Modern innovations such as artificial intelligence, big data and Web3 are enabling seamless operations across industry verticals. And the power of cloud technology to migrate workloads from these emerging technologies to virtualized network environments is adding a new and important dimension to both the flexible scalability and reliability of modern-day business operations.
Cloud computing boasts greater computing, storage, networking, database, analytics and mobile services that increase service level protection while reducing investment in hardware upgrades, storage, servers and licenses, as well as proactive monitoring and management of the system.
Today, mobile services are becoming instrumental in designing innovative and personalized solutions through online services and applications to deliver a seamless transition, ensuring a greater degree of customer satisfaction and efficient business delivery.
From the commercial aspect, the cloud’s competitive advantage comes from its on-demand pricing model, agility, ease of use and scalability in deployment. Cloud segments of infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), software-as-a-service (SaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions have all been steadily growing despite challenging market dynamics. In recent times, its potential role in sustainable development has also been realized across industries and sectors.
Sectors such as healthcare, for example, can adopt innovations, expand existing services to more patients, create seamless access to patient records for providers and grow partnerships. With the speed and scalability of the cloud, faster access to patient care data for thousands of clinicians and staff personnel can significantly improve outcomes and overall patient experience. Cloud-supported networks will also have the scalability to accommodate additional locations scattered around the world.
Similarly, in manufacturing, companies are using cloud services such as AWS to optimally meet surging demand for their products from sectors including construction, iron & steel, glass production, mining and agriculture in the MEA and Asia, simplifying operations and improving market performance.
However, like any other technology, the cloud ecosystem needs other elements to deliver all its goods in every hybrid, public and private cloud environment. Here are the three broad considerations:
Universal Security
Cloud-native ecosystems will require a secure environment 24/7 in order to work efficiently. With the rapid growth in 5G deployments, the ICT industry is faced with a plethora of security challenges, including the importance of customer protection and compliance as well as skill shortages.
Innovative security strategies such as breach and attack simulations (BAS) can identify vulnerabilities in security environments by representing the possible attack routes and tactics used by the perpetrators. BAS bypasses the traditional red and blue team practices by providing fully automated penetration tests. BAS can be instrumental in protecting key organizational assets by simulating likely attack techniques across all attack vectors and then providing prioritized remediation guidance. In addition, experts are increasingly suggesting a Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) security model that encompasses cloud security posture management (CSPM), cloud service network security (CSNS) and cloud workload protection platform (CWPP) in a single universal platform. In addition, telecom regulators must establish classifications and frameworks for all cloud service providers (CSPs) to ensure data safety and localization.
Innovation and Collaboration
Enterprises can bring about improvements in their business operations through innovation and unlocking new sources of value. Cloud computing is increasingly making innovation possible to deliver business value to customers by easing various constraints, including multiple processes, scattered resources and inflexible rules, through an automated framework that can deliver standardized services quickly and cost-effectively. Cloud computing enables innovation by simplifying the needs of innovators to find resources to develop, test and make their innovations available to the user community.
However, innovation in a dynamic cloud ecosystem will require continuous collaboration. "We don’t do it alone. Without collaboration and the right innovative partners, you cannot convince the customers. Our development team works closely with all our partners to understand the needs of the market and to ensure that our service offerings create value,” says Eng. Saad A. Al-Sadhan, chief business and wholesale officer, Zain KSA, which is heading Zain Cloud in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, as a result of the increasing cloud adoption trend in the market, Huawei recently developed its own cloud-native MetaERP system, which has been built with other Huawei systems like EulerOS and GaussDB by collaborating with other partners to incorporate such advanced technologies for future business operations.
Knowledge Sharing and Communication
The cloud ecosystem is interdependent on several components that enable the smooth functioning of cloud services. For example, the AWS Partner Network (APN) comprises a global community of 100,000 partners from more than 150 countries that leverage programs, expertise and resources to build, market and sell customer offerings. The partners utilize AWS’ portfolio of services to integrate their cloud offerings and provide them to customers in the form of innovative solutions, solving technical challenges, creating new business opportunities and delivering mutual value. As such, interactive knowledge sharing is encouraged for more seamless service offerings that are in sync with the increased market demand for cloud-based solutions and services. In so doing, cloud customers can improve the way they work by accelerating their digitization journey while building resilience and catering to specific customers’ needs.
Furthermore, experts predict that more powerful AI and ML solutions will function on cloud platforms in the future. To this end, Alibaba Cloud recently launched its Tongyi Qianwen Partnership Program, which aims to co-create large language models tailored for different industries with partners. The first batch of industrial models in the program will cover sectors including petrochemicals, electricity, transportation, hospitality, enterprise services, telecommunications and finance, according to the company statement. Considering that these technologies are still in their early stages, continuous updates on the know-how of the latest trends are crucial for efficient cloud market operations. Moreover, with new cloud-based services such as edge computing, virtual cloud desktops, server-less computing, automation and cloud disaster recovery slowly but surely becoming regular business operation features, cloud service providers would do well to switch into a never-ending learning mode to deliver the goods.