CloudExperts

According to IDC, between 2020 and 2023, organizations' direct global investment in digital transformation will increase at a compound year-on-year rate of 15.5%. This transformation has been accelerated, as a result of the pandemic, to meet the demands of the market and the citizens and consumers themselves.

 Today, companies need a resilient, flexible, and secure infrastructure to manage their operations and transactions while delivering value and new experiences to customers. And this is where the hybrid cloud plays a fundamental role in helping companies of all industries and sizes to achieve the reinvention of their businesses, taking into account 3 pillars:

 1.   Digital experience. Using cloud-based artificial intelligence in business workflows, such as in customer service, fraud detection, advice, and online sales, will add value to customers digitally and help bring the physical store experience to the online store.

 2.   Mission-critical workload migration. Previously, the cloud's focus was on user applications; for example, using the smartphone to check the bank balance. But, these workloads represent only 20% of the total loads. In this new chapter, we will see the movement of the remaining 80% of the loads to the hybrid cloud in multiple environments. Mission-critical loads that customers rely on to run their business and that are very data-rich - business data - will either move to the hybrid cloud or connect to the cloud somehow. This will accelerate new business models as well as increase productivity.

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Cloud Computing in Bangladesh- Transforming Business into Digital

Cloud computing using Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data Analysis, Omni-Cloud, Containers and Microservices are significant revolutions in the business industry at Bangladesh

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is the on-demand accessibility of computer framework resources, especially data storage and computing power, without users' direct intervention. It relies on the sharing of data resources to gain coherence and economies of scale. It is the most effective and tremendous service in the world. Due to the extensive and marginalize technology adopted by the top to bottom tech companies, cloud computing is essential. Amazon Web Services, IBM Cloud and Google Cloud Platform are the leading cloud service provider that offers the most secure and scalable service and store all the big data of top Tech companies. They offer a new dimension of service and pathway of data access from anywhere in the world. The employees can access confidential data from remote locations and multiple computers through the web.  The advanced cloud service provides data security, prohibits hacking and data breaches, and removes the client from the complex, administrative, expensive cloud services offering highly automated computing capabilities, high availability, and scalability. Bangladesh drives into the technological and data ocean. Cloud computing is the most crucial topic in the country. It will help digital Bangladesh through high connectivity and computer literacy and help mark the government goal of vision 2021. Bangladesh youth generation is starting the landmark of E-Commerce and ride delivery services through using cloud computing framework. The tech startups of Bangladesh turn into a billion-dollar industry.  These tech companies rely more on cloud services such as Amazon Web service, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform. The local cloud service has also become popular in Bangladesh.  Cloud Experts Ltd provides extensive cloud management services at a cheap rate.

History of Cloud Computing:

Cloud computing is not the latest technology. It evolved through multiple developments from continuous research from top tech providers. By 2020 the cloud computing platform is predicted to exceed around $241 Billion in industry. In early 1960, computer scientist John McCarthy was coming with the cloud computing concept. In 1969 J.C.R Licklider was developed ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). His idea was an interconnected data management system that everyone can share and collect their information. In 1970 cloud-based virtualization tool named VMware was invented and can operate on multiple virtual machines. In 2006 Amazon first developed the Elastic Compute cloud model where users can use the service pay you go model. In 2014 global cloud business capital reach around £ 103.8 bn.

 Significance of Cloud Computing:

Cloud computing is a tremendous topic in 2021. Due to the increasing number of smartphones and PC, cloud computing turns crucial. Businesses can get immense benefits using cloud computing solutions and cloud migration services. Cloud services provide access to data worldwide at minimum cost. The world's top service providers such as AWS Cloud, Azure Cloud, and GoogleCloud businesses can minimize tons of hours of workload, and relentless service provides to their customers. Cloud monitoring and cloud disaster recovery services have provided the best security

The Benefits of Cloud Computing:

Cloud computing has a lot of help on both business and consumer levels. The RapidScale report shows that around 94% of businesses claimed as much development on their service after switching to the cloud computing system. Cloud computing allows all kinds of features and file sharing facilities. Almost every people in internet users are already using cloud computing framework even they do not realize it. Gmail, Google Drive, Dropbox, TurboTax, Quora, Youtube are all cloud-based applications. Cloud-based applications using encryption of data become less accessible by hackers to data bleaching.

