As 3rd Platform technologies continue to expand and evolve, businesses will need to continue to develop their digital transformation strategies to better provide customers the digital services and experiences they expect. Enterprise organizations are taking note; in the next two years, the number of “Digitally determined” organizations with a fully integrated enterprise-wide technology architecture will grow from 33% to nearly 90%. These organizations are committed from moving from an era of experimentation to multiplied innovation, the second chapter of IDC’s 3rd Platform technology framework.
As enterprise organizations continue to search for new ways to succeed in the digital economy, a key aspect of 3rd Platform technology is experiencing rapid growth that can support these digital initiatives. Cloud, a market that has continued to mature through the first chapter of technology innovation, is at the foundation of this wave of multiplied innovation. Here are just three ways that cloud technology is expanding to facilitate the impacts of multiplied innovation:
Cloud is Overtaking IT Spending
One of the essential elements of the digital blueprint is scaling digital innovations with an integrated platform. As connections and endpoints standardize, cloud’s ability to scale and distribute data across a larger organization will exceed many legacy or on-premise systems. Therefore, it makes sense that organizations are prioritizing cloud spending. By 2022, nearly 40% of core IT spending will be cloud related, and by 2028, cloud will account for 80% or more of IT spending.
As the cloud expands, the edge becomes more important. The edge better distributes the cloud, and empowers organizations to stretch data and apps, especially IoT, from the core to the edge. By 2020, over 50% of modern edge IT and network services will be managed from the cloud, underpinned by secure, virtualized edge architectures. Investing in cloud technology now will bolster enterprises’ abilities to better manage not just their own data and processes but will allow them to connect with their customers’ platforms as well.
Cloud is Optimizing Workloads
The edge is not only supporting cloud expansion, but it is also powering workload optimization. By 2022, we expect that 25% of public cloud will be non-x86. Customers will move toward multi-tenant, micro-segmented networks fueled by DevOps and software automation. In the future, we expect that applications and workloads will invoke the different compute architectures for different workloads. This will change what we know as “today’s” computing landscape dramatically, with the number of non-x86 public cloud growing to over 50% by 2028, including quantum computing.
As intelligence at the edge continues to multiply, cloud’s ability to deliver seamless cloud-to-edge experiences will also empower organizations to optimize workloads and create better internal processes and external services. By 2020, all Tier 1 cloud service providers will have a core-to-edge offering, enabling a continuous compute and data link between the customer’s own edge and the provider’s cloud.
Cloud-Based Apps are Taking Over the Marketplace
The number of applications will explode in the second chapter of 3rd Platform innovation. In fact, new tools enable developers to better consumer third-party services, community code, and containerized solutions, which in turn makes it easier to reuse code and other components to be more productive and creative. The cloud app market is no different.
By 2022, over one million apps and services will be available in the top 5 cloud service providers’ marketplaces. That is more than fifty times the amount currently available in 2018. This app explosion is driven by growth in vertical apps and microservices. Increasingly, these apps will be the basis for competitive advantage. Vendors will scramble to build the best library of code and services to appeal to developers within their target market. Organizations looking to select cloud-based technologies will need to include app marketplaces in their vendor consideration process.
The multiplied innovation of the second chapter continues to bring better insights, broader reach, greater trust, and reimagined experiences. Multiplied innovation is changing the way cloud technology supports and empowers enterprise organizations and will continue to produce opportunities for digital innovation.
Learn more about how multiplied innovation will shape cloud; register now for IDC’s FutureScape: Worldwide Cloud 2019 Predictions webcast on 11/14.
Want to see more on how your organization can capitalize on multiplied innovation? See IDC’s infographic:
