The analysts at Gartner recently released the Magic Quadrant for Cloud Management Platforms 2020. Gartner claims that cloud management platform providers (CMPs) are seeing a rapidly changing market in a race to meet enterprise requirements. The report estimates that, by 2025, more than 70 percent of organizations will be using multifaceted cloud governance tools. The figure currently stands at 10 percent. The future is exciting.
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Please note that CloudBolt appeared in the Gartner Magic Quadrant Cloud Management Platform 2020 for the second year running. This was under the same category as last year – challenger. The list of players from the 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for CMPs was largely unchanged save for two players. Gartner dropped them from the list because they changed the direction of their businesses.
What Does the Future Hold?
According to Gartner, enterprises are increasingly demanding a cloud management strategy that combines native cloud management tools and third-party heterogeneous support. For this reason, Gartner Magic Quadrant Cloud Management Platform providers are adding functional areas to their offerings to meet customer’s demands. Many are now offering modular plans where enterprises can pay for select modules with the functionality they need.
Machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) are also making their way into the CMP space. This is becoming a potential battleground for CMPs as they look to mine and collect data to feed into other functional areas. Areas that can benefit from this include cost forecasting, security remediation, and infrastructure lifecycle management.
Ultimately, CMP providers that don’t automate will not survive.
Is AI the Future?
Artificial intelligence is a concept that was hot back in the 1980s. It disappeared. Now, however, it is back and as hot as ever. Cloud computing has made AI affordable. What would have cost millions in the ’80s will now set you back a few hundred dollars a month.
While AI looks like some esoteric concept, it’s quite relevant and practical for cloud management. AI engines that integrate with cloud-based and cloud-oriented management, self-healing, and monitoring can provide immense value.
Admins who struggle to gain insights into their cloud infrastructures now have a new ally – AI.
How is AI Currently Being Used?
Some legacy IT vendors have infused AI into their CMPs. At surface value, their features are no different from traditional cloud management tools. The functionality is the same. The difference between these AI-powered platforms is the level of sophistication. They go to a more granular level and broader context.
What Are Some Potential Applications of AI in the Cloud?
Self-Healing
AI-based CloudOps can learn how to fix things in the cloud by matching problem patterns with the corresponding solution patterns over time. Once they learn how to identify and solve problems, they can do the job automatically without human intervention. They’d do a better job than humans.
This kind of automation would relieve people from the tedious tasks of fixing both minor and major issues. It would also increase reliability. And the best part is these AI engines only get better with time.
Better Security
AI and security have always been tied at the hip, at least in theory. But the concept that there is a relationship between the two was not understood by AI and security experts. AI can give SecOps systems a new lease on life by making them proactive. They learn with time to flag attempted breaches and defend against them. It can stop a potential cyberattack before it ever happens.
Opportunity to Share Knowledge
While AI systems do add value, they first have to learn things. This can take a bit of time. And that’s just how cognitive computing works. But if you could share this knowledge in real time, then it would present amazing value to your cloud deployment. You would have a startup system working for you from day one. The system would have benefited from collective knowledge and learning. This is an area with immense potential going into the future.
Will AI Replace Human Intervention in The Cloud?
One of the major benefits of using AI in the cloud is the curtailing of human intervention. There’s no need to have an analyst crunching the numbers while doing a lot of analysis alone. The AI system can do the job much faster and provide more insights. But this doesn’t mean that humans won’t be necessary. Data cannot replace human expertise. For example, an AI engine is unlikely to make better decisions from data than a professional with 20 years of experience. AI is not exactly a replacement for humans. It’s supposed to augment their work.
Conclusion
AI capabilities are still in their early stages. There’s a lot more to come. Before too long, every cloud management platform provider will incorporate AI into their offerings. AI will work particularly well for multi-cloud management. It will help enterprises reach a whole new level of automation. Please make sure to check out the complete Gartner Magic Quadrant Cloud Management Platform report.