Security:

Cloud computing provides extensive security and data management facilities. It protects from a data breach by hackers.

Cost-Effectiveness:

Cost-effectiveness is the most significant benefit of the cloud computing system, and it provides the highest level of service at a low cost

Reliability:

You can get instant update facilities at cloud computing and it provide effective reliability

Scalability:

Cloud computing provides extensive ability to increase and decrease an IT infrastructure

Performance:

Cloud computing boost up the enterprise service perforce

Top Cloud Platform Provider Companies in the World:

Cloud computing has to turn into a profitable business because most top companies focus on developing their cloud service. We discuss the world top 5 cloud service provider in the world in 2021

Amazon Web Services:

Amazon was the first to offer cloud management service at the infrastructure stage in 2018. Every year it introduces groundbreaking service to the users. Amazon has launched a second-generation Graviton processor and boost up its benefits. In 2020 Amazon Web Service's net revenue was $48 billion.

Microsoft Azure:

Microsoft Azure is placed second after AWS. It benefits from software as a service framework—azure using AI and machine learning and achievement at the cloud industry turn as unbeatable to the market. Microsoft's commercial cloud official revenue is $57 billion.

Google Cloud Platform:

Google cloud platform achieve the third position due to its numerous cloud management services, including Google meet, G-Suite. Google meet is booming during the COVID-19 pandemic among remote workers and students. Google developed a multi-cloud industry, and net revenue is $13.6 billion.

IBM Cloud:

IBM worked with hybrid cloud, automation, and AI. In 2020, IBM doubled down on Red Hat and introduced multiple platforms of managed services in 2021. IBM's accusation of $34 billion for Red Hat helps numerous their revenue growth. Annual revenue is $37 billion.

Oracle Cloud:

Oracle is the among top ten cloud computing platform in the world. It provides database storage, cloud application services.

Digital Ocean:

 Digital Ocean is an incredible american cloud service provider situated in New York withe worldwide cloud data centre. It offers service provider to deploy and scale cloud based applications that run concurrently on multiple data platforms

Artificial Intelligence in Cloud Computing:

Artificial Intelligence is in the ground breaking at cloud computing field. AI tools use to add more value to cloud computing platforms. SaaS (software as a service) suppliers add Artificial Intelligence tools into larger software frameworks to offer greater functionality to end-users. Salesforce recently developed Einstein, a cloud AI tool that automatically captures customer data, making it easier to track and personalize customer preference.

Recent Cloud Computing Technology Trends:

Cloud computing helps businesses robust growth and multiple profits, and easy access to data preference from the users. The modern cloud computing platform using the latest technology to increase more strong cloud platform. It helps businesses to adopt advance technology

DevOps:

DevOps and cloud together provide leading cloud management solutions. DevOps automation provides centralized based testing, deployment, and cloud data production.

 Internet of Things (IoT):

Most IoT devices use the cloud database to connect these customer frameworks and generate tons of data stored on cloud-based applications.

Kubernetes:

Kubernetes is the open-source container orchestration framework for automating cloud-based application deployment, scaling, and management.

Classification of Cloud Computing Services:

Cloud computing services are various types according to your company's demand. It is classified into four signal segments.

·         Infrastructure as a service(IaaS)

·         Platform as a service( PaaS)

·         Software as a service (SaaS)

·         Recovery as a service (RaaS)

The PaaS is useful for applications, development, and offering cloud components and assistance. The IaaS helps you to manage applications, data, middleware, and Oses. It may provide you with more space for expansion when you need more data room. Saas eliminates the traditional on-device software, making applications and popular at the enterprise level. It helps with data, middleware, Oses, data virtualization, runtime, and networking for relentless cloud service. The other type of cloud service, called Disaster Recovery as a service (DRaaS), is utilized to protect and store data or applications.

