Cloud, the foundation on which digital businesses are built, has never been more relevant. Across industries, cloud computing is emerging as the cornerstone for driving digital transformation at scale. The events of 2020 further accelerated the move to cloud by catalyzing a global transition to distributed, hybrid or remote work models. Analyst firm Gartner estimates that enterprise spending on cloud services is set to grow 18.4% in 2021 on the back of these transformations, a relentless growth in the use of collaboration tools, and the irrevocable shift towards customer-centricity in organizations across industries.1 As we enter the age of hybrid working, the need for reliable connectivity to enterprise SaaS tools such as ERP, CRM, collaboration and human resource management applications will further speed up cloud adoption, exclusive new researchOpens a new window by Colt Technology Services finds.2
The 2020 Gartner Cloud End-User Buying Behaviour survey indicates that the steady clip of innovation in cloud infrastructure and platform services (CIPS) would make it the de-facto platform for new digital services and existing traditional workloads. Within the next two years, 40% of all enterprise workloads will be deployed in CIPS, up from 20% in 2020.3
But even as more companies leverage cloud for business agility, scalability and cost control, significant concerns have emerged about incorporating the right approach to cloud connectivity and identifying critical elements to support current, and future application needs into the migration strategy. It matters because the promise of cloud performance depends on enhanced enterprise-grade connectivity, which is a key lever for end-to-end security, lower latency, improved reliability and quality of service (QoS).
Cloud Migration Starts With Robust High Performance Connectivity
Organizations transitioning business-critical applications to the public cloud likely rely on internet access to connect the on-premises environment to single or multiple public clouds. But as bandwidth requirements increase, it may be impractical to migrate applications that are sensitive to latency, jitter and packet loss over low-speed internet. That’s because the public internet simply can’t meet the near-constant reliability and high performance required for scale-out business applications. Equally concerning, this is a low-security option widely exposed to Denial of Service (DoS) and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Compounding matters further, legacy network infrastructure can’t keep up with the agility demanded by the cloud.
Colt’s 2020 State of the Cloud reportOpens a new window further drives home this point.4 It found that while IT leaders are clear-eyed about which business applications and services can benefit from the scale and elasticity of the cloud, they are held back by reliable connectivity and traditional networks that can’t keep up with the frenetic pace of adoption. As a leading provider of global connectivity solutions, Colt surveyed 250-plus IT decision-makers (ITDMs) across Europe and found that nearly half (48%) of the respondents saw reliable connectivity as a key challenge. For organizations battling network complexity, cloud deployment delays tend to eat into the departmental budget, impacting business outcomes and balloon operational costs up to £100k a month on average.4 Also, at a time when security has never been more crucial, 59% of respondents listed it as a top cloud migration challenge.4
Network Connectivity Reinvented For Cloud
As organizations unite around multi-cloud strategy, better cloud connectivity and agility will underpin business success. Without a doubt, connectivity needs to be reinvented for the era of cloud. But what tools can enable cloud-scale connectivity in single or multi-cloud environments and help meet optimal business-service levels?
Despite the security benefits offered by traditional wide area network (WAN) solutions such as multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), these solutions are cost-prohibitive and provide inconsistent speed and availability, ultimately resulting in poor user experience. Companies with expansive SaaS deployments will find it challenging to scale and upgrade MPLS architectures for bandwidth-intensive applications, pushing upgrade costs even higher. As legacy technologies show their age, it is evident that older connectivity standards aren’t suited to solve all the challenges of the cloud era, as the Colt whitepaper titled The Evolving Path to Cloud Adoption proposes. Depending on the public internet for cloud connectivity simply isn’t the best path, not least of all due to security vulnerabilities, poor application performance, and latency caused by bandwidth-sharing due to multiple hand-offs between ISPs.
The bottom line: A mishmash of legacy connectivity technologies cobbled together simply won’t cut it anymore and would only lead to increased overheads. As companies ramp up their digital transformation initiatives, a new generation of connectivity solutions that offer a high-performance application experience and lower operational costs without sacrificing security has never been more critical.
Enter Next-Gen Cloud On-Ramp Connectivity Solutions
There is a spectrum of next-gen solutions that offer organizations a launchpad into the cloud, eliminating the network complexity that potentially accompanies increasing size and scope of deployment and as well as closing the security gap.
