Networking company Cisco Systems released its
second annual Cisco Global Cloud Index in October of 2012. The Index examines
the current state of cloud computing and extrapolatesfuture developments.
If Cisco's predictions are correct, we're
teetering on the brink of a major networking shift from fixed IT networks to
cloud data centers. Cisco suggests 2014 will see the turning point, at which
time over 50 percent of all workloads will shift to the cloud. The Index
defines a workload as the processing power required by a server to run an app
and support users interacting with the app.
Global
Cloud Cover
The growing importance of cloud data centers is
readily apparent; whether you’re an individual or a company for SEO at
least some of your data and apps now live in the cloud. Cisco's Index, however,
indicates just how thick the cloud cover will be in 2016.
According to the Index, the Asian-Pacific region
will generate more cloud traffic in 2016 than either North America or Western
Europe, despite Western Europe's edge in network strength and broadband
accessibility. By 2016, Asia-Pacific is expected to generate 36 percent of the global
cloud workload.
Regions such as Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea,
Singapore and Taiwan are already positioned to profit from increased cloud
workload, with China, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnamincreasingly likely to add
to the cloud.
While
the Asian-Pacific will dominate the cloud, it won’t be the fastest developing
adopter of cloud technology. That title goes to the Middle East and Africa, which
Cisco expects to show rapid cloud growth through 2016.
Cloud Thickness
Presuming
Cisco's predictions pan out, by 2016 the cloud will process an overwhelming
amount of data, estimated at 6.6 zettabytes a year. A zettabyte equals one
sextrillion bytes, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes. Approximately 76
percent of this data will be internal data center traffic, according to Cisco
estimates.
Mobile Lags Behind
While
fixed networks across the globe are ready to handle intermediate and basic
cloud apps, no region has yet to emerge capable of handling advanced apps. Cisco
defines basic apps as small games and text-based apps.
Intermediate
apps include programs such as iTunes, Enterprise Resource Planning and Customer
Relationship Planning apps. Advanced apps include high-definition video
streaming and video conferencing.
Some are
already prepared for advanced cloud apps, including Hong Kong, Japan, Romania,
South Korea and Sweden. They are the onlyones currently capable of handling
advanced cloud apps over a fixed network.
As for
mobile cloud apps, no country is ready for advanced cloud app use. Western
Europe comes closest, being capable of handling intermediate cloud apps over mobile
access.
Cisco's
Index confirms what many analysts already know: cloud data centers represent an
important, and potentially lucrative, field of development. Eventually, we're
all going to live under the cloud.
My dear friend Michelle is an aspiring writer and blogger with a
passion for the Internet, specifically social media and blogging. She loves how
social media connects people across the globe, and appreciates that blogging
gives her the opportunity to voice her thoughts and share advice with an
unlimited audience.