Cloud Computing models category Cloud Computing model can be categorized into

·         Private Cloud

·         Public Cloud

·         Hybrid Cloud

·         Community Cloud

 The public and private cloud models are different cloud management services. The hybrid cloud models offering both public and private cloud models service depending on the company demand. The community cloud management service provided access to the same data and application between different Organizations such as Google and Amazon, sometimes sharing their data for mutual benefit. 

Digital Bangladesh and the Future of Cloud Computing:

The government of Bangladesh is more focused on developing an IT framework. In several areas, they built Tech Park. Bangladesh, as a market, has observed enormous growth in its cloud transformation from traditional services over the last few years. From the tech industry to telecommunications, financial institutions, local businesses are booming with cloud management services. But a few years ago, the typical scenario was not like today. Many corporate sectors were using the classical method of storing data. This method causes to waste of an enormous amount of money and data bleaching through any causality. Cloud computing management through a corporate company is too much expensive and much security needed. They are building a data centre for storing all the required information in a warehouse-like complex with industrial-sized conditioning, generator, redundant, fibre, security services, and network connection.  But cloud management companies relieve the extra barrier of storing data and doing possible services at low cost. Cloud computing services now adopt many top industries. They ensure more productive employees and future analysis for making considerable growth of their companies.  In 2018, the data engineer expert predicted that more than half of the business companies would adopt cloud computing worldwide. Adopting cloud computing will change the employee's working pattern, and customers can easily access the necessary data. For developing countries like Bangladesh, the cloud management service provides the users with a cost-effective and proficient means to manage many IT resources. The big giant cloud companies such as AWS (Amazon Web Services),  Microsoft Azure,  Google Cloud Platform, and Oracle work actively with their partner organization in Bangladesh.  They are witnessing multiple business prospects in the country as there are 160 million people in the country. They produce massive data as there are limitations from the government hosting government data outside of the country. Microsoft is focusing only on working in the private sector for cloud management services in Bangladesh. The significance of the Bangladesh cloud journey is that it has helped organizations recognize the importance of shifting into an OPEX (operational expenditure) modelfrom a CAPEX (capital expenditure) model. The CEO of top tech companies in Bangladesh now understand cloud management's effectiveness to help their business model reach a new level. For the Bangladeshi industry, the reality is that technology-driven disruption occurs rapidly, and businesses must sprint to keep up with fast-changing parameters. The competition between the business industry, expectations from the clients and effectiveness, speed of delivery, and quality of the service are the main consequence of shifting data management cloud services in Bangladesh.

How cloud computing helps businesses to digital in Bangladesh?

 ·         Cloud computing is a leading service provider to gain a competitive edge and data-driven services in the business.

·         Cloud Computing uses updated technology: Cloud computing using Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, Big Data analysis, the Internet of Things (IoT), quantum computing, serverless, Omni-cloud, containers, and microservices are significant revolutions in the business industry. Cloud computing helps to automation at businesses:

·         Bangladesh businesses are adopted cloud-based applications that increase their business growth and productivity at the next level.

·         Businesses use chatbots such as Alexa and Google Assistant, Messenger chatbot to connect with their clients quickly.  For better performance, they are now using Skype, Telegram for better communication with their clients. The Blockchain one kind of cloud computing helps with serverless banking, logistics, healthcare, and many more service.  

·         In Bangladesh, cloud computing helps achieve these services at a low cost. Bangladesh's top company already adopted cloud management services that cause booming in the IT and telecommunication industry. In the future, cloud management becomes more prevalent in Bangladesh, and customers will be more dependent on cloud-based management platforms.

