Jay Helliwell

Top 5 Trends in Cloud Hosting for the future
Cloud computing is no longer in its infancy. Several organizations are embracing the cloud, and it has become an integral part of most business processes in one way or the other.
As the cloud moves to the next level from 2016, here are top 5 trends in cloud hosting that businesses and cloud providers should know and take advantage of today.
Improved Security
The Initial reluctance of businesses to adopt cloud technology due to security concerns is slowly being eroded: cloud computing is proving to be a secure and flexible solution for businesses.
However, the cloud is still being portrayed as a goldmine for hackers, and cloud hosts must take steps to address these concerns, to encourage adoption.
With IoT on the horizon, cloud providers must not only review and improve their security measures, but provide clear details to clients and potential clients on what these measures are and how they are sufficient to support their cloud integration.
Increased Privacy
Another major concern for organizations over cloud adoption has been privacy and control. Decision makers are often wary of the activities of cloud providers, and what they do with client data.
IoT and Big Data Analytics have raised these concerns a notch higher, and governments and regulatory bodies are looking at coming up with regulations to govern future cloud operations.
For now, businesses should take advantage of existing regulations in their country, as well as obtain written agreements from their providers, detailing where their data is, and what happens to it during and after engagement.
Hybrid Cloud
The debate on public vs private cloud is gradually going away as businesses are embracing a bit of both. Businesses are learning to split their processes and applications, to determine what parts best fit where.
This hybrid system affords companies the security and control of private cloud, and the cost-saving and efficiency of public cloud.
As IoT approaches, there will be an increased effort by businesses to find the right balance between security, control, flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Cloud providers and vendors must, therefore, reposition their services to accommodate this trend in cloud computing.
Client Support
Excellent support builds trust, enhances customer experience, underlines an industry expert and almost guarantees customer loyalty.
Many clients change providers solely because of bad customer experience. And, because recent developments in cloud technology will increase challenges, providers are going to have to show that they truly support the business processes of their clients.
A practical list of basic support services that hosts in general should provide is available here.
Apps Support
In times past, apps were mostly executable software that provided specific services or allowed users to perform specific tasks. Today, thousands of websites and web-based services are having customized apps, and IoT is going to increase the use of apps even further.
Umbrellar predicts that, because these apps are cloud-based, cloud providers are going to readjust to develop the appropriate capacity to support robust creation and/or use of apps by businesses, in order to remain competitive.