Pocketwatch

Predictions 2015

Longform
(Image: Stockfresh)

15 January 2015

Hosting shift
“With competition on the rise, both local providers and the multinational platforms have a role to play in the cloud market” Pictured: Tanya Duncan, Interxion Interxion Ireland Ltd : Tanya Duncan, MD, Interxion Ireland
Interxion recently carried out a European service providers survey which saw a significant increase in demand for infrastructure as a service (IaaS). The report revealed that 43% of respondents now see a stronger demand for IaaS, up from 36% last year. This is even more prevalent in Ireland and the UK, at 46%. Only 23% of respondents still see strongest demand for traditional hosting services, versus 56% last year.

These results illustrate a significant shift from traditional hosting services towards IaaS. This increase in demand for cloud services means service providers are in a prime position to capitalise on cloud to boost their revenue streams. With competition on the rise, both local providers and the multinational platforms have a role to play in the cloud market. To stay relevant, local providers in the UK and Ireland are focusing on customer service and portfolio diversification, rather than competing head-on with multinational players.

Migrating to the cloud has been on the mind of Irish businesses for a number of years, but we are now seeing a significant increase in the demand for cloud services. Interxion, as a leading provider of cloud and carrier-neutral colocation data centre services in Europe, can support service providers with the necessary data centre footprint to facilitate this increase in cloud service demands. Interxion’s uniformly designed, energy-efficient data centres offer customers extensive security and uptime for their mission-critical applications.
 
 

Big data strategies
“Big Data Analytics is more about people and process than technology” Dave Clarke - Asystec Data Analytics Specialist_web Asystec : Dave Clarke, chief data scientist
Having worked in the IT industry for a number of years I have witnessed, and been a part of many changes. I truly believe the biggest change we will see this year is the adoption of Big Data Strategies.

At the start of 2014, the subject of Big Data was seen as just another overused buzz word. At the end of 2014, my customers are becoming much more attentive to how exactly we can help them in their data analytics journey. In trying to predict what Irish companies will do in this space in 2015, it is worth noting what the more mature markets in the data analytics/warehousing space are doing as we are generally 2 or 3 years behind markets like UK or US in this space. US market observers like Gregory Piatetsky of @kdnuggets are speaking of the increased use of in-memory databases, easy-to-use analytic applications for the non-data scientist, deeper insights on customer behaviour using sensor data and a greater democratisation of data across organisations in 2015.

My own view on Big Data Analytics maturity is that it is more about people and process than technology. The technology plays are maturing and the market is slowly consolidating, but ultimately the technology is just an enabler. In Ireland in 2015, I believe customers will look to create Big Data Strategies with the highest probability of success which will mean building business led project delivery methodologies for Big Data Analytics addressing the business goals and organisational maturity of their companies as well as what technologies they should use.
 
 

 
 

Intelligent networks
“During 2015, private cloud will continue to be the predominant cloud services model for Irish businesses” BT.       Picture by Shane O'Neill / Copyright Fennell Photography 2014. BT Ireland : Barry McMahon, propositions manager
In 2015, the Republic of Ireland will experience the early shoots of a hybrid cloud services market, with services underpinned by SLA guaranteed, enterprise class networks. Customer specific solutions will drive this market, putting pressure on service providers to meet their needs. The uptake of hybrid cloud services will emerge towards the end of 2015 before growing into an increasingly important market activity in 2016. In the meantime, during 2015, private cloud will continue to be the predominant cloud services model for Irish businesses.

These private platforms, as they utilise isolated infrastructure components that are customer dedicated, help address key customer security and compliance needs. Private platforms also offer customers the opportunity to avail of the latest networking, computing, and storage technologies. Access to such technologies has become increasingly difficult for businesses that have experienced reduced capital budgets over the past several years.

2015 will also demonstrate that businesses are increasingly aware that enterprise class “intelligent” networks are an essential component in a cloud solution design. The requirement to view application usage, understand and obtain guarantees on application performance, and the ability to prioritise traffic for critical applications, are all key needs satisfied by such networks.
 
 

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