Amazon made its EMR Serverless generally available. Microsoft introduced its new Microsoft Purview portfolio. Google celebrated this year’s Google Cloud Customer Awards. Clearly, so much is happening in the world of enterprise cloud. It’s getting hard to keep track of the latest and greatest news. AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and other cloud providers are constantly churning out new services. Even different technologies, challenges, and events are developing.

In this post, we’re sharing with you 3 of the latest developments in the cloud industry that you should be aware of. 
 

1. Cloud Providers Pivot To Industry Clouds

AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and IBM have undoubtedly benefited immensely from their general-purpose cloud offerings. However, they’ve now intensified their efforts in industry clouds. Industry-focused clouds are cloud solutions (SaaS or IaaS) that cater to the needs of a specific vertical. 

This makes perfect sense. Each industry or sector — manufacturing, banking, retail, etc. — has its own set of business, regulatory, data security, and technology requirements. Take healthcare organizations, for example. Several healthcare providers want to leverage the cloud’s scalability. In fact, the cloud could be beneficial for storing and processing electronic health records (EHRs). These organizations must take into account various nuances in the industry. That includes mandates from the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). 

A general-purpose enterprise cloud can help some organizations meet industry-specific needs. That said, doing so would entail a great deal of customization, integration, and cost. These companies neither have the time nor the engineering resources to spend on this. Alternatively, industry clouds offer better options because they already have the appropriate processes, tools, and enterprise tech built-in. 

Cloud solutions can unlock innovation, drive growth, and infuse flexibility in your organization. However, when you leverage cloud services tailored to your vertical, you’ll realize and deliver value much faster. This is what differentiates industry clouds from general-purpose ones. This is also why you should consider checking them out. Here are some links you can use for further research. 

• AWS leans into industry clouds, a pitch to better serve the niche
• The lowdown on industry clouds
• Driving Digital Transformation in Healthcare With Industry Clouds
   

2. Demand for Cloud Cost Optimization Persists

In Flexera’s 2022 State of the Cloud Report, survey respondents identified “Optimizing existing use of cloud (cost savings)” as their top cloud initiative. It’s been this way for 6 straight years now. Indeed, companies can get cloud infrastructures with practically zero CapEx costs. However, the cumulative costs can far exceed the usual capital outlay of on-premises alternatives in the long run. 

Cumulative costs aren’t the only problem. Even the monthly or annual operating costs themselves can get out of hand. Generally, companies use the cloud to have a healthier cash flow. However, if they do nothing to control costs, this goal can’t be met. Once cash flow suffers, it might make no sense for a business to continue an enterprise cloud initiative. No wonder cloud cost optimization remains a top priority for cloud consumers.

This urgency is prompting organizations (currently mostly large enterprises) to assemble FinOps teams. FinOps is a portmanteau of the words ‘finance’ and ‘operations’. Basically, it’s a discipline centered around managing cloud costs. FinOps teams are responsible for reducing cloud spend. They negotiate rates with cloud providers and introduce cost-saving measures to users, among other cost-related tasks. 

Even if you can’t assemble a dedicated FinOps team, you should incorporate cloud cost optimization strategies into your day-to-day operations. You can streamline your optimization initiatives. Simply employ a proven cloud cost optimization solution. Read how Western Digital did it to achieve up to $1M annual savings by clicking the link below. We’ve also included a couple more links for additional reference on the subject. 

• How Western Digital achieved up to $1M annual savings in cloud spend
• Calculate your potential cloud savings with this handy calculator
• Flexera 2022 State of the Cloud Report
• What in the world is FinOps, and why do we need it?
   

3. Serverless is Going Mainstream 

Serverless computing is now reaching mainstream adoption. This was recently declared by Datadog, the monitoring and security platform for cloud applications. Datadog’s view is based on findings from its 2022 State of Serverless Report. The report showed that at least 50% of Datadog’s customers operating in each major cloud (AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud) are now going serverless. 

Serverless computing enables consumers to build applications and services without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. In traditional IT environments, developers have to provision servers (or wait for IT to do it for them). Only then could they deploy their code. Even in enterprise cloud environments, virtual servers still have to be provisioned first.

That’s no longer required in serverless computing. The provider takes charge of infrastructure management, and developers simply focus on writing code. Serverless is also cost-efficient. You don’t have to pay for unused storage or idle resources. (This is a common pitfall in non-serverless cloud environments). Last but not least, serverless environments automatically scale with usage. This means you don’t have to guess your required capacity and provision in advance. 

Without any infrastructure management tasks to deal with, you can cut costs and time-to-market considerably. Read Datadog’s press release, which links to the report itself, by clicking the link below. We’ve also included a couple more links to learn about the latest developments in serverless computing.

• Datadog's 2022 State of Serverless Report Finds Serverless Reaching Mainstream Adoption
• It’s a serverless and containerized world
• Serverless on AWS - Build and run applications without thinking about servers

Get Cloud Updates in Real-Time

Would you like to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in cloud computing? We get cloud updates in real time through FirstRain, a powerful business intelligence tool that helps us understand our customers and our target markets. We use FirstRain extensively when preparing for meetings, client calls, and presentations. It also gives us updates on enterprise tech and other topics.

Say you have a meeting, and you need real-time updates on the cloud. Everyone else skips their lunch breaks, reads on the commute, and spends hours getting the research done. But why would you do that? You can sit back and let the research come to you. FirstRain gets you the updates straight to your inbox! 

You can get FirstRain for free through IgniteTech Unlimited, a Netflix-style subscription that gives you access to our entire enterprise solution portfolio at no additional cost.