Featuring:

Lee Sustar, Principal Analyst

Show Notes:

Over the past decade, trends in the cloud market have completely changed how enterprise IT strategies are designed. So where will cloud go next? Principal Analyst Lee Sustar discusses some of the findings from his new report, The Future Of Cloud.

The episode starts with a discussion of one of Sustar’s bold calls in the report — that the future of cloud will be built on Kubernetes. Sustar explains that the widespread acceptance of Kubernetes by cloud hyperscalers and cloud providers has led to a new phase of value-added services and flexibility in the hybrid and often multicloud environment that most enterprises exist in today. Sustar also shares his insights about how major market players such as Salesforce, SAP, and more have adapted to this new era of cloud and how certain industries could be more impacted than others.

From there, the conversation turns to the impact of AI and automation on the future of cloud. Sustar briefly reviews some of the new automation capabilities being used by cloud providers and within Kubernetes platforms. While these trends are successfully lowering the cognitive load on developers, he says, some of that load is being transferred to the platform teams, which can make things more complex. “We see a lot of variation in terms of what kinds of complexity organizations want to accept or are willing to accept,” he says.

Later in the episode, the discussion focuses on the impact of these trends on the competitive landscape as some smaller and more specialized cloud service providers emerge and new partnerships are created. While major hyperscalers may not be affected much, companies will have more choices. Tech leaders might want to review their current and future cloud roadmaps.

The episode closes out with Sustar providing his advice for organizations that are reviewing their cloud strategy today in light of the AI explosion, so be sure to stick around to hear his unique guidance and suggestions.