2012 trend

THE hybrid cloud will be the top trend of 2012, predicts Niall Gilmore , country manager for Citrix Systems Ireland.

Currently, Irish organisations are engaging with cloud computing through two different paths — the private cloud and the public cloud — but this is all set to change.

“In the past, security-conscious companies would have used the private cloud model, keeping everything within their own data centres, while organisations free from these limitations tapped into the more flexible option of the public cloud,” says Mr Gilmore.

“These single cloud offerings became well established in 2011, but next year we will see the proliferation of a ‘hybrid’ cloud model, where businesses will begin to connect their private cloud with a public cloud, offering the benefits of both to their customers — the security of the former and the flexibility of the latter.”

Mr Gilmore says the widespread adoption of the hybrid cloud will be a game-changing moment, offering a new level of capability to companies in different sectors.

“Organisations will increasingly embrace complete control within their clouds over exactly where their data sits across their private and public cloud spaces. With this new level of control, companies can take advantage of all the benefits and resources open to them in the public cloud domain without compromising data integrity and security.

“In addition to the explosion of the hybrid cloud, we will also see continued growth in the consumer -isation of IT and the increased adoption of desktop virtualisation, both of which will push BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) programmes and work-shifting strategies within organisations into widespread implementation.”

Mr Gilmore says 2012 will also be a year of unprecedented demand for strengthening data protection and privacy.