By Mark Kirstein, BitTitan vice president of products

Digital Growth Continues as Organizations Further Embrace the Cloud

As 2019 closes and 2020 begins, managed service providers and IT professionals have the opportunity to reflect on this year's market trends to inform their business objectives and goal-setting for the coming year.  

It's hard to predict how the market will unfold. Much unease exists around the global economic outlook for 2020, with the slowing of foreign economies and tense trade relations between the U.S. and China being significant concerns.

Yet, while many companies will likely adopt a cautious approach with their spending to combat any uncertainty, there are many reasons to believe that cloud growth will continue to increase in 2020. One example is that Microsoft has several end-of-life deadlines in 2020 for aging hardware and infrastructure that will no longer be supported. Companies still running these products will need to take steps to prepare. Additionally, many organizations rely on cloud services to operate their global businesses and maintain a dispersed workforce around the globe. How these businesses operate in the cloud is not going to change and the need for worldwide cloud services should remain strong.

There are more reasons for optimism and opportunity within the industry. Here are four additional cloud-market predictions we expect will come to fruition in 2020.

SaaS Growth Continues as Businesses Further Embrace the Cloud

The cloud is a $200 billion industry, yet overall IT spending is in the trillions of dollars. This indicates that 1) much of this spending is for on-premises software and 2) there's significant opportunity for growth among software as a service (SaaS) offerings.

Many concerns around cloud security and reliability have lessened, as organizations have seen how the cloud can enable them to streamline and optimize their business operations. To further realize these benefits, organizations will look to further embrace cloud technologies and leverage SaaS solutions to achieve their business goals, moving away from homegrown applications and toward cloud-native solutions. The cloud has much more to offer beyond email services, and many organizations will look to capitalize on that by moving a higher percentage of their office-productivity workflows to the cloud.

Containerization Use Increases

There's a reason why the container technology market has recently experienced an annual growth rate of over 40 percent. The value propositions around containerization, which bundles an application with all its files and libraries and allows it to run across different digital environments, are evident. Containers ease the transition of on-prem infrastructure and applications to the cloud. They offer nearly instant provisioning of computer storage and network resources. They help accelerate the development of a digital environment by enhancing quality and reliability. Most notably, containers eliminate the need for manual configuration processes and the associated margin for error. By leveraging containerization, new infrastructure and systems can be successfully deployed in a matter of minutes, thanks to containers speeding up the configuration cycle and setup of virtual machines.

Containerization helps enterprise companies minimize risk with their migration projects while eliminating the cost that comes with managing a physical network infrastructure. As more companies become privy to these benefits, container adoption will only rise.

Microsoft and Google Will Seize Market Share from Amazon

Amazon Web Services has done remarkably well in the cloud-services market, accounting for nearly half of the market share the last couple of years. By being first to market, it has reached a size and scale that is truly exceptional. While it will continue to grow, AWS simply won't be able to sustain the level of growth that it has experienced and will likely be outpaced by its public-cloud rivals.

Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud will both experience notable growth to chip away at AWS' overall market share. Microsoft, thanks to its breadth of offerings and enterprise expertise, will make inroads into AWS' market share by enabling its enterprise clients to migrate from legacy infrastructure to the cloud. As mentioned, Microsoft has several end-of-life deadlines in 2020 that will call for upgrades and migration projects for many companies. Meanwhile, Google will continue to win over end users with technology that is reliable, easy to use, and features impressive, streamlined capabilities. They will also look to advance in the market with additional financial investment in Google Cloud in an effort to appeal to a larger share of enterprise organizations.

5G Will Enhance Digital Connectivity Around the Globe

The impact of worldwide deployment of 5G wireless technology will be far-reaching and have significant influence on the cloud market. Ericsson Mobility predicted there will be 1 billion 5G subscriptions by 2023, which will account for almost 20 percent of the entire global mobile data traffic. This will enable a level of cloud computing that we haven't yet seen, particularly in underdeveloped economies. The advancement of 5G networks will be similar to the rise of broadband replacing dial-up internet services in the early 2000s. It will open new doors and offer tremendous potential to accelerate international cloud adoption.

In an industry that is continually pushing the limits of innovation, new hopes and challenges emerge on the horizon. Yes, there are always unknowns when it comes to the cloud-market landscape, but with this comes unknown possibility. By taking a forward-thinking approach, businesses will position themselves to meet their challenges head-on and capitalize on market opportunities as soon as they arise.

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About the Author

Mark Kirstein is the vice president of products at BitTitan, leading product development and product management teams for the company's SaaS solutions. Prior to BitTitan, Mark served as the senior director of product management for the mobile enterprise software division of Motorola Solutions, continuing in that capacity following its acquisition by Zebra Technologies in 2014. Mark has over two decades of experience overseeing product strategy, development, and go-to-market initiatives. 

When not on the road coaching his daughter's softball team, Mark enjoys spending time outdoors and rooting for the Boston Red Sox. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from California Polytechnic State University.