Emerging Cloud technologies that Cloud vendors can leverage today

Today’s innovation is Cloud-powered and is making headway in laying the foundations for the next generation of IT vendors.

The Cloud has enabled both IT providers and customers to experiment with leading-edge applications while reducing the risks associated with their business innovation. Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning or IT Automation are some of the Cloud-powered technologies gaining momentum that are poised to lead the digital transformation of the enterprise in the coming years.

For partner organizations, only those who utilize new digital solutions to develop high-valuable services offerings at the faster speed to market will thrive in an economic context that is growing ever more complex. To get ahead of the game, what are the next generation technologies that Cloud partners can start leveraging already today?

IT Automation

We are entering a new automation age that is changing the way we work and manage business operations. The automation of IT operations helps companies to orchestrate and integrate an extensive array of systems and software that organizations utilize both on-premises and in the Cloud. This IT automation is saving them time and lets them focus on work that adds value to the business.

Gartner predicts that by 2017, 75 percent of enterprises will have more than four diverse automation technologies within their IT management portfolios, up from less than 20 percent in 2014. Even though automation adoption is growing, companies need to find a way to bring all their IT operations tasks in one and have a one-stop shop to simplify their IT management in a complex hybrid environment.

How to look at IT automation in a more holistic, simplified way? With both process automation and capabilities that boost IT efficiency,Operations Management Suite is a highly available and reliable automation platform delivered from the Azure Cloud, to help manage IT environments in a smarter way.

Cybersecurity

IT security is without doubt at the top of companies’ priorities, as cyber threats spread among the world’s interconnected tech infrastructures. Businesses need specialized security support and are investing heavily in solutions to lay out a defence strategy that will account for and mitigate the risks of engaging in technology innovation, such as leveraging Cloud capabilities.

The increasing adoption of Cloud-powered technology solutions brings along more complex cyber-attacks, often targeted at enterprise IT infrastructures and databases. On the other hand, this represents a window of business opportunity for IT service providers who have the skills and process know-how to leverage the latest, most advanced, Cloud-based threat-management solutions, such as Microsoft Entra ID or Multi-Factor Authentication.

Machine learning

If Cloud is the engine reshaping businesses, data is the fuel. Customers are seeing that forecasting and predictive modelling based on machine learning technologies is delivering tangible benefits, like helping to create opportunities to scale across their business or improve the customer experience with the product.

Expectations for future applications of machine learning that deliver even more business impact are high today. Over the next couple of years, machine learning will be extremely valuable to companies ready to harness the potential computer power and endless data, which allows them to adapt quickly to new market conditions.

IT channel partners can also put data predictions at the centre of innovative solutions with Cloud predictive analytics service Azure Machine Learning, making it possible to quickly create and deploy predictive models as analytics solutions with the trusted Microsoft Cloud.

Smart machines

Building intelligent bots for businesses is another upward trend that is expected to be here to stay. Intelligent bots give an entirely new dimension for companies who are now able to collect and utilize meaningful data.

Many businesses are already driving digital transformation through robotics and AI, changing the way they engage with their customers at a massive scale, empowering their employees to improve skills, optimizing their operations and transforming their products, just to name a few advantages.

Artificial intelligence has a transformative potential and Microsoft has a clear plan to democratize it for everyone. That means they are putting AI tools in the hands of businesses, public sector organizations and developers to build their own intelligence capability in the Cloud. Already today, everyone can start benefiting from the promise of artificial intelligence.