Cloud, back-up and intelligent data management in 2021: the experts at Commvault, a leading provider of backup and recovery, will present its view of things and how developments will affect the market.
The Covid-19 pandemic overturned IT trends and forecasts for the past year - most companies were probably busy enabling their employees to work from home on the spur of the moment; The digital transformation, cloud applications and data security / cyber attacks were therefore inevitably top priorities in IT and will certainly remain so in the coming year. Elke Steinegger, Managing Director of Commvault Germany, names the focus topics for the new year:
BaaS are the new normal in cloud strategies
Even if the pandemic subsides, many workers will continue to have to work from home. This is accompanied by a more distributed data density in the company's infrastructure. Applications are to be relocated to the public cloud, but the amount of data in the existing on-site infrastructure complicates and hinders initiatives for digital transformation. We expect business investment in technology and services to increase in 2021 to address the data density challenge. The growth of new 10G wired and 5G wireless technologies that companies can use to ensure that the connection between their edge data and clouds is responsive, reliable and secure is spurring the growth. In addition, Backup as a Service (BaaS) is used to move a large part of the data on site and on the employees' laptops to the cloud, while at the same time securing the distributed data that remains on the edge of the network.
Realignment of cloud strategies
Due to the spontaneous and partly forced conversion to cloud technologies due to COVID19, many companies are recording high and quite unexpected costs for hosting the applications. In recent years we have seen a boomerang effect at these high costs, with companies quickly relocating their applications and workloads back to the local infrastructure after their immediate need for cloud applications was met. Flexibility, scalability, transparency and many other advantages of the cloud are difficult to realize if companies do not already have a long-term cloud-centric strategy in place. We therefore expect that they will make the reorganization of applications and workloads in cloud-native formats one of the top priorities in digital transformation in 2021 and, if necessary, redefine cloud strategies.
Data integrity versus deepfake technologies
Deceptively realistic images and videos faked by AI technologies pose considerable risks for companies. These technologies make it more difficult than ever to ensure that images, videos and other data streams have not been covertly manipulated via AI. For companies that make important decisions based on this data, the risk of wrong decisions increases. To reduce this risk, in 2021 companies should create data integrity and verification solutions that will enable them to detect data that has been deepfaked.
Security in the cloud
Cyber criminals have quickly developed ransomware methods to blackmail companies that have switched to cloud applications unprepared. Therefore, we can expect that in the coming months, some companies will suffer ransomware attacks, data blackouts, or heavy fines for lax compliance with data protection. This is not because the cloud is inherently insecure or difficult to manage. But the priorities in 2021 will increasingly be on security, data analysis, and back and recovery.
Dark data is actively used
For years, companies have been hoarding huge amounts of dark data: data that has to be archived for retention or compliance purposes and is otherwise unused. As companies need to further differentiate themselves from their competition, more and more companies will look to shed light on this dark data in 2021 to gain insights that can improve business results. This ranges from how they can lower their operating costs by optimizing the storage of this data, to developing compelling digital services for customers that give them a competitive advantage.
2021 will be the year of SaaS applications
Digital services are increasingly seen as essential to the success of a company. The management of the IT infrastructure and applications is outsourced to external service providers if it is not part of the company's core competence or optimization. A SaaS solution for human resources, corporate resource planning or other business applications will be in place in most companies - regardless of whether they are a global financial company, medium-sized company or small business. SaaS solutions and data management that meet common business needs and allow customers of the solution to focus on the digital services that are central to their business will grow rapidly.
Native cloud applications
Container applications offer a high degree of agility. In particular, the fact that containers can be used to make applications cloud-native will drive the growth of the container market. By using containers, companies can improve the scalability and performance of these applications in the cloud, and also more easily move these applications between clouds - accelerating their digital transformation.
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About Commvault
Commvault is the leading provider of backup and recovery. Commvault's converged data management solution redefines what backups mean to the advanced business with applications that protect, manage, and utilize their most valuable asset: their data. Software, solutions and services are available directly from Commvault and from a global network of proven partners. The company employs more than 2.300 highly qualified people worldwide, is traded on the NASDAQ (CVLT) and is headquartered in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, USA.