Cloud computing is an unstoppable force in IT that creates countless opportunities - and countless questions from every organisation, no matter where they are in their IT journeys.
Indeed, there is a lot to think about - each aspect of cloud offers varying levels of complexity, applications, use cases, infrastructure issues, as well as security and data privacy issues.
"Many of our customers have started a lot of discussions with us about how they can move to the cloud? How can they accelerate the migration of their applications to the cloud? Where should they process their data? How should they secure their data? If they move to cloud is it possible that they can also accelerate the rationalisation of their data center and even consolidate some of the data center? These are all common questions that we hear from our customers," says Atos executive vice president and global head of telco, media, technology industry, Jean-Philippe Poirault.
Organisations see benefits within the public cloud that could help their IT systems to become more agile, perform better, and ultimately reap the rewards of scale on-demand from hyperscale providers.
5G, will also transform where data is processed - as much as 80% will be processed outside of data centers, says Poirault.
Telecommunications and cloud providers will lead in 5G, cloud, edge computing, virtualised radio network access (vRAN). So what will the digital economy look like, and how can telcos get ahead?
Poirault says there are two key considerations.
1. 5G and the rise of ‘huge data'
Big data will soon have a new name: ‘huge data'. This is because mobile internet speeds will eventually be ten times faster than their current levels. Billions of devices will be added to 5G networks every year, which means data generation and processing will grow - fast.
“More and more data will have to be processed at the edge of the Telecom network, close to the source of production. Edge computing will match the requirements of low latency, minimum bandwidth requirements and maximum security and exclusivity,” says Poirault.
Telcos will have a new purpose: to organise the route to the cloud and edge, whilst enabling data processing at the right location. This means reorganising the architecture and designing networks for the edge, public cloud, and their own data centers on private cloud.
2. Selecting and securing the right architectures to support the new data flow
Whether data is being processed in edge servers, public cloud, or private cloud, it must be secured.
“Migrating to a modern hybrid cloud starts with a clear understanding of the customer's requirements while ensuring compliance to regulations and security requirements. Enterprises' hybrid security approach must integrate all security controls into one overall strategy that is managed centrally, as well as consistently over service providers on premise and cloud (single or multiple) environments,” says Poirault.
When Atos worked with a large European telco to create a multi-cloud landscape, the company used many different services including Azure (customer portal), Google Cloud (conversational AI), Salesforce Cloud (CRM), ServiceNow Cloud (ITSM), and many other smaller applications within Azure. As a result, the telco reduced IT costs by 40%.
The future of 5G and cloud
“The telco and technology industries will help revolutionise the way all organisations do business and create value, thanks to new infrastructure possibilities with 5G. Everyone can look forward to advances in remote surgery, autonomous vehicles, smart factories, virtual reality and gaming,” says Poirault.
Atos believes that cloud is the new normal, which is why the company is uniquely positioned to deliver the full value of cloud to its clients.
“We understand that on the journey to the cloud, no path is the same. Atos prides itself as one of the only digital service providers that can offer the entire suite of technology needed to support modern telco, media, gaming, and technology organisations through a tailored approach.
Atos OneCloud is one way in which Atos delivers on this value. The platform enables enterprises to be more agile and mobile through an analytics-based approach across public, private, and hybrid cloud environments.