6 trends that will shape the future of the cloud: Gartner

For this reason, Gartner recommends identifying specific use cases and planning the applications and data distributed across the organization that could benefit from a cross-cloud deployment model. This allows workloads to operate collaboratively across different cloud platforms, as well as different on-premises and co-location facilities.

4. Industry solutions

According to Gartner, another upward trend is industry solutions. The consulting firm sees an upward trend toward industry-specific cloud platforms, with more vendors offering solutions that address vertical business outcomes and help scale digital initiatives. As such, Gartner forecasts that 50% of organizations will use industry-specific cloud platforms to accelerate their business initiatives by 2029.

Gartner recommends approaching industry-specific cloud platforms as a strategic way to add new capabilities to your broader IT portfolio, rather than as a total replacement. In this way, organizations could avoid technical debt, drive innovation and business value.

5. Digital sovereignty

In terms of digital sovereignty, Gartner forecasts that more than 50% of multinational organizations will have digital sovereignty strategies in place by 2029, up from less than 10% today. This is because organizations will increasingly be required to protect critical data, infrastructure, and workloads from the control of external jurisdictions and access by foreign governments.

And, as Rogus recommends, “It is important that they understand exactly what their requirements are so they can select the right mix of solutions to protect their data and operational integrity.”

6. Sustainability

The last trend that Gartner highlights is sustainability. As AI workloads demand more power, organizations are also under pressure to better understand, measure and manage the sustainability implications of emerging cloud technologies. Hence, it is a feature that is increasingly being driven by regulators, investors, and public demand for greater alignment between technology investments and environmental goals.