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According to the latest figures from 451 Research, more than a third of enterprise IT budget is expected to be spent on hosting and cloud services in 2017.

Currently, enterprises spend more than a quarter (28%) of their budget on cloud, but 451 argues this number will go up to 34% next year. Despite hosting and cloud providers positioning themselves as infrastructure players, only 31% of that budget goes towards infrastructure services, with applications (42%), managed services (14%) and security (9%) also being used.

Enterprises are also picking multiple vendors for their hosting and cloud services; public cloud infrastructure providers were cited by 69% of respondents, followed by managed hosting providers (26%).

451 argues that the infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) markets are much more consolidated – which rings true with other industry research – but managed services is an area of much greater interest.

“The markets for unmanaged IaaS and SaaS are dominated by large, hyperscale vendors. However, this spending trend indicates there is an appetite for the type of bundled services a broader market of managed service providers are well positioned to deliver,” said Liam Eagle, 451 research manager. “A strong opportunity exists for service providers offering a diversified set of hosting and cloud services that includes infrastructure and application hosting, as well as managed services and security services delivered around them.”

Eagle added that the market for managed infrastructure and application services was a longer tail market, including the possibility of reselling services from the largest IaaS and SaaS vendors. Rackspace is arguably the best example of this; the company confirmed that it was going private back in August. In the firm’s most recent financial results as a public company, the company said that 277 customers chose its AWS resell service over the past nine months, with 60% choosing the higher tier option.

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The emergence of the Internet has given birth to a number of cloud-based technologies and services to cater to a wide audience. There has been a significant rise in the number of users and enterprises who are adapting to the radical changes cloud technologies have brought about in enterprise handling and management.

The colossal volumes of data and information held by any business organisation run the sheer risk of intrusion from malicious insiders, network threats, hacking attacks, insecure application programming interfaces (API) and unauthorised user access. Individuals and enterprises are not hesitating to rope in the best service providers to protect their cloud networks from such security threats.

The market is moving ahead with the constant need for a robust governance and network security measures driving its progress. Experts at Allied Market Research have observed a tremendous growth in the cloud security services market over the years. They predict a strong market for the cloud identity and access management (IAM) segment in particular. Here we focus on the cloud IAM segment in particular, how it has gained popularity with different users. The competitive landscape of the industry has also been covered.

Understanding the cloud IAM framework

The basic framework for cloud IAM lies within the management of electronic identities for the different processes as a part of the business network. It includes technology and the cloud networking to support the concept of identity management. Using an automated process, IAM technology enables initiating, capturing, recording and managing of user identities. The access privileges are granted after quick and careful contemplation of organisation policies. All the individuals and services as a part of cloud IAM systems are properly authenticated, authorised and audited.

The cloud IAM software of an organisation allows IT administrators to create user identities and organise them into groups. The identity and access management software then assigns permissions to access resources and services. This is done on a web portal, managed through a browser window. The concept of IAM is extremely instrumental for every business organisation to ensure a standard and credible IT infrastructure.

Why every business organisation needs an IAM expertise

If an organisation has a robust IT infrastructure in place, then half the battle against network threats is already won. The presence of a cloud security software which is backed by a tough identity and access management is a sign of how serious an enterprise takes it security. What is more important is the need to have a firm grip on IAM processes which adhere to regulatory compliance policies. Intrusion from malware, malicious insiders, hackers, spoofing, and fake identity holders can be ensured by having an IT governance structure in place that enables multi-factor authentication and careful assigning of access permissions.

A well-maintained IAM infrastructure speaks volumes about how an organisation’s reporting and auditing system is. The implementation of a cloud IAM framework in a business’s working doesn’t necessarily make it invincible, but it allows for timely addressing of access permissions related issues, and dealing with unauthorised users. Apart from keeping a close eye on the flow of information between the different end-users and services on the cloud, the IAM technology also ensures an enterprise adds to its overall security policy. Moreover, this also forms a part of a larger cost-cutting measure by enterprises, as the entire process of security and handling credentials is managed by one centralised software functioning on multiple levels.