·         Big companies of Bangladesh are getting more digitized adopted cloud computing technology. They are automating their company workflow and work pattern. Advanced Enterprise resource planning, Business automation are more prevalent in Bangladesh businesses. But cloud management of a large number of business data is still a challenge in Bangladesh.

Cloud Experts Ltd – Best Cloud Service Provider in Bangladesh

 Cloud Experts Ltd is the one of the top managed cloud service, solution, and consulting provider to modernize technology. It uses automation for architecting enterprise IT and cloud services. We simplify and optimize the cloud journey and leverage cloud technology to solve business challenges in Bangladesh.We provide the most effective cloud management service and offer the most advance and update cloud service in Bangladesh cheaply. We made a partnership with world-leading cloud service providers to provide you with the most advance and secure data management service.

Cloud Computing offers your business numerous advantages. It’s a virtual office that lets you set up to give you the flexibility to connect with your business anywhere, anytime. With the growing number of web-enabled devices used in today's business environment (e.g., smart phones, tablets), accessing your data is much easier and safer.

There are so many benefits to moving your business to the cloud:

- Cost Effectiveness

- Reliability

- Scalability

- High Availability

- Security

- Performance

- Mobility

- Business Continuity

- Backup and Disaster Recovery

- Fast and Effective Virtualization

- Unlimited Storage Capacity

- Easy Management

- Quick Deployment

Cost Effectiveness

Cost Effectiveness the biggest advantage of cloud computing is that it helps you save substantial capital costs as it does not require any physical hardware investment.

Moving to the cloud computing can reduce the cost of managing and maintaining your IT systems. Instead of buying expensive systems and equipment for your business, you can reduce your costs by using the resources of your cloud computing service provider.

May reduce your operating costs because:

The cost of     system upgrades, new hardware and software may be included in your     agreement.

You no     longer need to pay for specialist staff

Time delays     are low.

Reliability

Reliability is one of the biggest reasons for cloud computing. You can always be instantly updated about changes.

Scalability

Scalability in cloud computing is the ability to quickly and easily increase or decrease the size or power of an IT solutions. A scalable cloud is why you can sign up and uses the maximum cloud solutions in a matter of minutes if not more. That's why you can add resources like savings to an existing account as soon as possible.

High Availability

High availability is a standard of computing infrastructure that allows it to continue even if some of its components fail. This is important for mission-critical systems that cannot withstand service disruptions and can cause any downtime loss or financial loss.

Security

Many companies have security concerns when it comes to adopting cloud-computing solutions. After all, whenever the files, programs, and other data aren't kept securely on the site, how do you know they're being protected? If you can access your data remotely, what is stopping cybercriminals from doing the same thing? 

The full-time job of a cloud host is to monitor security, which is significantly more efficient than conventional in-house systems, where an organization must divide its efforts into IT concerns, with security being one of them.

Performance

Cloud-based infrastructure is highly suited for creating the ultimate demand and scalability required for enterprise performance testing.

Peak load and scalability testing in the cloud assumes the ability to run tests virtually on-demand. Businesses can only schedule a test and resources are provided automatically. This makes scheduling more flexible, helping to eliminate long delays that are often deployed and verified by internally managed hardware IT departments.

Mobility

Employees who work on campus or in remote areas will have easy access to all possible services. All they need is internet connection.

Business Continuity

Protecting your data and systems is an important part of a business sustainability plan. Whether you face a natural disaster, power failure or other crisis, having your data stored in the cloud ensures that it is safe and secure. It is easy to re-access your data allows you to conduct business as usual, reducing any downtime and productivity.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Once data is stored in the cloud, it is easier to back it up and restore, which is otherwise the pre-estimation process.

Fast and Effective Virtualization

In cloud computing, virtualization servers are creating virtual platforms for operating systems and storage devices. This will help the user by providing multiple machines at the same time. It allows multiple users to resource multiple users and share an application. Cloud virtualizations transform traditional thematic computing and also manage the workload by making it more scalable, economical, and efficient.

