Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2023. Read them in this 15th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
Upcoming Trends in Edge, Security and Virtual Reality
By Bruce Kornfeld, Chief Marketing & Product Officer, StorMagic
2022 was a fascinating time to watch the IT landscape evolve, as more and more data continued to be generated, managed, and processed at the edge, versus in primary datacenters. New, more sophisticated software introductions were made, and reigned supreme over the duration, as the most affordable and simple IT solutions for handling this massive amount of data being created at the edge.
2023 promises even more to come from edge computing providers, in the form of new features and functionality added into their offerings. StorMagic predicts that encryption software solution costs will continue to become easier to use and more affordable than ever before, to address the ever-evolving security landscape and associated privacy regulations.
Some specifics on a few key trends to watch in 2023 are highlighted below:
- Edge computing enters the mainstream as a way to alleviate the disadvantages of cloud computing. For many use cases, it is becoming apparent that running applications and storing data in the cloud doesn’t deliver the uptime, performance and cost profile required by small sites at the edge. As businesses continue to find ways to server customers faster and with more intelligence, depending on the cloud just doesn’t work anymore (in many situations).
- Edge containerization. As organizations look to lower costs and improve availability and response time, and as use cases such as IoT and augmented reality continue to increase, the use of containers at the edge will begin to trend up. Containers will eventually replace virtual machines, but the adoption has been slow. In 2023, we’ll see more and more organizations deploy a mix-use approach where both containers and virtual machines are running in production on the same infrastructure at the edge.
- Data encryption will become affordable for all users. Traditionally, encryption has been an expensive and complex task, but newer technologies and management tools will dramatically reduce the cost and make it easier for any IT department to handle. The biggest costs have been in managing thousands, and in some cases millions of encryption keys. Centralized key management will become more and more popular because of the ease of deploying software management tools, simplicity and low cost.
- Stricter ransomware regulations and privacy laws. Privacy regulations such as GDPR will increase in both number and scope, and, subsequently, organizations will be forced to limit the amount of customer data stored, implement 24-hour ransomware notification, and require regular audits. This will likely hurt many companies’ marketing abilities, which will fuel new, innovative ways to find and target end users.
- Virtual reality and haptic technologies will begin to emulate multi-sensory virtual interaction. Face-to-face meetings are more effective for openly brainstorming ideas and drawing on a whiteboard – this is still very hard to do via video meetings. This is a huge area of innovation in the market. Getting on airplanes, driving rental cars (even Uber) and hotel stays are “the old days.” Technology innovation will make meetings even more productive.
As data creation continues to explode, and companies realize they must store, protect and use that data – sometimes forever- edge storage initiatives will continue to remain top of mind for every IT executive. In 2023, StorMagic predicts that we will see several interesting developments in edge computing solution features, IoT, GDPR requirements, and a few major enhancements to the virtual and augmented reality scenes this year.
What changes do you envision for edge, security, and IT in 2023? Follow us on LinkedIn to share your vision and continue the discussion.
##
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bruce Kornfeld is an experienced technology executive who has held leadership roles in marketing, product management, alliances and business development in the storage, server, networking and security industries. He joined StorMagic in 2017, and serves as chief marketing and product officer, where he is responsible for all aspects of global marketing, product management and alliances for the company. Prior to joining StorMagic, Bruce held marketing and product leadership positions at Compellent, Dell and NCR. He helped Compellent grow its revenue from $9M to more than $150M, which led to their IPO and eventual sale to Dell for $960M and was instrumental in building and growing Dell’s first storage division to over $1bn. Follow him on Twitter @brucekornfeld.
