The super cloud concept aims to enhance the elasticity, scalability and security of the cloud space.
With annual spending on cloud infrastructure expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 70% over the next three years, Supercloud seeks to take cloud to the next level, according to Erik Bradley (pictured right), chief strategist and director of research enterprise technology Research.
“From my own perspective, and then also talking to the IT department [decision makers] We interview on a regular basis and it’s just a natural evolution,” Bradley said. “Hypercloud is … a way of operationally defining the next generation, the continued iteration and evolution of the cloud and its needs. If you want to call it metacloud, supercloud, that’s fine. The point is that we’re trying to define the next layer; the next future of work. “
Bradley and Daren Brabham (pictured left), senior director analysts at ETR, chat with Cube industry analyst Dave Vellante during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s live studio, during the Supercloud2 event. They discuss why hypercloud is the next big thing in the enterprise space. (*disclosed below.)
What is a “real” super cloud provider?
Industry players such as Cloudflare Inc. have started to carve a name for themselves in the cloud space, according to Bradley, who said Cloudflare is becoming a true super cloud provider based on its cloud, network and networking aspects.
“To me, the definition of a true super cloud provider cannot be just an example,” he noted. “You have to have multiple. So it’s not just cloud; it’s the most important networking aspect. It’s security too. To me, Cloudflare is the only one that has it all. They actually have the ability to deliver all of these things.”
Bradley said Supercloud aims to remove the stigma and associated complexities associated with multicloud.
“Basically, the senior developer IT architecture and DevSecOps says he’s been using the term,” he said. “The reason he uses the term is because when he talks to his business executives, there is a stigma attached to multicloud. The stigma is because it is complicated and expensive. business executives, CFOs and CIOs to explain what he is trying to do.”
According to Brabham, based on the complexity of IT within the enterprise world, hypercloud helps to manage it in a cleaner manner. In addition, it helps to control complex governance, security and regulatory issues.
“I think large multinationals in certain areas, like finance, online e-commerce or things that require real-time data, they will inherently have a very complex environment that needs to be managed in some cleaner way,” he noted. “I think that’s why we see the need for some sort of hypercloud concept — taking all of that, arguing for all of that.”
A Paradigm Shift To Meta-Abstraction Layers
Through the meta-abstraction layer, engineering complexity is dissipated. So, according to Brabham, hypercloud simplifies this idea, as Snowflake Inc. has demonstrated.
“I think Snowflake continues to do that to a certain extent, and we’re seeing other tools trying to do that, but that’s about it,” he noted. “It’s a paradigm shift back to this meta-abstraction layer that kind of simplifies reality — you need a complex multi-use-case, multi-region way of doing business. That kind of mirrors reality. “
Data and analytics play a key role in telling the hypercloud story, Brabham said, saying Snowflake broke ground by making businesses more agile.
“For example, with data and analytics, many organizations are trying to bring data closer to the business,” he said. “That’s where we see self-service analytics emerge. Tools like Snowflake, what they do is they help point to different databases, they help unify the data and organize it in one place, and in a sense, it Is neutral, away from a single cloud provider or a single database.”
The need for cross-cloud standards depends on the size and complexity of the underlying business, Bradley said, saying anything with real-time data metrics needs the idea of a hypercloud.
“In very large enterprises, there’s complexity; not only is the computing and actually deploying the applications complex, but the governance and security surrounding them is also complex,” he said. “But for low-end or enterprise use cases, and small businesses, it’s a little less necessary. You certainly don’t need to have all of them.”
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(*Disclosure: This is an editorial section. While theCUBE is a paid media partner of Supercloud2, sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage have no editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)