Unlimited Storage Capacity

Cloud provides almost unlimited storage capacity. At any time you can quickly increase your storage capacity with very nominal monthly fees.

Easy Management

Since organizational data is stored in the cloud, it is easy to evaluate work, utility, and tasks. Such a clear task path makes it easier to manage services.

Quick Deployment

The best cloud service and cloud computing company helps businesses to modernize technology & automation and solve the business challenges

Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration arrangement for automating software application deployment, scaling and management. It was developed by google computing engine platform, maintained by cloud-native computing foundation.

Many cloud services provide a Kubernetes based platform or infrastructure as a service ( Paas or Iaas) on which it can work as a platform providing service. It offers excellent help for the cloud server, and cloud hosting management platform, both Google and Microsoft Azure. Microsoft Azure-Kubernetes teams always working for improving the Azure-Kubernetes platform for top-level enterprise-grade service to their client. It provides an open and portable ecosystem for a great cloud solution. The Azure Kubernetes offer extensive agility and productivity that top cloud platform enterprise is desire.

ENHANCING LATENCY AND FUNCTIONAL EFFICIENCY:

One of the critical factors of cloud acceptance is minimizing latency. It took a lot of time to manage the computer to set up a cluster on Azure and spend only five minutes for design. The Microsoft Azure team provide quick OS disk support which makes the customer cluster even quicker. This framework makes them better agility to the customers. On the other hand, latency means how you can perceive and response to functional challenges.

The Azure Resource Health can warn you if your cluster turns to detrimental for any reason. The Microsoft Kubernetes Azure teams provide node image updates that can manage with your cluster bugs or foibles. Furthermore, it is cheap due to its container traffic. During a pandemic situation, the cost-saving option from Kubernetes- Azure Corporation may game-changer or make a massive profit for your cloud management company.

STABLE ARCHITECTURE FOR THE KUBERNETES ON THE AZURE:

The critical vault at Kubernetes service provides extensive security to store your credentials, certificates and other top secrets documentation in state of the art, flexible secret store. You can manage your data easily through the applications available at Azure Kubernetes cluster platform.

This integration is constructed on the back of an open container storage interface (CSI) driver that the Azure team built and make open-sourced for the entire Kubernetes community. The open-source platform of Azure – Kubernetes framework complements and adds new features within a short time because numerous developers are trying to improve it. If you interested in familiar with cloud-native workloads, ensure your firm is following Microsoft policy, check out the guide to Kubernetes best practices. They guide you to unify firewalls policy and ensure that you have security and agility in yo

Most important and significant term and condition for utilizing the cloud computing platform is protection. The Kubernetes-Azure provide the most extensive secure data management framework through policy integration and Azure active catalogue identify for pods and cloud-native assurance. The Kubernetes-Azure platform creates linked between Azure key vault and the Azure Kubernetes service.  our cloud-native environment.

HOW TO CONDUCT KUBERNETES ON AZURE:

The Azure Kubernetes server (AKS) offers an extraordinary for supervising containerized application program. It provides, Kubernetes sever less, continuous automated integration and ongoing supply experience and extensive protection and administration on an administrative level.

The production team of Kubernetes works continuously to improve the design, produce and scale applications swiftly. Azure DevOps assist by utilizing the intuitive build method to create Docker footage for quicker deployments and trustworthiness. The main reasons for using Azure Kubernetes service is the quality resources and framework into AKS cluster.

SELF-GOVERNED KUBERNETES IN MICROSOFT AZURE:

There are numerous ways to have Kubernetes utilize and monitored in Azure. The automated choice demonstrated hoe to use Azure Kubernetes Service(AKS) engine to install a cluster for linking with Azure CNI plugin and calico for compliance of network strategy.

This policy’s advantage is the worker nodes, and pods assign on IP addresses affiliated with Azure network user interface VNET network pool IPs and no needed NAT access resources from the external cluster of Kubernetes. Other programs may create a better environment for your framework.

