As GenAI matures, AI-specific cloud platforms are expected to emerge, new ISG reports say
Generative AI is reshaping the cloud computing market and is expected to lead to more AI workload-specific cloud platforms in the future, a new research report from leading global technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III) says.
The ISG Buyers Guides for Cloud Platforms, produced by ISG Software Research (formerly Ventana Research), say cloud technology, due to its scale and shared services model, is best suited for the delivery of GenAI-enabled applications at scale and the development of general-purpose foundation models.
The reports note specialty cloud providers will become an important consideration for many enterprise cloud architectures. The emergence of domain-specific models, which can be smaller, less computationally intensive and lower the hallucination risks associated with general-purpose models, suggests a future where cloud platforms may become increasingly specialized, the reports say.
“As GenAI continues to evolve, we can expect to see more AI workload-specific cloud platforms in the future,” said Jeff Orr, director for digital technology, ISG Software Research. “GenAI applications require extensive computational resources, and cloud computing platforms provide the scalability enterprises need to allocate resources dynamically based on the needs of various GenAI workloads. This has led to a reshaping of the cloud computing market, with specialized infrastructures catering to computational giants like large language models (LLMs).”
The reports say that by migrating to the cloud, businesses can streamline operations, reduce costs and accelerate innovation. To meet the efficiency and innovation challenge, enterprises are expected to adopt multiple clouds.
ISG projects that by 2027, over three-quarters of enterprises will operate across multiple public cloud computing environments, necessitating the requirement for a unified data platform to virtualize access for business continuity.
When an enterprise CIO or IT leader is considering a cloud platform, the choice between public, private, hybrid, multi-cloud or industry/sovereign cloud should be driven by the organization’s specific objectives, goals and desired outcomes.
“The conversation in enterprises has shifted from ‘Why cloud?’ to which types of cloud for which workloads,” said Orr. “A diversity in cloud service providers now exists to align with specific industry and business requirements rather than a one-size-fits-all agreement.”
In addition to aligning with strategic objectives and operational needs, it is also important for enterprises to consider factors such as cost, resource availability, technical expertise and the potential need for digital transformation when choosing cloud platforms. A well-chosen cloud strategy, the reports say, can drive innovation, enhance customer experiences and provide a competitive edge in the digital marketplace.
The reports cite other benefits of using a cloud service provider over building on-premises servers. They include low capital outlay, faster time-to-market, agility and optimal cloud delivery models from Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) to Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). While on-premises servers will not go away entirely, they must continue to compete effectively with cloud computing as an alternative for many applications and services, the reports say.
The ISG Buyers Guide for Cloud Platforms is designed to provide a holistic view of a software provider’s ability to serve a variety of cloud workloads with a set of cloud platform products. As such the Buyers Guide includes the full breadth of deployment models, services and functionality.
For its 2024 Buyers Guides for Cloud Platforms, ISG assessed software providers across four cloud platform categories – Cloud Computing Platforms, Public Cloud Platforms, Private Cloud Platforms and Hybrid Cloud Platforms – and produced a separate Buyers Guide for each. A total of 13 providers were assessed: Akamai, Alibaba Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), DigitalOcean, Google, Huawei Cloud, IBM, Leaseweb, Microsoft, Oracle, OVHcloud, Tencent and Vultr.
ISG Software Research designates the top three software providers as Leaders in each category. For the 2024 study, the leading providers in ranked order are:
Cloud Computing Platforms: Microsoft, AWS and Google
Public Cloud Platforms: Microsoft, AWS and Google
Private Cloud Platforms: Microsoft, Google and Oracle
Hybrid Cloud Platforms: Microsoft, AWS and Google
”Cloud computing has become as ubiquitous as the power and water in your home or business, but the software platforms for providing this service are still in an evolutionary transition to be able to interoperate across systems in an enterprise and across multiple enterprises,” says Mark Smith, partner of Software Research at ISG. “This Buyers Guide gives enterprises that need to consolidate and simplify their cloud platforms a better understanding of the current cloud landscape.”
The ISG Buyers Guides for Cloud Platforms are the distillation of more than a year of market and product research efforts. The research is not sponsored nor influenced by software providers and is conducted solely to help enterprises optimize their business and IT software investments.
Visit this webpage to learn more about the Buyers Guides for Cloud Platforms and read executive summaries of each of the four reports. The complete reports, including provider rankings across seven product and customer experience dimensions and detailed research findings on each provider, are available by contacting ISG Software Research.
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