Organisations joining the second wave of cloud adoption must control risks associated with the technology.
Cloud computing has helped transform businesses in Australia and New Zealand. We believe the market is now preparing for the second wave of cloud adoption in 2017 as more businesses continue to move to cloud-based networks instead of physical data centres.
Furthermore, Gartner predicts that, by the end of 2016, the public cloud services market in Australia alone will have grown by 14 per cent to $5.47 billion.* Public, private and hybrid cloud deployments have become a crucial tool for organisations of all shapes and sizes, and this will continue to help them enjoy elastic scalability and flexibility while reducing costs in 2017 and beyond.
The second wave of cloud computing will focus on analytics and security, giving rise to new players and an increasing willingness for organisations to shift their business-critical applications to cloud.
We have identified five additional trends that will dominate IT and planning departments’ considerations in 2017:
1. More emphasis will be placed on network visibility
Organisations are moving to a cloud-based environment so they must prepare for the security and control risks associated with the cloud. Organisations now realise they must overcome the network visibility limitations inherent in cloud in order to keep their data secure.
Throughout 2017, there will be an increased emphasis on network visibility. And, by 2018, approximately 60 percent of the enterprises implementing the appropriate network visibility will experience one-third fewer security failures.**
2. Artificial intelligence will change the face of cyber security
There will be a significant increase in artificial intelligence (AI) investments in 2017 compared to 2016. Forrester predicts investment in AI will grow 300 per cent in 2017.*** AI will let business users access powerful insights and will drive faster business decisions in marketing, ecommerce, product management and other areas of the business by helping close the gap from insights to action. Applying AI in security is expected to gain momentum as the next logical step, underpinning systems that can identify, analyse, learn, anticipate and adjust to cybersecurity threats.
3. Sophisticated IoT cyberattacks will rise
The Internet of Things (IoT) offers an expanding horizon of opportunity that shouldn’t be ignored due to security concerns. With foresight into these current trends, practical planning and persistence implementation, organisations can progress their vision for IoT with confidence in security practices. There is also a concern regarding the human element of big data analytics, the integrity of the data and its storage. Data analytics is needed for IoT devices to be useful.
4. Edwin the malicious rubber ducky will lead the botnet army of 2017
Botnet armies are bigger, more active and more heavily armed than ever before. The industry can expect to see hackers continue to exploit IoT device vulnerabilities to launch attacks, and they will likely use Edwin, the app-connected smart duck, who will be the biggest security threat of the year.**** Hackers will leverage Edwin to launch the “Rubber Ducky Botnet Army” of 2017, making it critical for organisations to better defend their networks to prevent strong DDoS attacks.
5. Disruption will not slow down
Disruption will continue to take place in more and more verticals, beyond transport (Uber), housing (Airbnb) and food and beverage (UberEATS, Deliveroo, Foodora), and more changes are inevitable.
More verticals will face or be affected by increasing disruption in a form dubbed “the Uberisation of Things” and, when this happens, technology will either save or break the economy.
In 2017, predicting the future will be big business. With the advancements in IoT and data analysis, we’ll no longer have to rely on crystal balls and tarot cards to plan our next business moves. Technology will continue to replace physical, manual and, increasingly, intellectual processes. Businesses that position themselves to leverage these changes rather than be blindsided by them are the ones that will thrive in the new disrupted marketplace.
* http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3443517
** http://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/seven-tips-for-staying-secure-in-the-cloud/
*** http://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2016/11/01/forrester-predicts-investment-in-artificial-intelligence-will-grow-300-in-2017/
**** https://www.edwintheduck.com/
Naveen Bhat, Managing Director Asia Pacific, Ixia