HOW KUBERNETES PROVIDES YOU WITH EXTENSIVE SERVICES:

Kubernetes provides you with an infrastructure to run distributes method flexibly. It takes care of grading flipping for your application. It includes distribution pattern. For example, Kubernetes can handle a canary deployment at your network framework. The Kubernetes offer you

1. AZURE SITE RECOVERY:

For business applications, data security much needed. The Kubernetes provide extensive Azure site recovery by offering high availability, data security, disaster recovery, strict accomplishment SLAs and mixed/multi-cloud operations are non-conveyable. For example, the acceptance of Kubernetes for mission-critical venture application limited unless this prerequisite can fulfill

2. SERVICE REVELATION AND LOAD RECONCILIATION:

Kubernetes can disclose a container utilizing the DNS name or managing their IP address. Depending on the high traffic network, Kubernetes can manage load balance and broadcast the persistent network traffic.

3. STORAGE COORDINATION:

Kubernetes is one of the best cloud management platform for cloud hosting and managing automatically. It allows a confidential storage system as your wish. As an example, local storages, cloud service provider, Azure site recovery.

4. MACHINE DRIVEN ROLLOUTS AND ROLLBACKS:

You can explain the required state for your installed contains utilizing Kubernetes and turn to the desired shape from actual state at a controlled rate. You can computerize Kubernetes to build new containers for your stationing, eliminate existing boxes and manage all their resources to the new container.

AUTOMATIC BIN PACKING:

The Kubernetes can utilize to manage containerized tasks. The container needs too much CPU and memory(RAM). Kubernetes can work by setup containers onto your nodes to make the optimum utilization of your resources.Self- curing: Kubernetes reboots containers that fail, substitute containers kill containers that don’t react to your user-defined health check and don’t promote them to clients until they are available for serving.

IDENTITY AND SECURITY SUPERVISION BY AZURE-KUBERNATICS SERVICES:

To curb access of cluster resources Azure Kubernatics service Kubernetes RBAC lets you manage access to Kubernetes assets and namespaces and authorization to those resources. You can also set up an AKS cluster to combine with Azure Active Directory(AD) with Azure AD consolidation. Kubernetes access can adapt based on existing identity and group participation. Your current Azure AD client and group can offer AKS resources with a unified sign-on experience.

CONCEALED AND CONFIGURATION ADMINISTRATION:

Kubernetes assist you for reserve and handle sensitive data such as passwords, OAuth tokens and SSH keys. You can expand and renovate secrets and application arrangement without restoring your container footages and revealing secrets in your stack arrangement

PENETRATION WITH HTTP APPLICATION CONVOYING:

The HTTP application routing drives it easy to access applications installed to your AKS cluster. The HTTP application routing result setup an ingress controller in your AKS cluster. The publicly available DNS names are auto designed by the deployment of the application. The HTTP application routing created a DNS zone and embedded it with the AKS cluster. You can then arrange Kubernetes ingress funding as usual.

DEVELOPMENT TOOLING AMALGAMATION:

Kubernetes has an incredible and most effective ecosystem of improvement and administration tools such as Helm on the Kubernetes extension for visual studio code. On the other hand, Azure Dev spaces offer a rapid and extensive Kubernate progress experience for teams.

According to IDC, between 2020 and 2023, organizations' direct global investment in digital transformation will increase at a compound year-on-year rate of 15.5%. This transformation has been accelerated, as a result of the pandemic, to meet the demands of the market and the citizens and consumers themselves.

Today, companies need a resilient, flexible, and secure infrastructure to manage their operations and transactions while delivering value and new experiences to customers. And this is where the hybrid cloud plays a fundamental role in helping companies of all industries and sizes to achieve the reinvention of their businesses, taking into account 3 pillars:

1.   Digital experience. Using cloud-based artificial intelligence in business workflows, such as in customer service, fraud detection, advice, and online sales, will add value to customers digitally and help bring the physical store experience to the online store.

