2021: A Year for Recoverware, Data Management, and Containers

By Caroline Seymour, VP product marketing, Zerto

Given everything that has unfolded this year, making annual technology predictions has become more challenging, with uncertainty a bigger issue for business leaders than at any time in recent memory. Undisputedly, COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of technologies that wouldn't have made the predictions of most IT industry watchers this time last year. However, these times have sparked innovation. And what is certain is that looking ahead to the prospect of a post-pandemic recovery sheds a different light on the possible trajectory we'll see across the industry. Members of our team have shared what we're likely to see in 2021:

The rise of 'recoverware'

"This past year found nearly everyone working from home at some point. Some loved it, some didn't, but it's unlikely we'll ever go back to exactly how it was before. What's more, digital transformation is no longer an option but an absolute necessity, making the stakes higher than just 12 months ago. Not only are the risks more widespread, but there are more opportunities for cyber criminals to succeed. This means that IT disruption caused by the threat of ransomware should be a concern for every CIO and every company. The harsh reality, however, is that no matter how much they invest in protection, eventually something will get in. The ultimate protection isn't a wall around the perimeter, it's the ability to recover quickly and get back to business as usual.

"As a result, 2021 will be the year of "recoverware." The ability to recover is just as critical as all the protection walls companies are building. Companies need to invest in recovery solutions that are very fast and affordable, as this will save money in the long run as opposed to paying a ransom at a moment's notice. After all, ransomware doesn't work if the target doesn't have to pay. And realize this, it's smarter to prepare with recoverware than to pay ransom. Eventually, it happens to everyone, so the choice is how to deal with it," commented Avi Raichel, CIO, Zerto.

Data management will become mission critical

"There is plenty of uncertainty ahead in 2021, but one thing businesses can rely on is the need to not only retain their newfound mobility, but build on it. This effort will center on data; in the rapid move to the cloud, many organisations struggled to properly manage their data. Some will have already paid a price for this - whether in the form of limited analytical abilities, or worse, a full blown data breach. And while many organizations already have access to cloud backup or data recovery, in 2021 they need to also implement a uniform management layer that offers visibility into data location and storage, which will significantly aid their ability to protect workloads in the long-term.

"This will form part of a much wider investment in digital transformation and automation, all focused on increasing process efficiency. Once data is under control, protected and monitored appropriately, organisations can better leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to optimize these automated processes. Many businesses were altered in 2020. As the dust settles in 2021 and organizations across all sectors work through the economic ramifications, those who can make the most of the data they have available will see far more value from their digital transformation efforts," remarked Gijsbert Janssen van Doorn, director of technical marketing, Zerto.

Cloud dominance will prevail

"Now that we've passed the hype, the cloud has become a catalyst of digital transformation. COVID-19 stress tested our infrastructure globally, and it showed that the cloud can actually scale and support the surge in provisioning, which confirmed it as a reliable source of infrastructure. This was made possible not only because of how readily available the cloud is, but also because it allows people to scale quickly, spin up new resources, and accelerate application development.

"In 2021, modern organizations will move even more workloads to the cloud and continue to adopt cloud-native services-- specifically containers and applications for DevOps. By the end of the decade, enterprises will run most of their production environments in the cloud. Companies will move away from building new sites or buying more hardware in favor of pursuing an operational model with the cloud. In order to achieve this, organizations will need data management, protection and mobility solutions that facilitate this move, not act as an impediment," said Andy Fernandez, product marketing manager, Zerto.

The year of containers

"In 2020, IT organizations began adopting containers at a rate we hadn't seen before. However, this adoption is just the first step. What we'll see in the next 12 months is a noticeable acceleration of how containers are being put into production. This is happening quickly, especially when considering that just a year ago many large enterprises weren't doing anything with containers or merely had a small stealth DevOps team. Undoubtedly this shift will generate new data that needs governance, backup and data protection, and full disaster recovery capabilities familiar to existing VM-based applications.

"Ultimately, it will become clear in 2021 that containers are the fundamental technology that enables true hybrid multi-cloud deployments. This will drive more architectures that look at both the containers and their data as a single entity. In 2021 more and more organizations will realize that containers and public cloud remove and hide most of the infrastructure-layer complexity, freeing organizations to focus on bringing applications to market quicker," said Deepak Verma, director of product strategy, Zerto.

I'd like to end this piece on a high note as 2020 wasn't completely bad. In many ways, the development of the technology industry has been a much-needed positive boost this year. We've learned that organizations can work effectively from home. We've seen how IT teams can be the glue for any organization to ensure that companies can still be productive and profitable, no matter what the circumstances. Next year, wise business leaders will seek to build on everything they learned in 2020 with a renewed sense of what's possible and confidence in how transformative it can be.

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About the Author

Caroline Seymour is the VP, Product Marketing for Zerto, based in Boston, US. In this role Caroline leads the overall product marketing strategy and execution for Zerto. Prior to Zerto, Caroline was at IBM for nine years and before that Cognos. Caroline has a wealth of experience in the Enterprise software space from the many roles she has held in Europe and in North America.