Weekly CloudNews: Cloud Security, Cloud Spending & Remote Working

Welcome to this week’s edition of CloudBolt’s Weekly CloudNews!

Earlier this week, we looked at choosing the right Kubernetes management platform and how startups can use a cloud migration to their advantage.

With that, onto this week’s news:

Coronavirus Sets Up Accelerated Push to Cloud for Cybersecurity Industry

David Uberti, Wall Street Journal, Apr. 8, 2020

“As the coronavirus pandemic shutters offices and batters the economy, experts say the largest-ever remote work experiment could supercharge the cybersecurity industry’s shift to cloud services.

The pivot to working from home highlights the benefits of cloud-based services that can quickly scale up defenses around decentralized employees, they say. That could prove to be an opportunity for some companies when the shocks caused by the pandemic’s spread recede.

Federal officials have warned in recent weeks of an uptick in threats related to the new coronavirus, from phishing emails to ransomware. That has left businesses shoring up existing tools to fend off attackers and keep workers online, experts say.

The initial reaction could provide a shot in the arm for existing suppliers as companies expand the capacity of virtual private networks and other tools. VPNs allow remote workers to effectively burrow beneath their workplaces’ perimeter defenses, recreating “on-premise” security tailored to physical office spaces and data centers.

But that short-term spending to keep workforces up and running will likely veer toward the cloud as the economy recovers and executives plan for a more remote-friendly future.”

Collaboration, cybersecurity & cloud tools – remote working’s winners?

Jia Jen Low, TechHQ, Apr. 7, 2020

“IDC experts worldwide predicted that worldwide IT spending will decline by 2.7 percent in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, software investments such as cloud solutions and specific tools that can cater for business continuity will see positive growth of close to 2 percent, as companies continue to outfit themselves with the tech to enable a remote workforce. 

The prediction coincides with a recent report by TrustRadius, that found spend on software will be largely determined by the organization’s readiness for remote working and own set of circumstances – certain companies may have been equipped to be largely or partially ‘remote’ already.

Based on responses from 1,600 IT buyers across businesses, the research found that more than a quarter (26 percent) of businesses have not needed to make any further investments.

Recognizing the severity of the overall situation, about 18 percent of respondents believe tech budgets will shrink as businesses freeze new contracts and sales, and cut out non-mission-critical software and subscriptions to free up some monthly cashflow. However, a smaller chunk of software providers offering collaboration tools, endpoint cybersecurity, cloud services could have a lucrative few months as businesses bolster their remote workforces.”

Cloud IT Infrastructure Spending a Bright Spot Amid Pandemic’s Spread

Kelly Teal, Channel Futures, Apr. 6, 2020

“IT infrastructure spending for cloud projects recovered in the fourth quarter of 2019 after two previous quarters of decline.

That proclamation comes from IDC in its latest Worldwide Quarterly Cloud IT Infrastructure Tracker. The research firm said end-user spending, which includes channel-generated revenue, was $19.4 billion in the final quarter of last year. The number comprised servers, storage, Ethernet switches for both public and private cloud environments.

Many organizations have scrambled to suddenly support work-from-home capabilities for employees, and are leaning on the cloud to achieve these ends. That will help 2020’s cloud IT infrastructure spending rise 3.6% over 2019’s $66.8 billion to $69.2 billion, IDC estimates.”

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