The cloud storage market has taken the business world by storm. Today, more than 90% of companies have moved at least some workloads to the cloud – and over half store all their data in cloud storage.
Cloud storage is a form of data storage where you store your data in remote servers that are accessed via the Internet. Cloud storage is delivered as a service through a cloud computing provider.
As long as you have an internet connection and the correct password, you can access your data anytime, in any place.
Moreover, rather than maintaining your own servers, the cloud storage provider takes care of the hardware for you. This gives businesses greater flexibility and reduces costs.
If you’re yet to unleash the power of cloud storage in your business, the time to act is now. This year, we predict that there will be movers and shakers in cloud storage.
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Cloud Data Storage is a Fast-Moving Market
The cloud storage market is growing year on year. IDC predicts cloud spending will reach a huge $1.3 Trillion by 2025. As cloud providers earn more revenue, they’re reinvesting this money into improving and innovating their services.
The cloud storage market is inherently competitive. You have incumbent players like Amazon and Microsoft and challenger companies like Backblaze and SpiderOak. There’s a race between these companies to win and maintain customers.
This means that no cloud provider can afford to slow down. They need to keep impressing customers and adding new services, or businesses will move elsewhere.
In line with this, we’re seeing some exciting new trends in the cloud storage space, which we’ll look at in more depth below.
Sustainability Takes Centre Stage for Cloud Storage Providers
Climate change is a huge and pressing issue in today’s society. It’s no wonder that 60% of US citizens are ‘alarmed’ about it. Technology and sustainability can sometimes feel at odds. Technology, after all, relies on huge amounts of electricity, which causes greenhouse gas emissions.
However, it’s encouraging to see that big cloud providers like Microsoft, Google and Amazon are all taking steps to tackle climate change.
Google, for example, has that it will decarbonize its “energy consumption so that by 2030, [it will] operate on carbon-free energy, everywhere, 24/7.” Similarly, Amazon’s AWS will power its operations with renewable energy by 2025.
While these goals are a little way off, it’s positive to see big tech players take responsibility for their impact on the environment. Moreover, for SMBs, research has shown that the cloud is more sustainable than managing on-premises servers.
AI and Machine Learning Enhance Cloud Services and Reduces Costs
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are two branches of computer science that involve giving computers the capabilities to think like people, analyze data and perform tasks.
These days, AI can be found everywhere – from self-checkout kiosks to the software on your phone. Increasingly, AI and machine learning are also being used in the cloud.
We’ve seen plenty of cloud providers release AI-enhanced tools over the past year, designed to help businesses keep track of costs and improve efficiency.
For example, many cloud providers now offer AI tools for capacity and budget planning.
These solutions work by automatically alerting you when you’ve reached your spending or storage limit for the month, so that you can take proactive action to keep costs in check.
We’re also seeing the rise of AI compliance tools, which help businesses secure sensitive data in the cloud and reduce the chances of a breach.
If you’d like to learn more about AI in the cloud, or are interested in improving your cloud spend, chat to our cloud specialists. We can help your Dallas business make the most of the cloud.
Ransomware Scanning is Now an Expectation
There was almost a 2000% increase in ransomware attacks last year – and the threat shows no sign of dissipating in 2022. Ransomware works by encrypting access to data and files on the victim’s devices.
To regain access, the victim needs to pay a hefty ransom. Even then, though, it’s not guaranteed they’ll get back access to their files.
Given the pervasive nature of this threat, it’s great to see that cloud providers have upped the ante.
Over the past few months, major cloud providers have improved their ransomware scanning capabilities, deploying software to automatically scan uploads and downloads for ransomware and other malware variants.
This is good news for organizations worried about ransomware getting into their cloud storage or systems. These scanning capabilities will make it much harder for attackers to compromise businesses via cloud storage.
Make the Most of Cloud Storage… Come to Cloudavize!
Our cloud experts can guide you through the cloud storage process to improve productivity, reduce costs, and make your cloud infrastructure as effective as possible!
Contact Cloudavize today for a free consultation to get started.
