A sleeper trend that we identified in our annual look ahead was, not simply the growing embrace of cloud computing, but the drivers behind it. In our conversations with enterprise IT executives and practitioners, we are increasingly finding that the default option for deploying or re-deploying IT systems was changing, with the cloud starting to replace on-premise as the base case. But, of course, this is not a blind march to the public cloud – instead, the trigger is gaining the operational simplicity and flexibility of the cloud control plane, regardless of where the systems were going to get deployed. Enter the era of the Hybrid Default.
Read MoreNumerous indicators out there prove that there is a definite move toward the cloud. We've seen this in our own discussions with enterprises. Back when AWS introduced modern cloud computing back in 2006 (well, maybe we should give Salesforce credit for devising modern SaaS back in 1999), developers embraced it as a quick way to hustle up machines to conduct DevTest without having to get IT to sign off or go through the hassle of ordering and installing machines that would otherwise sit idle much of the time.
Read MoreIf anybody doubts that history runs in cycles, they obviously don't know the technology business. From the time when we bought our first PC by mail order – for about $3000 in 1980s money (equivalent to well over $8000 today) – we’ve seen the technology scene oscillate. But each time the cycle repeats, there is a new twist that stirs up the broth. This business doesn’t get boring.
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