Virtualization and Cloud executives share their predictions for 2017. Read them in this 9th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Contributed by Barry Morris, Co-Founder, NuoDB
Appetite for Cloud and Containers to Accelerate in 2017
1. SAAS will be the default application model in every
class of company
While the concept of
Software-as-a-Service is not new, it has taken 20 years for the ASP/SAAS dream
to become the preferred deployment and usage model for a wide spectrum of
applications ranging from consumer to enterprise. In 2017, we believe SAAS will become
officially mainstream, as noted in Gartner's Hype Cycle for Cloud Computing. With secure and reliable cloud infrastructure
services, elastic database systems, and application architectures designed for
multi-tenancy readily available to support this momentum, SAAS has become the
undisputed answer to most application challenges.
2. Cloudification turning-point for on-prem Application
ISVs
As noted above, while 2017
will be a turning point for SAAS in general, it will be particularly the case
for Application Vendors. Cloudification
of traditional applications will reach a critical turning point in 2017.
In its Q3 2016 report, the
Software Equity Group indicated that public software as a service (SaaS)
companies grew revenue at 29 percent compared to just 7.8 percent for public
software companies that primarily offered perpetual, on-premises software. In addition, Gross Profit Margin for SAAS
companies was also higher (66.2% vs 64.3%). If an application vendor is not
actively disrupting their market with a compelling SAAS offering they should
expect their business to be disrupted by a competitive SAAS offering.
The cloud on-ramp for ISVs is
complex, involving discontinuous changes in business models, skillsets,
operational processes, and product architecture. At the core of the challenge is the
requirement to manage data on behalf of many customers, the need for database
management with elastic capacity, multi-tenancy, security, load-balancing, high
availability, data redundancy, simple back-ups, and a profitability-driver to
minimize licensing and administration costs. In 2017 we will see application
vendors investing heavily in this transition to ensure success.
3. Containers & Docker certified as Enterprise
Platforms
Docker and Containers have
already become the de facto deployment style for internet companies. Expect to see broad enterprise adoption in
2017.
There are around 500,000
Dockerized applications, a growth of 3,000% over two years. Over 4 billion
containers have been pulled to date. The
numbers are astonishing, and there is no reason to believe that the trend will
slow down. Thus far, most of the
activity has been among ultra-early adopters, not mainstream IT shops. But we
are seeing this change rapidly, and 2017 will be the pivotal year.
In 2016, Wall Street banks
certified Docker as a deployment platform, along with container ecosystem
components. The technology is moving from the domain of the advanced technology
groups to the datacenter. We can expect that what happens on Wall St will soon
happen elsewhere in the enterprise.
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About the Author
As executive chairman, Barry Morris
chairs the Board of Directors and drives the external matters of NuoDB,
including industry thought leadership, strategic partnerships and business
relationships as well as product and technology strategy. He also serves as an
advisor to the CEO and senior leadership on all aspects of the business.
Barry is an accomplished
software executive with more than 25 years of industry experience in the U.S.
and Europe - startups to publicly held companies. As the founding CEO of NuoDB,
Barry built the company from ground up into a successful database company and a
leader in scale-out SQL technology.
