Virtualization and Cloud executives share their predictions for 2014.  Read them in this VMblog.com series exclusive.

Contributed article by Josh Stephens, Vice President of Product Strategy, CopperEgg

Predictions that will shape the application management landscape

It's no secret that savvy businesses are moving their high-value applications to the cloud. What may be a surprise, however, is how the shift to cloud-based services puts end-users increasingly in the driver's seat -- upending traditional approaches to application management and the vendors that deliver it.

Looking ahead to 2014, here are a few predictions I believe will shape the application management landscape, putting nimble companies on the forefront of the cloud computing market, and others scrambling to catch up. 

• Hybrid APM (application performance management) will take hold. Momentum is growing around hybrid cloud adoption that spans public and private computing environments. Unfortunately, most APM tools monitor applications either in the data center or in the cloud, creating management silos that increase cost, complexity and inefficiency. As more organizations adopt hybrid cloud strategies, they will need APM solutions that can scale accordingly.
  

• Customers will demand greater visibility into cloud services. Today most cloud services (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) are black boxes, making it difficult for customers to understand the root cause of an issue (how do you access packet information in someone else's cloud?). Application delays or downtime can mean millions of dollars in lost revenue. Cloud providers will have to start enriching the data they provide to customers, or risk losing them to a competitor.
  

• As enterprises move to the cloud, Microsoft will come with them. First generation cloud services have been largely developed around Linux and open standards. But as more enterprises move to the cloud, they will bring Microsoft with them, deploying solutions that include Windows Server, Microsoft Remote Desktop, Windows Azure HDInsight Service, SQL Server, Microsoft Dynamics CRM and others.
  

• PaaS adoption will accelerate as developers look to build and deploy applications more quickly. When you have a database in Windows Azure, an app server in Amazon, and it all integrates with a SaaS application connected to a data center resource, it makes it very hard to pinpoint bottlenecks. PaaS will help software developers save costs, reduce technical maintenance and increase mobility by "renting" the tools, servers and programming environments they need to build and deploy applications more quickly.
  

• There will be at least one very large acquisition in the APM space. As the cloud and mobile markets drive increased disruption across IT, traditional systems management vendors will look to beef up their portfolio with next generation APM solutions that have been purpose-built (and proven) to scale across millions of end users, interfaces and devices.

• APM will become part of a larger IT systems management solution in the cloud. Today APM operates as a silo. But as more computing resources move to the cloud, IT will need a better way to understand the interactions and interdependencies between them, combining application, network, storage and virtualization layer data into a single source of actionable insights.
  

• Management standards for the cloud will finally emerge. Cloud interoperability is a hot topic, but not one that's seen a lot of progress. Groups such as the DMTF, SNIA and Open Data Center Alliance are just a few of the industry organizations seeking to develop cloud standard specifications that support the effective management of multiple cloud services and products from multiple vendors.
  

• More Internet-connected devices will cause a major shift to IPv6. The Internet of Things, Machine-to-Machine technologies and the mobile device population explosion will put massive pressure on the existing IP numbering scheme (IPv4), which only provides for approximately 4.2 billion addresses. Of note, APNIC, the Regional Internet Registry that allocates IP and AS numbers in the Asia Pacific region, is home to approximately 60% of the world population (~4.2 billion people) representing an Internet penetration of just 26% -- with approximately 3.1 billion people in the region who may yet connect.
  

• Major cloud failures will drive demand for multi-cloud deployments. We've all felt the pain when Google Mail is down, or AWS suffers an outage, taking other critical services down with it. These high profile failures are costly for the bottom line, and risky for customer relations. According to Gartner, two out of five businesses will disappear within five years if they suffer a major IT outage. As a result, multi-cloud deployments with seamless connectivity will become a critical success factor in business continuity planning.

##

About the Author

Josh Stephens brings nearly 20 years of experience in the technology industry. Prior to joining the company, he founded a consulting and technology company focused on helping companies adapt their product and go to market strategies to take advantage of the high velocity, inside sales model focused around inbound marketing and social media. Previously, he was the Vice President of technology at SolarWinds where he spent over a dozen years helping to define and innovate their product and go to market strategies. Earlier in his career Josh spent time at Greenwich Technology Partners, International Network Services, and the United States Air Force.