Infinitely Virtual’s 2020 Foresight: The Cloud is Poised to Serve as a Refuge, As Security Concerns Across the Internet Intensify, Company Predicts

For the first time in recent memory, the cloud isn’t on the defensive.

In 2020, the cloud will come to be viewed as a respectable neighborhood, even while the IT community recognizes that it’s still not always Mr. Rogers-friendly — so says Adam Stern, founder and CEO of cloud hosting pioneer Infinitely Virtual.

“In 2020, look for users to become far more proactive in both ensuring and managing cloud security than they have in the past – an emerging trend that applies to providers large and small alike, in part because the cloud has matured and is (finally) a highly secure place to do business,” Stern says.  “The cloud now has the procedures, tools and safeguards that make it among the safest places to be during a cyber-storm.  The X factor, as always, remains the human element.”

No longer regarded as porous and a place of peril, the cloud, Stern says, will in 2020 experience significant challenges and growth opportunities: “As befits an increasingly sophisticated environment, the coming 12 months will expose both the cloud’s strengths and its vulnerabilities.”

In that regard, Stern says, IaaS offerings will need to become more effective at countering emerging threats as those threats proliferate and mutate.  “To the extent that users feel ill-served by cloud vendors, cloud computing itself could be at risk – a testament to the fact that not all vendors are equally focused on the prize: effective security policies and procedures,” he suggests.  “Vendors who argue for DIY security – effectively passing the buck to users, rather than partnering with users – are likely to suffer.”

The watchword during 2020?  “Embrace providers who bask in security,” he says.  “Bad actors have ever-bigger tool sets and are relentlessly upping their game.  In the year ahead, those organizations that put aside (often political) turf wars around on-premises vs. off-premises computing and focus instead on strategies, policies and practices that ensure application and data safety/security are most likely to prevail.”

Among Stern’s other top trends of 2020:

The cloud backlash is real – but it’s reversible.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that a growing number of users who gravitated to Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS or other “one-stop” commodity providers are on the verge of turning negative on the cloud.  “Users are looking for vendors to do what they originally sought from cloud computing: that is, save them on everything from engineering to equipment to support by delivering a truly turnkey offering.  This disaffection is tied less to cloud computing as a concept or a platform than to issues around execution; today’s commodity cloud simply doesn’t have everything baked-in, as the early adopters experienced.  Put another way, we’ll be hearing more and more stories about users who are not unhappy with the cloud per se but with the new “big-box” cloud.”  Thankfully, this backlash carries its own antidote, Stern suggests: a “buyer beware” attitude toward commodity players, which may well play out during 2020.

Look for cloud companies to morph into Managed IT providers — and MSPs to return the favor, by embracing the cloud.  “During 2020, some of the definitions and conventions that have long divided elements within cloud computing will begin to melt away,” Stern predicts.  “As we’ll see in the coming year, both sides in the industry will become more like the other.  Where users once stressed about the hybrid cloud (‘What is it?  Is it for me?  Who will decipher it for my organization?’) or some other permutation of IaaS, the market will continue to evolve in the user’s direction, thanks largely to the managed services option.”  When an organization can deploy Azure or AWS but entrust day-to-day management to a more responsive (local) provider, everyone wins, Stern says: “Azure and AWS may not be suited to the less technically inclined, but those concerns cease to be decisive when other cloud providers can run interference for you.”

To speak with Adam Stern, please email: admin@edgecommunicationsinc.com.

About Infinitely Virtual

The World’s Most Advanced Hosting Environment

Infinitely Virtual is a leading provider of high quality and affordable Cloud Server technology, capable of delivering services to any type of business, via terminal servers, SharePoint servers and SQL servers – all based on Cloud Servers. Ranked #28th on the Talkin’ Cloud 100 roster of premier hosting providers, Infinitely Virtual has earned the highest rating of ”Enterprise-Ready™” in Skyhigh Networks’ CloudTrust™ Program for four of its offerings — Cloud Server Hosting, InfiniteVault, InfiniteProtect and Virtual Terminal Server. The company recently took the #1 spot in HostReview’s Ranking of VPS hosting providers. Founder and CEO Adam Stern is a member of the Forbes Technology Council. Infinitely Virtual was established as a subsidiary of Altay Corporation, and through this partnership, the company provides customers with expert 24×7 technical support. More information about Infinitely Virtual can be found at: https://www.infinitelyvirtual.com, @iv_cloudhosting, or call 866-257-8455.