Cloud computing has been the most exciting and disruptive force in the tech market in the last decade - and it will continue to disrupt traditional computing models at least through 2020.
Beyond pay-per-use, buyers will save money in cloud many ways. There are more ways to buy cloud services - on-demand, pre-paid, reserved capacity, enterprise agreements - every month, and this trend will accelerate in 2017. As a result, there is now an active market for cloud cost management tools which enable increased savings for organizations.
Lift and shift tools will improve to make cloud migration easier. Enabled by a growing list of migration services from megacloud providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM, the lift-and-shift model is becoming more viable. In 2017, these tools will accelerate the rate of cloud migration given their low cost for bulk application migrations.
Hybrid cloud networking will remain the weak link in hybrid cloud. While hybrid cloud has arrived, albeit in a diminished capacity, it will take a long time for most organizations' networks to be able to seamlessly connect into hybrid cloud management and orchestration tools.
Don't wait until next year to consider these trends. Businesses must get their private cloud and SaaS strategies in shape in 2017, and that means you should start now. To get ahead, executives need to educate themselves about exciting developments in hyperconverged infrastructure, security, networking and containers. Lastly, specialization is afoot: companies should start the New Year with a fresh look at their regional and industry-specific cloud providers.
To learn more about what Forrester expects next year, visit http://forr.com/predictions2017to download our free 2017 predictions guide that covers the top 15 dynamics that will shape the future in the age of the customer.