2.   Mission-critical workload migration. Previously, the cloud's focus was on user applications; for example, using the smartphone to check the bank balance. But, these workloads represent only 20% of the total loads. In this new chapter, we will see the movement of the remaining 80% of the loads to the hybrid cloud in multiple environments. Mission-critical loads that customers rely on to run their business and that are very data-rich - business data - will either move to the hybrid cloud or connect to the cloud somehow. This will accelerate new business models as well as increase productivity.

3.   Integrate traditional systems with new systems. According to IDC, in Latin America, the trend is that, after COVID-19, 59% of companies invest in hybrid cloud, mainly for mission-critical workloads, while 25% will invest in the cloud private and 16% in the public cloud. Not everything is public. Not everything is on-premise. There is a suitable solution for every business need. The hybrid cloud has 2.5 times more value for companies than a traditional cloud strategy.

The hybrid cloud strategy allows innovation at higher speed, deliver a better experience to customers, enter new business models and jump to new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence to obtain greater insights from customers and the business.

For this reason, companies require a new generation of hardware and software that is smarter, more secure, and specifically designed from the ground up to advanced power workloads in hybrid environments such as AI, Blockchain, and IoT to accelerate innovation. 

The foundation of this innovation continues to be its IT infrastructure - scalable and secure servers as well as containerized enterprise storage - which through the hybrid cloud will allow businesses to be smarter in the way they operate; more resilient in responding to changes in the environment, and more flexible in optimizing productivity.

A key finding: Hybrid cloud continues to pioneer as an ideal IT infrastructure model (86% of respondents believe so), and respondents running hybrid environments are more likely to plan to focus on strategic efforts and drive business impact positive.

Key findings from this year's report include:

• Companies have taken key steps to achieve the IT operating model of their choice global respondents report that they took the initial key steps to successfully run a hybrid environment, including adopting hyper-converged infrastructure in their data centers and dismantling non-cloud-enabled data centers in favor of private data centers and use of the public cloud. Global IT teams are also planning substantial infrastructure changes; forecast, on average, that hybrid cloud deployments will increase by more than 37 percentage points over the next five years, with a corresponding drop of 15% in non-cloud-enabled data centers. In particular, of the many infrastructure categories, respondents reported running a mixed model of private cloud,

• Remote work is here to stay, also companies are making plans: In last year's survey, about 27% of companies surveyed did not have full-time home workers. That number fell 20 percentage points this year to just 7% as a result of COVID-19. By 2022, respondents predict that an average of 13% of companies will not have full-time remote employees at that time, less than half of what it was a year ago in 2019 before COVID hit. Therefore, improving IT infrastructure (50%) and work-from-home capabilities (47%) have become priorities for the next 12-18 months.

• Strategic business outcomes, not economics, are making changes today: Respondents said their top reasons for modifying their IT infrastructures are to gain greater control of their IT resources (58%), gain the flexibility to meet dynamic business requirements (55%), and improve customer and remote worker support (46%). In contrast, only 27% mentioned cost reduction as an engine.

• Educators face unique challenges and needs related to COVID-19:  More respondents from the education industry cited, "ensuring remote workers have the right hardware" as the main challenge. 47% also cited the provision of "adequate communication channels between employees and customers" as the main challenge. The education industry is taking the right steps toward transformation, ranking highly in private cloud deployments, with 29% of respondents saying they only run private clouds (substantially more than the 22% global average).

Today, technology has taken on a whole new meaning. It's a complex strategy and makes or breaks the long-term viability of a business. COVID-19 has increased into a new era of strategic IT, and raised its profile considerably, and the findings from this year's Enterprise Cloud Index shows this new reality. The hybrid cloud is a pioneer and will continue to be as we navigate our mix of physical and virtual environments and stop doing business in one way. "