For example, API as an interface between the enterprise and its cloud and network service providers is gradually gaining ground. Over half (54%) of enterprise decision-makers lean into APIs to realize their cloud goals.2
Another candidate connecting cloud to business-critical services is edge computing, enabling IT to slash deployment times and mission-critical power applications such as Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), and 5G applications. Though near-term opportunities are emerging for mission-critical applications, the business and operational models for edge computing are still being established.
For organizations looking to maximize bandwidth efficiency and scalability, on-demand networking solutions can bring a wave of new benefits. Part of the reason why this solution is gaining ground is the agility it offers. Digital businesses require flexibility to scale bandwidth capacity up and down, based on changing needs, and without negotiating new SLAs. According to the Colt study, on-demand networking solutions present a massive opportunity because they promise to allow IT to deliver cost-efficient business continuity, agile connectivity and better bandwidth management without leaving gaps in their security strategy. Despite its advantages, however, it is yet to make significant gains in the market.
Similarly, another strong contender is Universal Customer Premise Equipment (uCPE) which provides best-of-breed networking and virtualization. By integrating compute, storage and networking on an inexpensive off-the-shelf server, uCPE allows IT teams to consolidate and streamline their infrastructure and reduce operational expense. While the market for uCPE is yet to mature, the solution is promising because it can eliminate the need to invest in enterprise-grade routers, firewalls or WAN optimizers and enable virtual network functions that facilitate seamless cloud migration. A significant advantage is that this single-purpose hardware appliance can speed up time-to-service and allows IT managers to bridge performance bottlenecks by delivering direct connectivity and robust bandwidth management.
While many of these solutions show promise, they come with their own pros and cons, and some are yet to attain mainstream adoption. However, one solution that stands out for enabling organizations to utilize everything the cloud has to offer and is proven in-market is SD WAN.
SD WAN: The Logical Choice For Achieving Cloud Goals
Software-defined wide area network (SD WAN) has emerged as a competitive solution of choice for high-volume data transport because it forms a solid backbone to access cloud-based resources. The Colt study, which surveyed 400 ITDMs and C-level executives across Europe and Asia, found that 50% of respondents preferred SD WAN to reap the full benefits of cloud and connect remote workers securely.2 SD WAN reduces backhauling costs, delivers optimal network performance and gives real-time visibility to IT teams migrating business applications from on-premises infrastructure to public and hybrid cloud platforms across locations. IT loves it because they can monitor connectivity to the cloud and ensure end-to-end SLA with deterministic latency and consistent performance. In addition, next-gen SD WAN for cloud networking enables IT to overcome security challenges with secure encrypted connections.
Step Up Your Game With The Right Technology Partner
In the journey to cloudification, the transition is often underserved by legacy networking infrastructure, resulting in inflated costs and poor user experience. However, seamless end-to-end cloud connectivity with guaranteed SLAs is no longer an option in the post-pandemic landscape — it is a crucial requirement to stay ahead of the competition. Organizations that want to stay current need to rethink and realign their cloud connectivity strategies with solutions that can scale across multiple cloud regions and minimize the complexity of multi-cloud environments.
As cloud adoption soars, next-gen SD WAN multi-cloud offerings that deliver performance, scalability and security benefits are emerging as the most popular choice of IT leaders. It’s secure right out of the box and enables IT managers to adapt and streamline the network infrastructure with evolving business requirements.
On the vendor side, Colt, a key force behind multi-connectivity solutions, already provides direct connections to the leading IaaS players — Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. With a global customer base, Colt’s SD WAN solution is powered by its Colt IQ Network, which comprises 29,000 on-net buildings and more than 900 data centers, giving it a significantly expanded reach for data transport.
In today’s hyper-connected environment, much is at stake. ITDMs are pressured to do more with fewer resources. On-demand connectivity solutions spanning multiple clouds with pay-as-you-go models can help reduce the burden on IT teams looking to streamline operations and achieve business goals effectively. If you want to understand more about modernizing cloud migrations, visit http://www.colt.net/cloudOpens a new window
Sources:
1 http://www.colt.net/cloudOpens a new window
2 The Evolving Path to Cloud Adoption by Colt, 2021Opens a new window
3 Predicts 2021: Cloud and Edge Infrastructure Cloud Infrastructure Edge by Gartner, 2021Opens a new window
4 Is the Cloud Meeting Expectations? By Colt, 2020Opens a new window