Technology has played one of the most critical roles in stopping the world’s economy from potentially collapsing in 2020, and continues to play an ever-increasing role as the “new normal” takes shape. With so much going on in the industry, we’ve narrowed down CRN’s biggest technology trends your business should be following in 2021.
AWS, Microsoft, Google Spending and Expanding Like Never Before
AWS, Microsoft, and Google will continue to spend billions throughout 2021 to increase market reach by expanding their data enter footprints into new geographies or regions with high cloud and data services demands. The three public cloud titans are building and equipping new hyperscale data centers across the world to extend their cloud services reach. In fact, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google now collectively account for more than 50 percent of the world’s largest data centers. In one of the boldest data centers plans in history, Microsoft unveiled last month its confident plan to build 50 to 100 new data centers each year, including a $1 billion investment to build several hyperscale data center regions in Malaysia.
Enterprises Pick Cloud Infrastructure Services Over Data Center Products
Enterprise spending on cloud infrastructure services reached nearly $130 billion in 2020, representing an increase of 35% annually, according to new data from Synergy Research Group. Enterprise spending on owned data center hardware and software fell 6% year over year to $89 billion. Although everyone agrees hybrid cloud is the future, enterprises will continue to spend on cloud infrastructure services compared to, in most cases, traditional data center solutions in 2021 as COVID-19 forced many to rapidly shift to the public cloud.
Increase in Automation and Robotics Deployments
The global pandemic has accelerated the need to make data center operations less reliant on human intervention aided by the influx of innovation around software automation and artificial intelligence. The data center industry is seeing the benefit of leveraging more intelligent, autonomous systems for simple tasks and distributed environments designed to increase capabilities. According to AFCOM’s recent 2021 State of the Data Center Industry study, more than 40 percent of respondents said they’d be deploying robotics and automation for data center monitoring and maintenance over the next three years. Data center automation enables the routine workflows and processes of a data center – such as scheduling, monitoring, maintenance, and application delivery – to be managed and executed without humans so employees can bring more value elsewhere to the business.
Contact Lloyd to learn more about which 2021 IT trends can progressively benefit your business.
