Now that we’ve moved into March 2025, and had a full year to observe, it’s time to revisit the predictions we made back in December 2023 about the key trends shaping the 2024 cloud computing landscape. We forecasted a year of transformative shifts, and now, with a clearer view, we can assess how accurately those predictions reflected reality. Let’s delve into each of the 10 trends and see where we were spot-on, where we might have underestimated, and what new developments have emerged.
Prediction: The necessity for robust governance, architecture, and automation in scaled public cloud deployments.
Evaluation: This prediction has proven bang on. Organisations indeed prioritised structured cloud operating models throughout 2024. Cloud FinOps saw significant uptake, highlighting the need for financial governance alongside technical excellence. The push for product-oriented teams and self-service capabilities accelerated as predicted.
Today's Nuance: The complexity of multi-cloud environments in 2024 amplified the need for standardised operating models, making interoperability a critical factor that required more focus than initially anticipated.
Prediction: The convergence of cloud and AI/ML as a major driver for cloud adoption.
Evaluation: This trend exceeded expectations, largely due to the explosive growth of generative AI. Cloud providers raced to offer AI-optimised infrastructure and services. The demand for scalable data platforms to support AI workloads was unprecedented in 2024.
Today's Nuance: The ethical implications of AI were a major focus in 2024, leading to new regulations and adding complexity to cloud deployments. This, coupled with concerns around IP protection and rising cloud costs, fuelled an emerging trend of organisations seeking to "bring AI home" by exploring on-premises AI infrastructure or sovereign cloud solutions.
Prediction: Increased adoption of edge computing to support IoT applications and reduce latency.
Evaluation: This prediction held true. Edge AI emerged as a critical component, enabling real-time processing of data closer to the source. 5G rollout further fuelled the growth of edge computing throughout 2024.
Today's Nuance: Security challenges at the edge were a significant concern in 2024, requiring robust solutions to protect distributed devices and data. The need for standardised edge security protocols became very apparent.
Prediction: Continued momentum for serverless architectures due to reduced operational complexity and improved scalability.
Evaluation: Serverless adoption continued to grow throughout 2024, particularly for event-driven applications and microservices. Developers increasingly leveraged serverless functions to build agile and scalable solutions.
Today's Nuance: Cost optimisation in serverless environments was a growing focus in 2024, as organisations sought to manage the potential for runaway costs. Tools to monitor and control serverless costs matured significantly.
Prediction: Automation as a key driver of efficiency, quality, and risk reduction.
Evaluation: This remained a fundamental principle in 2024. AI-driven automation became more prevalent, with AI assisting in tasks like infrastructure provisioning, security monitoring, and incident response. Infrastructure as Code became a standard practice.
Today's Nuance: The challenge in 2024 was achieving end-to-end automation across complex cloud environments, requiring a holistic approach and more advanced orchestration tools. The quest continues into 2025 for most organisations.
Prediction: Public cloud as the default environment for new applications.
Evaluation: While the cloud-first approach remained prevalent in 2024, this prediction requires some qualification. Geopolitical uncertainties and increasing cost pressures led some organisations to reconsider the "cloud-unless" stance, particularly for sensitive applications or those with strict data residency requirements. This resulted in a more nuanced approach, with a greater emphasis on hybrid and multi-cloud strategies to balance the benefits of cloud with concerns around sovereignty, control, and cost optimization.
Today's Nuance: Legacy modernisation remained a significant challenge in 2024, with organisations seeking effective strategies to migrate existing applications to the cloud, and the rise of cloud-based legacy application refactoring tools. However, the trend of repatriating some applications, or even building new ones on-premises or in alternative cloud environments, highlights a growing need for flexibility and a more strategic approach to cloud adoption.
Prediction: Cloud skills as a critical factor in attracting and retaining talent.
Evaluation: This prediction was validated in 2024, but with an important evolution. While the demand for cloud professionals remained high, the conversation shifted from simply having cloud skills to embracing cutting-edge technologies like generative AI. Cloud itself became a baseline expectation for young talent; they can't fathom an organization without it. To attract top talent in 2024, organizations needed to demonstrate not just cloud adoption, but also a commitment to innovation and the integration of emerging technologies like AI and ML.
Today's Nuance: The rise of AI in 2024 created new cloud-related roles and required professionals to adapt to evolving skill sets, and the need for prompt engineering specialists became very high. Organisations that fail to keep pace with these technological advancements risk being seen as outdated and unattractive by the next generation of talent.
Our 2024 predictions proved largely accurate, capturing the significant trends that shaped the cloud landscape. However, the year also revealed some important nuances. The explosive rise of generative AI, coupled with geopolitical tensions and cost pressures, led to a more complex and nuanced cloud adoption landscape than initially anticipated.
While cloud-unless strategies remained dominant, concerns around data sovereignty, ethical AI practices, and vendor lock-in fueled a growing interest in hybrid and multi-cloud approaches, on-premises deployments for sensitive workloads, and even repatriation of certain applications.
Furthermore, the rapid pace of technological advancement, particularly in AI and cloud-native technologies, underscored the need for continuous innovation and upskilling to attract and retain top talent. Organisations that solely focused on basic cloud adoption found themselves falling behind in the competition for skilled professionals.
As we move further into 2025, it's clear that a successful cloud strategy requires more than just embracing the cloud; it demands a strategic, adaptable, and nuanced approach that balances the benefits of cloud computing with concerns around cost, control, and the evolving geopolitical landscape. Organisations must prioritize agility, flexibility, and a commitment to staying ahead of the curve to thrive in this dynamic environment.
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