Here are some key aspects that will shape cloud efforts in 2021:

• Enterprise will be forced to adapt to changed IT landscape

Datacenter infrastructure is the main driving force in the rise of the digital economy. This became clear in 2020 when cloud infrastructure and technology allowed employees to socially distance themselves by working from home. The cloud computing infrastructure enabled the society to reimagine itself in the face of the pandemic as many people were forced to quarantine. As the world slowly moves to normal after COVID-19, remote work might be the new normal. The pandemic’s unpredictability is the cause of the fast-spreading cloud strategies aimed at building flexible, adaptable, and resilient businesses, which are the main attributes that matter the most in the modern era.  

• Demand for increased security

While cloud computing has immense potential to help organizations deliver even during a crisis such as the pandemic currently being experienced, it can also lead to other challenges such as cyberattacks. The cloud opens up an opportunity for malicious actors to target sensitive data being stored in servers. As such, discussions about cloud security have been at the forefront of the IT industry. Cloud service providers will see enhanced security for both physical and network infrastructure as attackers become increasingly sophisticated in their activities.

• Edge computing

As edge computing takes shape, a new phase of global infrastructure is coming up. Although the advancement of edge computing will be gradual and will take years to mature, it will be boosted by the fast adoption of other technologies. Although 2021 will not be a year of a complete migration to edge computing, it will be a year where those who aspire to establish themselves in this area will gain a foothold into this new arrangement. For example, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is shifting its deployment mode and acquiring resources that will help in the adoption of edge computing.

• Focus will shift to renewable energy

The data center industry has, for long, faced the challenge of energy consumption. Many industry leaders are actively looking for ways to power their data centers with renewable energy. In 2020, Google and Switch initiated projects that will begin using lithium-ion batteries. These two are early adopters, but others will soon join the race to find the best alternative to non-renewable, environmentally unfriendly options that are currently in place. Expect companies such as Google and Amazon to look for other alternatives as storage increasingly becomes a crucial tool for almost all companies. Energy storage will enable large users such as data centers to overcome high power costs, improve efficiency and effectiveness in data center operations.

Energy aside, you are likely to see the invention of revolutionary cooling technology that is a shift from conventional air conditioning infrastructure in use today. Considering cooling leads to high energy consumption in data centers, this will be a win for the environment that has long suffered from the non-renewable energy needs of data centers. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that data centers and leading cloud service providers have for long focused on enhancing their cooling strategies to reduce energy demands and consumption.