2021 predictions: Cloud, comms and remote working

by Simon Quicke

Across the channel, expectations are high that next year will be a busy one, with customers reaching out across many fronts to get the technology needed to drive their digital transformation projects forward.

Cloud underpins a lot of the activities that should come in the next 12 months, and along with that there should be changes in the communications world. There are also other areas for the channel to keep an eye on, according to some of those responsible for promoting IT. 

Dave Locke, chief technology adviser at WWT: "2021 will continue the trend towards 'anywhere operations'. Modern infrastructure is increasingly software-defined and can be managed from any location.

"This shift will continue to drive continuity in enterprises' network quality and security, whether employees are in the office, working abroad or from home.

"To deliver this, the IT infrastructure needs to be distributed closer to employees. Big cloud scalers are creating products which decentralise stored data and push it into business premises.

"Services such as AWS Outposts will be important to remote working because they allow businesses to have their own mini on-premise cloud, all while remaining connected to larger public cloud infrastructure and its benefits.

"To meet the associated security challenges of this shift, SASE software, combining wide-area networking and network security services into a single, cloud-delivered service model, will gain popularity."