.

Prediction 1: Hybrid and Multi-Cloud are the New Normal for Enterprise IT

With the surge in hybrid adoption, continued evolution in hybrid technologies will emerge in 2019. Better tools, better management, and easier adoption are checklist items. Furthering the continued proof of the hybrid and multi-cloud trend, AWS introduced its AWS Outposts product, the company’s first effort to create a true hybrid platform.

Notably, throughout its history, AWS has been a powerful pure-cloud option. Its main cloud competitor, Microsoft, previously bridged the hybrid story by introducing Azure Stack. These are big-time, in-demand technologies in the enterprise space, and as this AWS option grows, we can expect that additional hybrid options and integrations will emerge from the market landscape.

Prediction 2: Public Cloud Exits Will Become More Prevalent

Signs of a shift in the usage of public clouds are everywhere, although some may not admit it. Businesses are exiting from the public cloud to pursue other options. The “new normal” of enterprise clients is a world of hybrid and multi-cloud solutions, and it is slowly changing the IT technology landscape.

As businesses continue to face unpredictable and escalating costs, along with mounting security concerns in public cloud, the move to hybrid, custom, and multi-cloud will become more and more prevalent.  At the heart of this technology trend exists a custom solution to meet the needs and concerns of these organizations, including compliance, security, and cost issues. Compared to emerging and surging hybrid cloud solutions, public-cloud-only solutions will slowly fall out of favor.

Prediction 3: More Businesses Feeling Public Cloud Pains In Their Pocket Books

Companies face a challenging road ahead when it comes to the public cloud. Previously, as organizations outgrew old IT methods, the natural answer was to try the public cloud approach. As many found out, the public platform alone is not a complete solution and can be an expensive route. In some cases, public cloud adoption can ultimately mean a shift of IT pains instead of a resolution—while also costing more. Organizations looking for an answer will find the solutions they need in a more rational approach. Hybrid and multi-cloud will come to the rescue in 2019 to solve some of the cost overruns from public cloud services.

Prediction 4: Containers Gaining Traction from Early Adopters to Enterprise

It took a proper amount of time to get going, but cloud container technologies have finally emerged beyond the early adoption phases. We are witnessing the dawn of significant enterprise and mid-market container technology adoption. The capabilities and consistency delivered by containerized cloud applications that simultaneously simplify and eliminate the complexities of infrastructure are too hard for organizations to ignore.

Early adopters, primarily developers, have touted the benefits using containers—faster push, no downtime, scaling capabilities, automation, and easier migration. With these benefits becoming better known, enterprise companies are now starting to move their production to containers, making it the next big trend to follow.

Any time a technology trend grows, an ecosystem of tools, support, and new technologies similarly emerge, and containers are no exception. Focusing on management, reporting, and improvements, the target of new levels of efficiency and integration are driving the conversation and are expected to evolve quickly.

Prediction 5: Expect Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Everything

We are all familiar with the automated applications that surround our everyday lives. Automated assistants like Siri and Alexa are nearly ubiquitous. However, AI holds more promise than telling you the weather or ordering a pizza.

Security is a great example of this. For one of our customers, Ntirety provides AI-based security protection around the clock, preventing and detecting anomalous behavior and intrusion attempts. In the last year alone, the benchmark found and protected against 3 billion attempts. Protecting against zero-day threats at scale would be impossible to do without the baked-in intelligence that AI provides.

2019 is the year when widespread evidence of AI adoption will emerge at scale across business applications. Parallel to AI, Machine Learning and Business Intelligence (BI) tools will work to improve operations, gain better insights, and achieve better reliability and security. More organizations will use AI and BI to improve human interactions, results, speed, security, and the practicality of information systems.

Prediction 6: Consolidations Through Mergers and Acquisition

Say goodbye to some familiar names, and hello to new ones.

In light of a period of sustained AWS dominance, the market is shifting.  Continuing the pattern of service provider mergers, 2019 will see more alignments to go with the merger and acquisition news we heard last year from Rackspace, DataPipe, InterNap, and SingleHop.

The merger movement is driven by the demands of customers seeking comprehensive services, a global footprint, and extensive support from their partners.

Prediction 7: More Partners Instead of Vendors Means More Heroes

Every business is looking to get and keep a competitive edge—to thrive and to survive. Technology is a business catalyst, but with the pace of evolution in the cloud market, corporate IT faces a major bridge to their business advantage.

With all of this talk of multi-cloud and advanced hybrid platforms, talented and experienced resources are scarce. New business initiatives are on deck. Wall Street, clients, and investors demand quick results. There’s no room for error, and the clock is ticking away. Corporate IT cannot do it alone. Close to half of all organizations are predicted to reach out and engage with third-party cloud experts.¹ 2019 will see a boom in partnerships focused on application and cloud-based technology projects.

Prediction 8: The CIO Makes a Comeback

In the somewhat turbulent environment of running a business, it can feel like CIOs are on the endangered species list. Lasting two, maybe four years,² the typical CIO faces a series of challenges that begin with mitigating risk, reducing costs, and ultimately, enabling business agility. The problem is that two or three years is not enough time for a CIO to fully engage in the third phase of increasing business agility.

Strategic partnerships, improved tools, and the advantage of outsourcing will change that CIO survival rate. With cost reduction and strategic technology in the hands of expert partners, organizations can get to the transformation phase of their cloud journeys. Executed early, CIOs can expect a longer lifespan and more satisfying achievements.

Prediction 9: A True Blockchain Market

Discussed by enthusiasts for a while now, 2019 will be the year that we begin to see true contractual applications based on blockchain become commonplace in the cloud: Non-ironically, one of the stumbling blocks for a cloud foundation for blockchain is the cloud itself.

In the enterprise, blockchain requires specialized processing and infrastructure needs. In 2019, hybrid and multi-cloud emergence deliver on these needs as the cloud alone is not conducive to optimal blockchain infrastructure.

Predictions have a way of not happening the way most people project, leaving it best said to “expect the unexpected.” 2018 was a great ride, but change is brewing.  We’re headed for another big year with new frontiers for digital business transformation. Cloud technology is creating a new future as we speak, along with expert partners, leaders across organizations, and the amazing ecosystem of cloud solutions. We can safely say that despite the unexpected, 2019 will be an amazing year of success and fulfilled transformational opportunities—all enabled by the cloud.

Ready to see how Ntirety can help your company plan for growth in 2019? Contact us for a free consultation.

1. 451Research, March 2016.
2. CIO, 2013.