Big names in the cloud IAM game

The key competitors in the cloud security market have different customised products on offer, which is tailor-made for particular user requirements. The established brands are looking to expand their product portfolios to gain a bigger stronghold on the industry. IT giants, such as IBM, Oracle, Cisco Systems, and CA Technologies offer an award-winning range of solutions that promise to safeguard valuable data and applications on the cloud as well as mobiles. The products they offer are available at a competitive rate in the market, and aggressive marketing strategies drive the revenues for these companies.

However, all eyes on the IAM market are on the lookout for the new promising startups, such as Salesforce, Okta, OneLogin, Centrify, and Ping Identity. These new companies provide identity and access management solutions for new businesses looking for efficient software on a tight budget. Moreover, their products are also targeted at highly regulated businesses including the healthcare and BFSI sector. This is making the new companies stand apart and emerge as promising new entrants in the market.

Synergies promise a more dynamic market

The market for cloud IAM has so far proven to be very dynamic in the recent decades. The industry is set to grow at a rapid pace, with the development of cloud networks and IT infrastructures. The new startups offering identity solutions are giving a serious competition to big names. The larger IT brands are not shying away from joining forces with the fresh outlook offered by new startup firms.

For instance, IBM recently acquired Lighthouse Security Group to expand the scope of its operations. Even Dell joined with EMC to shift its focus from hardware to cloud-based software. Accenture was also not far behind, with its latest acquisition of an Australian firm, Redcore. All these developments on the competitive front are a testimony to the magnanimous growth of the cloud security services market. 

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It’s that time of year again: Cisco has released its latest cloud index survey, and the numbers keep getting bigger. This time, global cloud traffic is predicted to rise from 3.9 zettabytes (ZB) per year in 2015, to 14.1 ZB per year by 2020, assisted by greater data centre virtualisation and increased migration to cloud architectures.

The figures from this time last year put the current prediction into context; back in October 2015 the networking giant put the overall figure for the end of 2019 at 8.6 ZB, although adding that the Internet of Everything (IoE) would generate an eye-watering 42.3 ZB per month by 2019.

Among the updated figures include global data centre traffic, which is forecast to hit 15.3 ZB per year by the end of 2020, while global data centre IP traffic will grow three-fold in the coming five years. 68% of cloud workloads in four years’ time will be in public cloud data centres, up from 49% in 2015, providing an interesting comparison with VMware’s analysis back in August, which argued 2021 will be the year where 50% of all enterprise IT workloads will be in the cloud, and 2030 the year when public cloud will be the dominant share.

The types of cloud service delivery models will also change, according to Cisco.

By 2020, almost three quarters (74%) of total cloud workloads will be software as a service (SaaS), up from 65% in 2015, compared with 17% for infrastructure as a service (IaaS) – down from 26% last year – and 8% for platform as a service (PaaS).

One evident trend Cisco aims to emphasise is around larger scale ‘hyperscale’ data centres, and how they will have a ‘significant’ impact on the global data centre landscape. By 2020, the report argues, hyperscale will host almost half (47%) of all data centre servers, as well as more than two thirds (68%) of data centre processing power.

Collaborating with Synergy Research, whose reports on cloud infrastructure have long been covered in this publication, Cisco argues there are 24 hyperscale operators globally that either hit $1bn in IaaS or PaaS, $2bn in SaaS, $4bn in search or social networking, or $8bn in eCommerce. From 259 at the end of last year, Cisco estimates there will be 485 hyperscale data centres by 2020. “As with servers, hyperscale data centres represent a large portion of overall data, traffic, and processing power in data centres,” the report notes. “Traffic within hyperscale data centres will quintuple by 2020.”

The report’s conclusion makes for particularly interesting reading, again noting that an ‘extraordinary’ amount of data will be generated by IoE applications – somewhere to the tune of 600 ZB – by 2020, as well as other emerging technologies. “Not only is the data centre traffic growing, but it is also getting streamlined with architectural innovations such as SDN and NFV, which offer new levels of optimisation for data centres,” the report notes.

With regard to cloud readiness – the work of the Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA) is an excellent reference point in this regard – Cisco adds countries around the globe have made ‘significant strides’ in supporting cloud services. “The focus now turns to continuing to improve network capabilities to support the advanced cloud applications that organisations and end users expect and rely upon,” the report adds.

You can read the full paper here (PDF).

Body picture credit: Cisco