Top 10 Cloud Solutioning Trends for 2022

Arvind Mehrotra
5 min readJul 7, 2022

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For nearly a decade now, the cloud has become a default operating environment for organisations. Then, in the last two years, cloud solutions became a business necessity across sectors — from governments to manufacturing, from education to healthcare. It is instrumental in helping organisations stay productive without meeting in person or assembling in physical workplaces. That is why migrating more workloads to the cloud is a top priority for 57% of companies this year, and adopting Software as a Service (SaaS) is vital for 42%. Ten cloud solutioning trends will define 2022’s technology landscape for cloud businesses and professionals — these are:

1. The rise of serverless cloud computing or FaaS

In serverless computing, the cloud vendor dynamically manages and provisions computing resources without fixed or dedicated hosting on a server. It is also known as Functions-as-a-Service (FaaS) since every computing service is packed into a micro, self-sustained function; events trigger that. Serverless cloud computing will support greater scalability and help reduce costs in 2022. However, companies which have not explored serverless computing will struggle will cost variability and price of service management.

2. A focus on cloud cost optimisation

Interestingly, cost management is a top priority and concern for companies this year, as per a Flexera report. Nearly 60% of companies want to optimise their cloud usage to save costs and the expected fallout of snowballing and often unplanned cloud adoption in the last few years. One cause for the rise of Cloud cost is the adoption of newer cloud services by Architects to develop services rapidly and not make a trade-off analysis between cost & speed. As a result, solution providers must develop new ways to help customers stay within budget in 2022.

3. Concentration of market power around existing leaders

While demand for the cloud has increased, competition in this space has not managed to keep pace. Google, AWS, and Microsoft Azure remain the top players, primarily as the existing infra scale is the utmost differentiator customers look for when selecting a cloud vendor. As a result, cloud solution providers must focus on infrastructure building and new partnerships to succeed in this market environment.

4. Cloud for AI and ML

As AI and Ml become increasingly mainstream and incorporated in a massive range of enterprise apps, the cloud must evolve to adapt. It necessitates the optimisation of workloads to run complex data processing algorithms and new tools for developers.

5. A cybersecurity industry dedicated to cloud protection

With companies moving away from on-premise systems, cybersecurity must become cloud-first. 2022 will be the year of solutions like secure access service edge (SASE), which combines VPN and SD-WAN to create a cloud-native cybersecurity environment. Traditional SIEM systems must also be able to connect with events and data sources on the cloud.

6. AR/VR and the metaverse straining cloud resources

2021 was the year when the metaverse first shot into prominence, and 2022 will witness it becoming mainstream. However, this entails a massive strain on cloud resources as users attempt to stream immersive 3D content via wireless headsets. Meta (the owner of Oculus) is already partnering with AWS to complement its data centres.

7. Expanding the use of containers

Containerisation allows developers to design, build, and test apps in an isolated yet fully-featured hosting environment. It is trendy in DevOps pipelines and is suitable for blockchain-based applications or dApps. In 2022, cloud systems will work with tools like Kubernetes to make container technology more accessible.

8. MSP demand to maintain cloud infrastructure

Even as companies benefit from flexible cloud environments, the technology isn’t without its own upkeep needs. For this reason, the demand for system integrators (SIs) and managed service providers (MSPs) will increase in 2022, helping companies make the most of their cloud investments.

9. IoT and the edge intersecting with the cloud

The cloud has already exploded the conventional definition of the enterprise perimeter, and IoT further extends these boundaries. IoT and edge devices will enable data processing far away from the central enterprise nervous system, including cloud infrastructure. As a result, the edge and the cloud will have to work together in 2022 to enable truly connected enterprise ecosystems.

10. Everything as a Service (XaaS) becomes a reality

Finally, the promise of XaaS will become a reality, with every enterprise service — voice calling and conferences, collaboration, data analysis, 3D simulation, contact centres, etc. — taking to the cloud. Solutions like the communication platform as a service (CPaaS) will enable seamless integration between these touchpoints and simplify IT governance.

Today, the cloud is a foundational technology as we strive toward innovations such as an embodied internet, decentralised currencies, and immersive experiences in every sphere of our lives. Having a reliable framework of remote distributed servers is essential to this goal. So what are your thoughts on the cloud’s rise in 2022? Comment below and join the conversation. Or you could email your thoughts at Arvind@am-pmassociates.com.

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Arvind Mehrotra

Board Advisor, Strategy, Culture Alignment and Technology Advisor