The 4 pillars defining the future of cloud computing: data, flexibility, people and security

Let’s take a moment to think about the different phases that have occurred since the emergence of cloud technologies in the IT industry. We can identify 3 clearly defined stages:

• Initially, the transformation began with the virtualisation of machines and servers.
• The second stage saw the adoption of powerful, scalable and secure cloud infrastructures.
• The third phase is that of transformation, in which the digitisation of processes, data analytics, automation and new technologies based on Artificial Intelligence are changing the way people and organisations work.

Looking to the future of these transformative processes, we must be very clear as to the pillars that ought to support our commitment to the Cloud if we are to successfully be a part of this trend for change, improvement and innovation. As we will consider in more detail below, these pillars are: data, flexibility, people and security.

Data: an asset to be monetised

Data is an essential asset for all types of organisations and provides the fuel for transformation, powering analytical and transactional applications. Once generated, data drives deeper business insights powered by AI, it helps companies make better decisions in real time, and also lays the foundation for companies to build and run their data-driven applications. This is the heart of the Data Cloud, which is emerging to unify data across the organisation.

In this sense, Google offers unrivalled solutions. From the moment data is generated, Google Cloud database solutions offer built-in automated intelligence and resiliency, along with serverless capabilities that provide control and optimisation capabilities for your Cloud SQL, Bigtable, and Spanner databases. Industry-leading reliability through Spanner‘s 99.999% and BigQuery‘s 99.99% SLAs means they’ll always be up and running – delivering the most transformative applications to customers, while maintaining constant control over data.

Flexibility: the basis for a hybrid and multi-cloud architecture

That said… How do we transform ourselves while maintaining our freedom to adapt to the changing needs of the market? Today’s environments are complex, and present rapidly evolving requirements: legacy applications that need to be modernised, a mix of proprietary technologies and third-party solutions, on-premises resources, not to mention those in other clouds….

For anybody who is striving to standardise their environments, supporting multiple clouds and embracing open source as their organizations evolve is inevitable. And when it comes to Google Cloud, there is no stronger commitment to open source. Its modern cloud infrastructure is based on Kubernetes, and its strong support for Istio and KNative have formed the cornerstone of its leading business services such as the Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), or its platform of applications managed with Anthos and Cloud Run.

Google also contribute more to the open source community than any other cloud provider, more than doubling their efforts in the last 5 years and representing over 50% of contributions to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF).

At Intelligence Partner, our strong commitment to an open cloud is what enables us to transform the way our clients’ businesses operate, promoting differentiated experiences and maximising their freedom and capacity to innovate.

People: reimagining workspaces

Cloud-based transformation is not just a matter of technology. Equally as important are people and the corporate culture. Clients understand that a successful transition to this new work era depends on the ability to keep people engaged, productive, and connected, thereby creating new ways of satisfying customer requirements.

This is precisely what Google Cloud technologies do so well, headed up specifically in this instance by Google Workspace. People who use Google Workspace are more satisfied with their work – their teams are more innovative, more productive and able to make decisions more quickly. At Intelligence Partner, we bring you new tools to strengthen human connections across and beyond the limits of the organisation, facilitating participation, collaboration and ideas sharing for all.

Security: a cloud you can trust

Last but by no means least, our fourth pillar. Today more than ever we must defend our data against threats and fraudulent activity, ensuring we have advanced capabilities that enable us to control what is happening at all times.

It’s about simplifying secure access to services for employees, partners, and customers. It is also fundamental to create the necessary visibility in order to find, analyse and resist threats, whilst taking advantage of cloud innovations, maintaining control of digital assets and complying with all requirements in terms of sovereignty and governance.

Regarding all these aspects, Google Cloud is an industry leader when it comes to cloud security, and has been instrumental in redefining what the zero trust requirements are. It provides a secure platform, which offers transparency and justifies such sovereignty. Moreover, it has a proven zero-trust architecture and operates according to a “shared destination” philosophy that we here at Intelligence Partner also adhere to.

We speak of “shared destiny”, not “shared responsibility”. In other words, we believe that it is our responsibility to be active partners as our clients safely roll out their use of the Google Cloud platform, without defining where our responsibility ends. We are by your side from day one, helping you implement the best practices for migration and sercure operation in a trusted cloud: the Google Cloud.

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