Global cloud computing revenue will reach $519B by 2027

Cloud is an enabler of business process change as it facilitates key benefits including expenditure reduction (CapEx and OpEx), service development and delivery efficiencies, and greater flexibility to meet evolving business needs. Cloud technologies and solutions are becoming increasingly more important to communication service providers, enterprise, content and commerce providers. This is particularly the case as many IT departments predominantly implement virtualization of network functions and “softwaritization” of applications and operational support systems through the use of software-defined network solutions.

Clouded-based technologies are evolving at a rapid pace along with the myriad of ways in which services can be developed, implemented, and operated. Various players in the cloud ecosystem achieve varying degrees of sustainability in accordance with their ability to identify gaps in IT infrastructure and/or services delivery regardless of what technologies are in place today and anticipate how methods and procedures will need to evolve to capture future opportunities.

We see IT departments becoming increasingly savvy regarding the distinction between core cloud and edge computing used for distributed cloud computing. Fog computing represents an evolution of cloud computing that takes into account the need for some computing to occur at the edge of networks. It will be very important for the Internet of Things (IoT). However, it will raise some serious issues regarding data security and overall data management. One of the key areas will be big data analytics in terms of how real-time data is managed and optimized.

Similar to fog computing, but based on a different architectural approach, Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) represents cloud-computing capabilities and an IT service environment at the edge of mobile networks, such as LTE or 5G, but may also include WiFi. In cellular networks, the edge of the network includes base station infrastructure and data centers close to the radio network, which can extract network context from Radio Access Network (RAN) and process in a distributed manner.

MEC brings virtualized applications much closer to mobile users ensuring network flexibility, economy and scalability for improved user experience. It facilitates a service environment that allows seamless access experience and responsiveness for content, services, and applications. It provides mobile network operators with an opportunity to play a greater role in an emerging ecosystem as they can add value through optimized apps and content.

Supported by leading organizations such as ETSI ISG, IBM, Intel, Nokia Network, Huawei, NTT DoCoMo, Saguna, and Vodafone, MEC will be applied in a wide array of areas including content delivery, DNS caching, RAN optimization, offloading, IoT connectivity, distributed video, critical communications, and urban security. MEC is also anticipated to create a new ecosystem that will positively impact various vertical markets.

Arguably, a corporation’s most critical asset is its data. As a result, optimizing data management assets, processes and procedures is of particular importance. This includes those data elements that are shared between the numerous applications, systems and services within the enterprise across all industry verticals. Only through reliable data management services can organizations truly realize the true potential of their own data as well as data from customers, suppliers, partners, and various third parties.

From an enterprise cloud service and infrastructure perspective, having a firm understanding of data management technologies and solutions is critical to all constituents in the value chain for all industry verticals. ICT leaders will be faced with many emerging challenges such as data management in the IoT era, advanced cloud architectures and solutions such as fog computing or MEC.

As cloud computing evolves, there is an increasing need for third-party support of cloud platforms, architectures, and services. Support takes the form of various cloud professional services ranging from data management, cloud brokering, and end-to-end cloud management.

Key findings:

• Global cloud computing revenue will reach $519B by 2027 at 23.7% CAGR
• Global IaaS storage and related computing revenue alone will reach $63.8B by 2025
• Major impact of edge computing will initially be computing efficiency improvements
• Inclusion of AI within 34% of core networks and 44% of distributed notes by application

CT Bureau